Winter League round-up
Sometimes he's a shooter and other times he's a team manager for the Island's teams as well as a coach, but the vast experience of Harry Creevy led the way as Laxey notched up wins in Divisions 1 and 2 of the winter league at Kirk Michael.
With both teams struggling for numbers on the night, the Commonwealth Games man's decisive ton was followed by consistently strong scores from his team-mates. Laxey thus atoned for defeat at the hands of Sulby in their opening fixture.
Suzanne McKnight was top scorer for Kirk Michael with 95 on a difficult night for the home side.
Kirk Michael lost to Laxey
95 Suzanne McKnight Harry Creevy 100
91 Alex Trafford(J) Stephen Curphy 96
91 Iliam Christian (J) Andy Jessop 96
90 Perryn Watson John Wood 95
89 Kevin Quinn Gary Kneale 95
456 482
Champions come good in Castletown
Port St Mary edged to victory against Castletown with three divisional wins.
In Division 1, 99s from Gary Knight and last week's centurion Derek Kermode were followed by Kevan Kneale and Juan Clague on 97 and 96. The top scorers for the home side with 98s were Ian Arthur and Trevor Taubman.
Port St Mary beat Castletown
98 Ian Arthur Gary Knight 99
98 Trevor Taubman Derek Kermode 99
97 Steve Gardner Ben Kelly 98
96 Richard Arthur Kevan Kneale 97
96 Henry Qualtrough Juan Clague 96
485 489
Douglas do the business
In a tight match at the Sinclair Range, IOMSC Douglas pulled out the stops to beat IOMSC Sandsiders by seven points. Sandsiders took the honours in the division 2 fixture, though, due in part to their greater numbers of shooters available on the night.
IOMSC Douglas beat IOMSC Sandsiders
99 Andy Traynor Sharon Drysdale 99
98 Bill Jones Sam Jones (J) 98
95 Tony Kneale Paul Perkins 97
95 Mathew Roosen (J) Tracey Skelton 97
94 Phil Kneen Christian Eaton (J) 97
481 488
The half-term school holidays this month mean there is a break in Winter League action until October 31 but there are still other competitions running to keep rifle shooters busy including the Lady of Mann event. We also hope to carry a full report and photos on Monday's 101 Challenge Cup battle down south at Castletown in next week's Examiner.
Castletown have a bye in the next round of Winter League fixtures while IOMSC Douglas play host to Kirk Michael. Sulby will travel to Port St Mary and Laxey have a home match against St John's based IOMSC Sandsiders.
Old but gold in Veterans’ cup and Oake memorial trophy
In the recent midweek challenge match at St John's on October 12, the Veterans’ Cup for over-50s was won by Eddie Maddrell, who beat Nick Brown by just two points.
Both men shot high scores in the elimination rounds, but it was Eddie who managed to clinch victory in the final round.
Meanwhile, special mention must go to new shooter Sue Keown who got the better of her nerves to beat Steve Callus in the first round. Her look of disbelief that she had got through does much to give new shooters the confidence to improve. Everyone is beatable so don't write yourself off, get out there and cause some 'shock waves' of your own!
Results
Knock-Out Round
98 Tony Kneale Barry Jones 94
98 Nick Brown Richard Arthur 97
89 Steve Callus Sue Keown 93
Eddie Maddrell Bye
Semi-Finals
92 Tony Kneale Nick Brown 94
93 Sue Keown 93 Eddie Maddrell 98
Final
97 Nick Brown Eddie Maddrell 99
Oake Memorial Trophy (for over 60s)
After missing out to Eddie Maddrell in the Veterans’ Cup, 'Young' Nick Brown held his nerve to claim victory in the Oake Memorial Trophy, with an excellent score of 197/200. Again, like Sue, he could not quite believe it, especially as he had to shoot the final card without any other competitors - not always the best atmosphere to achieve the best results, even in the pleasantly-lit surroundings of the excellent 15-yard Sinclair Range at St Johns.
Results
Nick Brown 99, 98 = 197
Richard Arthur 96, 98 =194
Tony Kneale 97, 95 =92
Barry Jones 93, 97 =190
Steve Callus 89, 93 =182
Times they are a-changing
While it may not affect all target shooters on the island, the newly-announced ISSF rules changes for 2017-20 will have an impact on those taking part in the Easter Shoot next year. Rifle and Air Pistol competitors must say goodbye to their sideblinders while bipods will disappear from Rifle matches.
