Fifteen year old Thomas Clague mastered the changeable weather conditions on Sunday in the IoM Shooting Club’s monthly handicap at Sinclair, St Johns. The plucky youngster competed last summer in the Sadler Junior Championship which is a 30 shot weekly match, but on this occasion he was competing in only his third full 60 shot competition and this gave him a significant handicap. To put his achievement into context, his gun score was only 7 points lower than Bill Jones who has been shooting for eons. Fourteen hardy individuals managed to make the firing line and it was a pleasure to see all eight of the electronic targets in use. Top gun score on the day went to Andy Potter who posted a 584 x 600, an excellent result considering the conditions. Mike Duncalf was just a single point behind.
Full results were:-
1 – Thomas Clague 564 x 600 + handicap 49 = 613,
2 – Andy Traynor 576 + 30 = 606,
3 – Andy Potter 584 + 18 = 602,
4 – Perryn Callister 570 + 30 = 600,
5 – Tracey Skelton 554 + 45 = 599,
6 – Bill Jones 571 + 27 = 598,
7 – Alex Trafford 540 + 56 = 596,
8 – Steve Callus 556 + 39 = 595,
9 – Mike Duncalf 583 + 12 = 595,
10 – Richard Arthur 572 + 20 = 592,
11 – Suzanne McKnight 560 + 31 = 591,
12 - Illiam Christian 558 + 31 = 589,
13 – Tony Kneale 553 + 34 = 587,
14 – Tom Lord 564 + 19 = 583.
Winter League results
This week’s IoM Rifle Associations Winter League results have produced a couple of closely shot matches in Division 1 and the first in the list is no exception. Jim Teare for Sulby, produced a 99 in what has been described as his first for so many years, no one including Jim can remember when and to quote Richard Faragher’s comments, “We don't know how long it is since Jimmy Teare had a 99 we haven't got access to all the team sheets at the range as the ones chipped out of stone are a bit heavy to carry” - well done Jim, it shows it is still in there somewhere. Mark Cain also for Sulby, matched Teare’s score as did both Paul Clague and Ashley Gardner (Jnr) for the visitors, Port St Mary. The ‘ Port won the match in Division 1 by a single point. Divisions 2 were claimed by Sulby.
Sulby v Port St Mary
Division 1
Jim Teare 99 Paul Clague 99
Mark Cain 99 Ashley Gardner (J) 99
Barry Jones 97 Kevan Kneale 98
Mark Boyde 96 Harry Harrison 97
Orry Teare 96 Juan Clague 95
487 488
Division 2
Julian Teare 95 Patrick Cubbon (J) 95
Teddy Sayle 95 George Dalton-Brown (J) 94
Peter Faragher 95 Ean Brewis 94
Peter Webb 94 Gary Knight 93
Phil Quayle 94 Dave Bould 93
473 469
Division 3
Don Ault 92 Patrick Kerr (J) 91
Richard Faragher 91 Orry Kerr (J) 87
Rod Forshaw 90 Peter Gelling 86
273 264
The second closely fought match was between IoMSC Sandsiders and League leaders, Laxey at Sinclair, St Johns. Bill Jones led the home team with a 99 from daughter Marion on 98. For the visitors, John Wood and Andrew Jessop posted 98’s with Suzanne Curphey on 97. Laxey claimed Division 1 and 2 with the home team taking the league points in Division 3.
IoMSC Sandsiders v Laxey
Division 1
Bill Jones 99 John Wood 98
Marion Jones (L) 98 Andrew Jessop 98
Richard Arthur 96 Suzanne Curphey (L) 97
Tony Kneale 95 Harry Creevy 96
Andy Traynor 95 Stephen Curphey 95
483 484
Division 2
Ian Arthur 93 Nick Kennish 95
Liz Jones (L) 91 Bill Snelling 95
Norman Ormrod 91 Judy Kee (L) 94
Chris Ollett 91 Peter Clague 94
Terry Green 91 Bridget Kneale (L) 92
457 470
Division 3
Steve Callus 90 James Hewison (J) 91
Phil Kneen 87 Gary Kneale 87
Ken McWaters 86
Dan Simpson 86 00
349 178
IoMSC Douglas ventured north for their match with a rather depleted Kirk Michael team. Suzanne McKnight posted an excellent 99 for the home team with Kevin Quinn close on her heels with 98. For the visitors, Thomas Clague, who appears to be having a brilliant few matches and Andy Potter both produced 99’s with Mark Osborn continuing to post excellent results week after week, on 98. Worthy of a mention is Christian Eaton who, shooting in only his third match, scored an excellent 93 giving him a score suitable for division 2. The visitors were victorious in all three Divisions.
