Matthew Roosen outshone the bright lights of the St John's range as he hit his first 100 score.
That wasn't enough to prevent IoMSC Douglas taking the points in Division 1 by seven points, though. The bitterness of defeat was softened for young Matthew, however, as he won £100 - thanks to a long-standing wager with his father!
'Well my shooting has not been as good as I wanted it to be over the past few months. I hadn't really found a comfortable position with my new stock,' said Matthew who is a member of the Isle of Man Shooting Club Development squad under the tutelage of coach Michelle Smith.
'I have been taking some extra time to try and get a really solid position to shoot from. Last week was good but Mike [Duncalf] suggested a small change with my butt plate that made a huge difference.
'The match started off really well and I soon realised that I had not dropped any shots.
'For the last 4 shots or so I was really struggling to control my heart rate.
'I also have had a wager with my dad from when I first started shooting that he would give me 100 pounds for the first time I scored 100. '
'I am very pleased,' said Commonwealth Games shooter Michelle. 'It is fantastic to see Matthew performing so well after all he has been there or thereabouts for a while now.'
'As a youngster who started with the squad at its beginnings, he is a prime example of what can be achieved. I'm sure there's much more to come from him, I can't wait to see what he produces next.'
Tracey Skelton scored a 99 for the away side to carry on her good form in the match and solid 98s from Mark Osborn and David Humphrey secured victory.
IoMSC Sandsiders IoMSC Douglas
100 Matthew Roosen Tracey Skelton 99
97 Bill Jones Mark Osborn 98
97 Andy Traynor David Humphrey 98
96 Steve Callus Sam Jones 97
92 Andy Kneale Sharon Drysdale 97
482 ` 489
Douglas gained wins in Divisions 2 and 3.
As ever, full results from all the matches in all the divisions can be found at:
http://iomra.net/www/PAGES/Results.html
Laxey make their point at Kirk Michael
Laxey lived dangerously but beat Kirk Michael by just a single point. Gemma Kermode was their top gun on 97 while KM's Alex Trafford celebrated his last match as a Junior with their top score of 98 on the night before his (and his twin brother Josh's) 18th birthday on St Valentine's Day.
Kirk Michael Laxey
98 Alex Trafford (J) Gemma Kermode 97
96 Kevin Quinn Harry Creevy 96
95 Suzanne McKnight Andy Jessop 96
94 Tom Lord Stephen Curphey 95
94 Perryn Watson John Wood 94
477 478
Kirk Michael won Division 2, though, due to the unusual scenario of having more shooters available.
Port push on to beat Castletown
In the southern derby, Port St Mary came away from Castletown with the points.
Richard Arthur scored a 99 for the home side only for Ben Kelly to match him along with Port's Eddie Maddrell in a match between the two clubs with the largest squads to call on - 12 and 17 respectively.
Castletown Port St Mary
99 Richard Arthur Ben Kelly 99
98 Martin Moore Eddie Maddrell 99
97 Nigel Christian George Dalton-Brown 98
95 Shirley Caley Paul Clague 97
95 Lauren Cooper Ashley Gardner 97
484 490
PSM won Divisions 2 and 3 as well.
No-show hands Kirk Michael a win
Kirk Michael cruised to a somewhat unexpected league win in Division 3 of Scottish Target Shooting's Prone Team league. You've got to be in it to win it - and their opponents, Edinburgh University B, failed to submit any scores at all and so KM took the points and are now second in the division after five matches.
Scores: Suzanne McKnight 96, Perryn Watson 96, Alex Trafford 95, Colin Watson 90.
Manx Ladies day in NSRA Inter-Counties League
Isle of Man Rifle Association beat Somerset by 487 to 481 in Round 6 of this NSRA competition
Scores were: Tracey Skelton 99, Perryn Watson 98, Gemma Kermode 97, Sharon Drysdale 97, Suzanne McKnight 96.
