THERE were some dramatic matches in the seventh and final round of the Stratford & District Airgun League’s Webley Shield and it was Wilmcote who prevailed with 12 points overall from their seven matches.
Hosts Clifford had a 20-point handicap advantage over Wilmcote and they built on this through their first three shooters Trevor Morris (32), Ian Perkins (29) and Jay Morris (31), but Wilmcote fought back as Jamie Clarke shot his fifth possible in seven matches and Lester Langford scored his second possible in his first season of shooting.
Andrew Clingan’s 34 and Paul Clingan’s 33 took the visitors to victory with a final score of 232-229.
MEB started well against Avenue as Paul Onions shot 32 and veteran shooters Ray Hodgkins and Derek Powers 30 apiece and, with 11 handicap points under their belt, MEB were in a strong position.
However, Avenue’s third shooter Alan Crichton started to pull back points for the visitors with a solid 33 which proved to be the foundation for good shooting from James Wilby and Paul Lowe who shot 34s, Steve Garlick who shot 33 and Steve Parrack who got his third possible this season.
MEB could not match this level of shooting and lost the match 227-220. Avenue are runners-up with 11 points from their matches.
Binton B also had 11 handicap points to boost them against Avon and Binton raised their game as four shooters scored higher than their individual averages including Ian Powell who shot a personal best of 33, Ben Chamberlain (32) and Chris Green (31).
With only one loose three on the scorecard, Binton finished on 223 points.
Avon’s first three shooters all shot 29 and then their next three – Colin Fulford, Steve Ray and Alison McMillan – all just missed out on possibles as they scored 34s.
Richard Groom finished the night with 32 and Avon narrowly lost the match with 221 points.
Binton A got off to a good start in their match at Home Guard as Chris Reed shot his third possible this season and team-mate Andy Smith shot 34.
The whole team shot only bulls and fours for scores over 30 as Will Cemis, their final shooter, made 33. With only six shooters, they had to take an A N Other score of 28 which did not help their cause to finish on 225 points.
Home Guard also shot consistently with 33s from Tim Stephens and Alan Brookes and 34 from Tom Morris. The final shooter of the night, Andy Morris, finished the match in style with maximum points for the seventh time this season and Guard’s final tally was 231, which included two handicap points.
Now the Webley Shield has finished, Jamie Clarke has been declared winner of the Baildham Cup for the second year running having achieved the highest average score in both league and Webley Shield matches of 34.4.
Andy Smith with an average of 34.3 is the runner-up.
Tom Morris has won the Ray Warnock Memorial Trophy – an improvement cup awarded to the shooter with the highest percentage improvement in the Baildham average competition – with 48.09 per cent.
It comes as no surprise to shooters that Lester Langford, who has had an exceptional first season, has won the Under 21 Highest Average Trophy with an average of 32.6, which is the highest average recorded since the competition began three years ago.
The turnout for the Norman Dale Cup was so disappointingly low that it was decided to alter the format so all shooters had seven shots at the target instead of the usual five.
It turned out to be close but Ben Withers won the competition with 29.2, Marc Anderton was runner-up with 29.1 and Derek Powers was third with 28.1 points.
