Author: M Barnett

Joint Victory for Kelly and Mihailovits

English Sporting Summer League, Round 1

The first round of the Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club’s Summer Sporting League was held at Meary Veg, Santon today, where 22 competitors battled the elements as well as fifty testing targets spread across five stands.

Sporting veteran Paul Mihailovits wasted no time in making his mark on stand one with nine points scored, followed by Rob Corlett, Mark Hepworth, and Mark Barnett on eight. Stand two saw Peter Kelly and Brian Faragher join Barnett and Mihailovits with almost perfect nines, while Brian Kelly and new / unclassified shooter Mark Corrin scooped eight targets each.

The third stand featured a tricky battue target which rotates as it slices through the air as well as a naughty jumping rabbit, but neither of these nasties fazed Rob Corlett as he smashed his way to a perfect ten, followed by Peter Kelly and Ben Stembridge with nine apiece. Brian Faragher looked like he too would clean this testing stand but was cheated of two points by leaping bunnies and had to settle for eight, as did Dave Corlett and Mark Barnett.

Stand four provided everybody with equal opportunity to score ten points, but only Peter Kelly, Paul Mihailovits and Corlett Junior took advantage, clearing the high chandelle and incoming midi with aplomb, while Nicky Barnett and husband Mark had to settle for nine hits each. Level pegging on eight were Mark Corrin, Will Rand, and John Moore.

Stand number five – the only one not shot from the relative comfort of our shelters – featured a pair of incoming ducks attempting to roost on our dedicated beginner’s range, but Dave Corlett had other ideas and smashed all ten clays, the only one to clear a stand which we had initially thought too easy. Mark Corrin also did well and missed just one watery fowl, while John Moore, Mark Hepworth, Andre Visnjov, Brian Faragher and Mark Sweetman each let two get away, so at least we’ve got a couple of breeding pairs.

The end of a very wet and windy day’s shooting saw Mark Corrin and Dave Corlett finish with 38 points overall, with Mark Barnett on 39 and Rob Corlett on 41, but joint top guns were Peter Kelly and Paul Mihailovits with 42 points each. Our sincere thanks to Suntera Global for once again sponsoring the league and supporting clay sports on the Isle of Man, and to Sheila Kelly for keeping us all going with mugs of tea and sausage baps. Next week it’s the first round of ABT, DTL and Olympic Skeet, with Brian Faragher and Will Rand at the helm for Saturday practice.

Results

Class A

  1. P Kelly (42)
  2. P Mihailovits (42)
  3. R Corlett (41)

Class B

  1. D Corlett (38)
  2. B Faragher (36)
  3. J Moore (35)

Class C

  1. M Sweetman (31)
  2. B Kelly (28)
  3. E Rixon (28)
  4. N Barnett (L)(28)

League

  1. 10 Mar
  2. 07 Apr
  3. 12 May
  4. 09 Jun
  5. 15 Sep
  6. 13 Oct
P Mihailovits, R Corlett, P Kelly, M Sweetman, E Rixon, B Kely, J Moore, N Barnett, D Corlett

Bumper Turnout for Penultimate Pro Sporting

2023 Winter Pro Sporting – Round Three

Thirty-three competitors from all corners of the Nation flocked to the Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club on Sunday 14 January for the third round of our winter Pro Sporting series, generously sponsored by Brian Faragher. Conditions were generally good, though a chilling northerly wind and intermittent face-on sunshine made life interesting at times for six squads shooting fifty targets across two layouts.

Skeet supremo Roman Sammer hit the ground running on the first layout, leading C class with a healthy 19 targets despatched, while Brian Faragher positioned himself atop B class with 21. New shooters Leslie Devlin and Bob Wright finished their first competitive layout with a very respectable score of 12 points each, but the runaway leader at the end of the first round was A class Paul Mihailovits with the day’s only straight 25.

The second layout was shot from the corner of the overflow car park across our dedicated beginner’s area using traps located on the right-hand skeet range, adding an interesting dimension to some long targets and allowing for comfortable spectating with tea and hot baps from within the clubhouse. It quickly became apparent that although occasional sunshine was no longer an issue, the fast edge-on targets and biting wind would more than make up for any challenges caused by light.

Marty Kneen was the only competitor to achieve full marks in the singles and the report pairs, dropping just three of his instants to finish stand #2 on 22 points, level pegging with Corina Moffatt and two points ahead of Paul Mihailovits and John Moore, while Nigel Moffatt and Mark Barnett completed stand two with 19 targets behind them.

The leading class C competitor at the end of a long and enjoyable day’s shooting was Roman Sammer with 31 points, closely followed by Alan Wright with 30 and Mark Hepworth with 29. Brian Faragher dominated B class on 38 ahead of Ben Stembridge on 37 and Liam Kirkpatrick on 34. Hot competition in A class found Dave Corlett and Micheal Cross joint third with 42 and Marty Kneen in second with 43, but in the end it was Mihailovits’ momentum which saw him romp home on a shapely 45 – well done Paul!

Results

Class A

  1. P Mihailovits (45)
  2. M Kneen (43)
  3. D Corlett (42)
  4. M Cross (42)

Class B

  1. B Faragher (38)
  2. B Stembridge (37)
  3. L Kirkpatrick (34)

Class C

  1. R Sammer (31)
  2. A Wright (30)
  3. M Hepworth (29)

Full Results

  1. 19 November
  2. 10 December
  3. 14 January
  4. 04 February

Our sincere thanks to all competitors for making this one of our most well-attended winter shoots ever, also to Brian Faragher for his sponsorship and hard work in designing today’s course. Next week it’s the third round of our winter English Skeet league, with Nicky Barnett and John Moore at the helm for Saturday morning practice. 