Kirk Michael v IoMSC Douglas
Division 1
Suzanne McKnight (L) 99 Thomas Clague (J) 99
Kevin Quinn 98 Andy Potter 99
Perryn Callister (L) 97 Mark Osborn 98
Illiam Christian (J) 96 Mike Duncalf 97
Alex Trafford (J) 94 Tracey Skelton (L) 97
484 490
Division 2
Tom Lord 93 Tony Leadley 95
David Humphrey 94
Keith Lowney 94
Mike Clague 94
00 Christian Eaton (J) 93
93 470
Division 3
Nick Brown 90
Arron Astill (J) 90
Paul Perkins 90
00 Sam Jones (J) 76
00 346
IoMSC Douglas would like to place on record their thanks for the sportsmanship shown by the Kirk Michael Rifle Club when mechanical problems were encountered by the visitors. The Kirk Michael team offered assistance in many ways and this was greatly appreciated by IoMSC Douglas. Kirk Michael are experiencing a lack of membership and would be delighted to entertain any individuals who may be interested in either trying indoor 15 yard shooting or those who are considering returning to the sport after a break. Their club nights are Friday evenings and you would be more than welcome to just pop in and have a go – all equipment is available for use. The contacts at the range alongside The Mitre Pub, are Suzanne McKnight, Perryn Callister or Tom Lord.
Cossacks travelled south to the Stadium at Castletown for their match where Laurie Cain posted the top score for the visitors with a 97. Jess Clague followed on 95. For the home team, Steve Gardner came out on top with a 98 closely followed by Robin McFee on 97. Castletown claimed wins in all three Divisions
Castletown v Cossacks
Division 1
Steve Gardner 98 Laurie Cain 97
Robin McFee 97 Jess Clague (L) 95
Chris Birtwhistle 96 Chris Clague 94
Shirley Caley (L) 95 Fergus Coulter (J) 94
Nigel Christian 95 Andy Mitchell 92
481 472
Division 2
Henry Qualtrough 95 Tim Hardisty 92
Andy Bell 93 Ronnie Fairbairn 91
Mike Thompson 93 Alfie Leach (J) 91
Duncan Watterson (J) 92 Anthony Cawte (J) 91
Lauren Cooper (L) 89 John Cottier 90
462 455
Division 3
Reg Caley 77 Callum McPhillips (J) 56
77 56
Division 1 W D L Agg Pts
Laxey 9 1 0 4859 19
IoMSC Douglas 8 0 2 4890 16
Port St Mary 8 0 2 4866 16
Sulby 3 2 5 4813 8
Castletown 4 0 6 4809 8
IoMSC Sandsiders 2 1 7 4830 5
Kirk Michael 2 0 8 4766 4
Sulby Cossacks 2 0 8 4751 4
Division 2 W D L Agg Pts
IoMSC Douglas 8 0 2 4761 16
Port St Mary 8 0 2 4753 16
Laxey 6 0 4 4675 12
IoMSC Sandsiders 6 0 4 4643 12
Sulby 5 0 5 4656 10
Castletown 5 0 5 4623 10
Sulby Cossacks 2 0 8 4488 4
Kirk Michael 0 0 10 2852 0
Division 3 W D L Agg Pts
Port St Mary 10 0 0 4406 20
IoMSC Douglas 7 0 3 3917 14
IoMSC Sandsiders 6 0 4 3202 12
Laxey 5 0 5 2218 8
Castletown 4 0 6 3773 6
Sulby 3 0 7 2313 6
Sulby Cossacks 3 0 7 1733 6
Kirk Michael 0 0 10 85 0
Round six results from the Ulster Counties
Round six of the Ulster Counties Postal Leagues are now to hand and I thank Liz and Bill Jones for keeping me up to date with the results. As usual, with so many locals competing in the league, I will list the Division, name and league position only, for the results of round 6.
