The Outdoor season came to its traditional close on Sunday with the annual Nev Mason Long Haul Trophy. The shoot was devised as a bit of fun by the late Nev Mason and comprises of three dozen arrows shot at each of two distances - 60 and 40 yards. The scoring is metric ten zone and archers can only use a traditional bow, or a recurve bow that has been stripped of all shooting aids. No sighting aids are allowed and much time is spent trying to spot how the various archers have bent the rules such as stickers or engravings on the bow or artfully placed grass cuttings on the field to use as a reference point.
Proceedings began in a light hearted way with much chatter but gradually became quieter and more intense as the competition wore on. Tony Hartley, who has won the trophy on numerous occasions, set the pace early on with last year’s winner Colin Moore trailing him by 7 points with everyone else at least 30 points further back.
At the back of the field Barbara Harris was wondering if she would make it to double figures as only 13 out of 36 arrows reached the target at the first distance. Rhys Moore was showing everyone why he should stick to Compound archery and hoping he would not come dead last. Sadly for him he hoped in vain.
By the end of the first distance Tony Hartley had opened up a 30 point lead over Colin Moore, with Dave Berry coming up strongly. It soon became obvious that Tony was not going to be caught and the real fight was for second and third. At the close of play it appeared that there was a dead heat between Dave and Colin but when the Records Office checked the scores she found a discrepancy in favour of Dave Berry which put him in second place. Dave Moore shot a pb to finish in fourth and first timer Matt Elliot did well to finish in fifth.
Meanwhile the junior archer took part in the Short Haul Trophy. The rules were exactly the same but they shot distances in accordance with their age group. The early running was made by Nathan Kinrade shooting the event for the first time but he was clearly unwell and began to feel worse as the shoot progressed. He did brilliantly to finish the shoot and claim second place overall but Jacob Brookes shot up a storm over the second distance to take the win. Toby Young overhauled Tilly Ashton to finish third as early misses at the second distance put paid to her chances.
Results – Nev Mason Long Haul Trophy – 1. T.Hartley 72/512/9/2, 2. D.Berry 70/393/2/0, 3. C.Moore 69/391/2/0, 4. D.Moore 59/314/1/0pb, 5. M.Elliott 57/290/1/1pb, 6. P.Mumford 51/269/1/1, 7. D.Cowin 46/263/0/0, 8. B.Harris 41/214/0/0pb, 9. R.Moore 36/174/2/1.
Denise Hill Short Haul Trophy – 1. J.Brookes 70/496/10/5, 2. N.Kinrade 66/394/4/2, 3. T.Young 63/381/2/0, 4. T.Ashton 61/351/2/0, 5. J.Reaney 64/329/0/0.