R Sammer, M Hepworth, B Stembridge, L Kirkpatrick, B Faragher, M Kneen, P Mihailovits, D Corlett

Wades Dominate Penultimate Summer League Shoot

DTL League, Round 6

The sixth and final round of Tower Insurance’s summer DTL league was held at the Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club, Santon, and saw eighteen keen competitors take part in perfect conditions.

Junior shooter Arran Wade hit the ground running with the day’s only 75 straight in his first round, closely followed by Stevie Craine on 73 and Mike Walker on 72. Rob Corlett closed out the class A leaders with 68, just three points ahead of C class Jeff Corkill on 65.

Phil Ward improved on his first round of 63 with a healthy 72 in round two, followed by John Moore on 70 and Ted Kermeen on 69, with Arran Wade, Stevie Craine, and Mike Parr all sharing 68 apiece.

Wade’s earlier straight helped propel him to overall victory with 143 points, closely followed by Craine on 141 and Walker with 138. Per-class results are as follows, with overall league results to be published at iomclays.com as soon as they’ve been collated.

Results

Class A

  1. A Wade (143)
  2. S Craine (141)
  3. M Walker (138)

Class B

  1. T Kermeen (133)
  2. D Corlett (129)
  3. R Marshall (125)

Class C

  1. J Clague (129)
  2. M Barnett (126)
  3. M Whitehead (121)

Full Results

  1. 05 March
  2. 02 April
  3. 07 May
  4. 04 June
  5. 03 September
  6. 01 October
R Marshall, S Craine, M Walker, A Wade, T Kermeen, M Whitehead, D Corlett, J Clague

Olympic Skeet League, Round 6

The afternoon of October 1st also saw the sixth round of Manx Petroleum’s Olympic Skeet league, with five competitors making a final bid for league dominance.

At the top of the first round we find Jeff Corkill with 19, followed by Dave Corlett on 17. Stan Cross and James Bradley each hit 15 targets, while newcomer to the discipline Mike Whitehead reigned in a respectable 7. It was all change for round two with Cross and Bradley reversing their fortunes and scoring 20 each, followed by Corkill with 17 and Corlett on 16. Whitehead also upped his game with 10 targets hit.

Results

  1. J Corkill (36)
  2. S Cross (35)
  3. J Bradley (35)
  4. D Corlett (33)
  5. M whitehead (17)

Full Results

  1. 05 March
  2. 02 April
  3. 07 May
  4. 04 June
  5. 03 September
  6. 01 October

ABT League, Round 6

Our third contest on this perfect mid-autumn day was the last of the Sadler Agricultural summer ABT league, and this time we had seven competitors battling it out.

Top of the pops with 24 hits in round one was Alan Wade, followed by Stevie Craine on 22 and Wade Junior, Arran, with 20. Mike Parr scored 17 while Ted Kermeen and Jackie Clague were in hot pursuit on 16 points, leaving Rob Corlett to plan his revenge from the back of the room with 15 targets hit.

Round two saw Craine score 23 points, followed by Wade Senior with 22, Kermeen on 21, and Wade Junior on 20. Parr and Corlett were on the up with 18 and 17 respectively, while Clague dipped to 13.

After two rounds of 25 targets, the top three are Alan Wade with 46, Stevie Craine with 45, and Arran Wade with 40 hits. Today’s handicap winner was Kermeen with 52 points.

Results

  1. A Wade (46)
  2. S Craine (45)
  3. Arr Wade (J)(40)
  4. T Kermeen (37)
  5. M Parr (35)
  6. R Corlett (32)
  7. J Clague (29)

Full Results

  1. 05 March
  2. 02 April
  3. 07 May
  4. 04 June
  5. 03 September
  6. 01 October

Shoot-offs and Medals for Mihailovits and Watterson

English Skeet Individual – Open

Paul Mihailovits followed a trio of 24s yesterday with another 24 and a 21 today under challenging conditions, taking him through to the final where he drew with Ynys Môn’s David Tavernor, necessitating a shoot-off.

Following sudden death of pairs on pad four Paul unfortunately missed the high bird, conceding gold to Ynys Môn and walking away with a well deserved silver medal and 140 points on the last day of the 2023 Island Games.

Rachel Bowen Matthews too found her form and made the final, where she scored 19 points placing her in fifth place amongst a field of 19 tough competitors – well done Rachel and Paul!

ABT Individual – Men

Shoot-offs were the order of the day for our Automatic Ball Trap competitors too, and although Mark Riley and Rob Watterson would both make the final it was Watterson who went on to claim bronze after going head-to-head with Sark’s Nicholas Dewe in a nail-biting finale.

This was the last bout for our clay-popping athletes in the 2023 Island Games, rounding off a week of highs and lows, of fun and friendship that’ll probably last longer than Jack’s sunburn. Cheers!

Full Results

Sporting Boys Bring Home Bronze

English Sporting Teams – Men

The English Sporting team consisting of Alan Kinrade, Stan Cross and Micheal Cross secured Bronze with a score of 158 in the mens team event today, just 5 points behind Guernsey over a course of 100 challenging targets.

Alan Kinrade, Stan Cross, Micheal Cross take third in Men’s Sporting Teams

Missing out on third by 9 points were Paul Mihailovits and Rachel Bowen Matthews, whose score of 168 saw them in fourth place behind Ynys Môn in the English Skeet Team Open.

Meanwhile Mark Riley and Robert Watterson finished the ABT Mens Team event in eighth place on 136, just one point behind Åland and Western Isles, and two points behind Orkney.

Full Results