The Ayres, 5 April
Thirty competitors from both clubs regrouped under blue skies last Sunday for the second half of this year’s inter-club challenge, which saw Meary Veg retaining the trophy for the second year running after some very close competition.
English Sporting
Our hosts had set a great variety of sporting targets across the whole range, and predictably it was The Ayres who dominated the opening round of English Sporting with Nigel Moffat and Marty Kneen both hitting 37, followed by Alan Brew on 35. Meary Veg’s Michael Cross was close behind on 34 followed by Jack Kneen on 32.
Would the strong start be enough to overturn Meary Veg’s 99 point lead from last week’s opening round? Almost. The Ayres scored 507 points in versus Meary Veg’s 435, reducing the southerners’ lead to 27 points with two disciplines left to shoot.
| The Ayres | Meary Veg |
|---|---|
| 196 / 507 | 145 / 435 |
English Skeet
Joe Faragher firmly established Meary Veg at the top of the table with a strong 48, followed by The Ayres’ Jamie Hancox and Jeff Corkill on 47 and Stan Cross on 46. Overall the Northerners bagged 597 points in Skeet while the Southerners scored a beastly 666, increasing Meary Veg’s lead to 96 points.
| The Ayres | Meary Veg |
|---|---|
| 199 / 597 | 222 / 666 |
Down the Line
With just 32 targets separating both teams there was everything to play for as we entered the final discipline, and The Ayres’ Alan Wade and Dave Walton pulled out all the stops, scoring 46 / 138 and 45 / 131 respectively. Mike Walker performed well for Meary Veg with 43 / 125 as did Callum Craine with 40 / 117, but Arran Wade’s 42 / 123 and Phil Ward’s 39 / 117 cemented The Ayres firmly as DTL winners with 205 kills and 605 points against Meary Veg’s 185 / 525, reducing the incumbent champions’ lead by 80 points overall.
| The Ayres | Meary Veg |
|---|---|
| 205 / 605 | 185 / 525 |
Overall Results
If we thought last year’s result was a close thing with just 50 points separating both clubs then this year’s margin was positively microscopic – just six targets difference from more than 1,100 shot saw Meary Veg narrowly retain the prestigious inter-club trophy by only 16 points.
A number of prizes were presented on behalf of the organisers by Nicky and Mark Barnett to the top scorers in each discipline, and all that remains for me to say is a huge Thank You to all who gave up their time to make this year’s inter-club such a resounding success once again; the referees, scorers, course setters, and the admin team … cheers!
Skeet
- Zack Bellhouse (273)
- Stan Cross (264)
- Jeff Corkill
- Jamie Hancox (261)
DTL
- Arran Wade (265)
- Callum Craine (262)
- Mike Walker (243)
Sporting
- Nigel Moffat (234)
- Marty Kneen (216)
- Micheal Cross (207)