EMLEY MOOR - ROUND 9

The Sunday morning started off slightly breezy and with a light drizzle in the air, the weather forecast for the coming hours predicted strong winds later on in the day. Would the morning session shooters get lucky and miss the wind or would session 2 take a battering??
The MAD crew where in full attendance and all looking forward to the day.

Two MAD members in particular had a battle on their hands with Owen and Darren both in contention for the top spot, The UKAHFT title shot had gone right to the wire with several people in a position to take the number 1 slot at the final round.

     
                 Jenny & Dop...                                    Nick geoff & Owen...                          Colin and his pistol.

The safety brief for session 1 was done and dusted and the shooters went to thier pegs accompanied by the usual wishes of good luck to team members and rivals alike. The camaraderie between shooters at the UK events is certainly some of the best around and to many the shooting is an added bonus to a great social weekend.
My partners in crime for the weekend where Dave Lilywhite and Jane Sparkes, one thing was certain, if my score wasn't good the company certainly would be!! I think my ribs where still aching from laughing too much from the previous day!!!!

Starting on peg 1 all three of us got of to a flying start and nailed the 25yd supported stander, however for me the wheels fell off soon after with a miss on a long target on peg 2....
The course seemed to fly by with very few interruptions and the first 15 or so lanes seemingly unaffected by the wind, unfortunately that was soon to change as the trees thinned slightly allowing more of the strengthening wind through and it soon became necessary to start giving wind on some of the longer targets.
The most extreme target near the end of the course taking a full one and half mildots of wind over 40yds!! With several 30-35yd targets needing edge of kill. After what only seemed like minutes we'd arrived at peg 30 with the final scores on the doors for our group being me on 57, Jane 54 and Dave on a 53. Time now to head back and hand in the score cards and see how the other team MAD members had done.....

     
                   Chris on target...                                    Steph prone...                                        Guy Gillies.

Initial scores where very promising with plenty of scores in the high 50's making an appearance, one notable 57 being put in by our very own Ian Bainbridge and securing him a much wanted GOLD!!!!! But all of our efforts where soon to all be topped by Dopper's superb 60ex60!!! Fantastic shooting from someone so new to HFT.
However it wasn't the only clear of the day with Chris Cundey and Gavin Jones also showing the way with clear rounds. With the team score looking very solid how would Darren and Owen fair in the individuals??? After a few quick calculations It was going to be very very close at the top, and indeed it was with Chris Cundy sneaking up on Darren and Owen and clinching the top spot by a meer 1.6 points with Darren in second only separated from Owen by a staggeringly close 0.076 points!!!!!

What a close end to season and a massive well done to both Owen and Darren for taking it to the wire and fighting all the way, phenomenal shooting fellas.

     
  Geoff loading up...                                    Ian the man with the golden touch...       Terry on his way to a great score.

Still to come was session 2 and several more MAD members to shoot during the afternoon session. For this session I had been put on marshals duty which is a great opportunity to watch people shoot as well as solve any problems that may arise on the course.
The course had obviously been laid out well by the Emley Moor team and I only had to be called once to check a target which gave me a superb opportunity to watch an up and coming young MAD shooter, Harry Johnson. Target after target fell to Harry, and his MPR on what was to be an absolutely stunning round of 57 in what where not easy conditions!!! That score earned him a gold and the title of the UK's best shooter in the 9-13yr class, well done Harry, superb shooting.

   Big Chris...and Bigger H with some help from Tel

Finally the hooter went to signify the end of session 2 and after the scores had come in, shoot offs could begin to decide the top 5 for the day. First up to decide 4th and 5th was Darren against Tim Finley. After a tense set of kneelers Darren clinched 4th and Tim 5th Next up was Dopper, Gavin Jones and Chris Cundy to decide 1st, 2nd and 3rd.
An initial round of kneelers put Chris in top spot with Dop and Gavin to shoot it out for the next two places. Going straight into standers saw the concentration levels rise a notch with the eventual victor being Gavin with a superb 40+ yd kill in, what was by now, a strong wind.

The final tally of results for MAD ending up as a junior win,
a 9th!!! consecutive team win and 2 members in the top 5!!! What a weekend!!!

     
  Daz so close to the top spot...                            Richard with a clear round...                 Harry took the 9-13yr title.

ROLL ON THE GATHERING!!!!

    Vinny