Hinckley claim victory in decider with Bedworth

UNUSUALLY for a competition involving two teams, the annual interleague meeting between the Hinckley and Bedworth air rifle leagues is scheduled to run over three legs.

However, frequently the third leg isn’t held when one league or the other is so dominant in the first two legs that the third isn’t required.

This season that certainly wasn’t the case as the two teams proved remarkably well matched, Hinckley winning the first leg by 18-14 and Bedworth hitting back in the second to win by the same scoreline.

Consequently, the two teams made a Thursday evening visit to Hinckley Working Men’s Club for the third and deciding leg.

The match started with the two teams level and continued that way after Hinckley’s captain, Glen Dainter, tied with Jon Storer, with 30 apiece.

However, Bedworth then proceeded to open up a lead after their captain, Andrew Cryer, beat Phil Hood by 29-28, and Rikki Hammesley outscored Paul Huddlestone by 29-27. Jeanette Mulkeirins ended the losing streak as she tied with Melanie Jenkins on 26 each, but this left Bedworth leading by 6-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Hinckley closed the gap when Glen Dainter scored another 30, this time to beat Jon Storer’s 28, but Bedworth re-established a four point lead thanks to Andrew Cryer’s 30-29 defeat of Phil Hood.

Hinckley moved back to two points behind when Paul Huddlestone gained revenge over Rikki Hammersley with a 29-25 win, and the half way point of the leg was reached with the same margin as Jeanette Mulkeirins and Melanie Jenkins again finished level, this time with 27 each.

Unfortunately for the visitors, this turned out to be their last point for quite a while. Leigh Hall brought the home team level with a 28-26 win over Linda Metcalfe; Nigel Hill gave them the lead for the first time as he beat Bill Bend by 29-28; and Karl Bunting extended that lead with a 30-24 defeat of Stephen Watson.

The next shooters on should have been the final pairing of Chris Sills for Hinckley and Mike Sansome for Bedworth, but Chris’ late arrival meant that Leigh and Linda went on first to give him time to get ready.

Leigh again won, this time by 28-27, leaving Hinckley one win away from regaining the trophy, which Chris duly achieved as he beat Mike by 29-25. Bill Bend got Bedworth back to winning ways as he beat Nigel Hill by 30-28, but this proved to be their last win of the night, Karl Bunting extending Hinckley’s lead with his 29-25 win over Stephen Watson, before Chris Sills and Mike Sansome closed the match with a 27-27 draw that left Hinckley winning the tie by 20-12.