50 metre outdoor: -
Division 1, Mike Duncalf 1st, Bill Jones 7th
Division 2, Tom Lord 2nd, Ashley Gardner (Snr) 5th
Division 3, Barry Jones 3rd, Richard Arthur 4th, Mike Clague 6th, Perryn Callister 8th
Division 4, Tony Kneale 2nd, Dave Bould 3rd, Steve Callus 6th
Division 5, Andy Traynor 1st, Illiam Christian 2nd, Liz Jones 4th, Alex Trafford 5th
Division 6 Tracey Skelton 1st and Aaron Astill 8th.
In the 15yd indoor category, the Island have many more entrants –
Division 1, Kevan Kneale =6th
Division 2, Ashley Gardner (Snr) 7th
Division 3, Richard Arthur 1st, Suzanne McKnight 8th
Division 4, Ashley Gardner (J) 2nd, Chris Birtwhistle 5th, Harry Harrison 8th, Jess Clague 9th
Division 5, Mike Clague 1st, Lorrie Thompson 8th, Juan Clague 9th
Division 6, Barry Jones 3rd, Tony Kneale 7th, Gary Knight 9th
Division 7, Kevin Quinn 2nd
Division 8 Chris Clague 5th, Dave Bould 9th
Division 9, Mike Thompson 3rd, Nick Brown 5th
Division 10, Fergus Coulter 4th, Steve Callus 2nd, Jaccie Hamilton-Jones 9th, Ean Brewis 10th
Division 11, Perryn Callister 1st, Liz Jones 2nd, Robin McFee 6th, Peter Lewis 7th, Sandie Skuszka 10th
Division 12, Tracey Skelton 4th, Graham Brown 9th
Division 13, David Lord 9th
Division 14, Richard Faragher 8th
Division 15, Illiam Christian 1st, Ronnie Fairbairn 5th, Callum Grant 6th, Orry Kerr 7th, Patrick Kerr 8th
Division 16, Alex Trafford 2nd
Division 17, Rod Forshaw 6th, Arron Astill 8th
Division 18, Jordan Kiernan 5th, George Powell 7th
Division 21, Lauren Cooper 1st
The junior section results are as follows –
Division 1, Ashley Gardner =1st
Division 2, Illiam Christian 3rd, Orry Kerr 9th, George Dalton-Brown 10th
Division 3, Alex Trafford 1st, Callum Grant 5th, Patrick Kerr 6th, Aaron Astill 8th
Division 4, Jordan Kiernan 4th, and George Powell 7th
Just four teams are competing and in Division B Castletown A have sadly dropped to sixth due mainly to the fact that Lorrie Thompson was unable to shoot due to ill health, the team shot as follows Chris Birtwhistle 97, Lorrie Thompson (ncr) and Mike Thompson 90 = 187 losing to Cumberland News on 292. Kirk Michael are in Division C and produced a score of 289 with Suzanne McKnight 93, Kevin Quinn 99 and Perryn Callister 97 recording a win against Ulster Rifle Association on 285. Sulby who scored 274, are also in Division C – Jess Clague 92, Barry Jones 94 and Richard Faragher 88 unfortunately losing to Kingsgate B on 286. Sulby have dropped to fourth whilst Kirk Michael hold onto 5th. The remaining team, Castletown B, are continuing to lead Division F having not lost a match to date. In this round the team recorded a win on 275 - Robin McFee had 94, Lauren Cooper 89 and Dave Handscombe 92 winning against St Austall C.
Dates for your Diaries
Isle of Man Rifle Association competitions
Next week, February 10th sees Cossacks welcoming IoMSC Sandsiders, IoMSC Douglas hosting Sulby, Castletown travelling north to the Glen Gardens, Laxey and Kirk Michael heading south to Port St Mary.
The following week February 17th is half term and a short break for the indoor league and it will recommence on Monday March 3rd when Laxey will entertain Sulby Cossacks, IoMSC Douglas host Port St Mary, Sulby go south to Castletown and IoMSC Sandsiders travel north to Kirk Michael.
However, there are I understand, Isle of Man Rifle Association competitions in the meantime. Although I have not seen any correspondence with reference to the H. D. Hamilton Meikle Club teams of 4, match, it is on the fixture list to be shot on the Port St Mary Rifle Club range this Thursday February 13th. I am unable to give the start time, format or entry fee. I assume this is still on schedule.
