Eddy Woods, Tom Apps, Mick Ward and Junior shooters, Harry Ward, Matt Woods, Tom Allen and Jessica Kirley.
By John Wood
IT WAS a cool and sunny day for the Matlock Championships, a great day for clay target shooting at the Woods Point Gun Club’s August competition.
The annual Matlock Championships were wholly sponsored by Phillip Bradbury of Woods Point, a generous and enthusiastic club supporter.
The first three events all incorporated double rise targets where two targets are thrown simultaneously and the shooter has only two shots to expend. Pin point accuracy was required. Double Rise events are very infrequent so most shooters are pretty rusty in these events.
In the five pair Double Rise Eye Opener, no one managed that accuracy, but Eddy Woods with 9/10 managed to take the handy cash prize on his own.
The first of the Matlock championships was 20 pair Double Rise in which a perfect score of 40/40 was unobtainable. Mick Ward and Rob Kirley returned 33/40 each to go into a five pair shoot off for the sash.
Ward took the championship 38/50 and the AA Grade prize as well. Kirley, 37/50, was second in AA Grade.
In the other grades Bill Forrest was victorious in A Grade 29/40, Tom Allen second, 33/40, after a shoot off with Tom Apps. B grade was all juniors with Harry Ward first, 29/40, and Matt Woods second, 28/40. C Grade was an easy win for Jessica Kirley, with 18/40.
Ward Jnr and Woods Jnr also won the Junior first and second cash prizes.
The main championship was 60 targets Deauville Triples that incorporated a team of two shooters facing two targets Double Rise plus another target crossing rapidly from right to left. Two shooters, three targets, four shots.
Eddy Woods and Mick Ward led the way with an excellent 54/60 to take the championship sashes and prizes.
Tom Allen and Peter West were the successful second place team, 48/60, with a shoot off required between the teams of Rob and Jessica Kirley and Dave Hoon and Bill Forrest.
After another five triples the Kirley father and daughter team took third, 61/75, and Hoon and Forrest came fourth, 60/75.
This was a great fun event with some good shooting and a lot of laughs.
The day finished with the Matlock 20 target Tower event, this time only one target thrown at a time. Rob Kirley and Tom Apps finally posted the first possible scores of the day with 20/20 each.
Apps, who has shown over the years that he is an excellent Tower shooter, won the championship sash, 42/42, from Kirley, 41/42.
Six shooters, Eddy Woods, Phillip Desmond, Harry Ward, Bill Forrest, Mick Ward and Alan Guppy, qualified to shoot off for third and fourth prizes with 19/20 each. Guppy led the charge to take third, 37/38, Forrest fourth, 36/38.
The highest total score of the day to take the High Gun sash was shot by Mick Ward with an excellent 106/120.
The Junior High Gun was Tom Allen, 93/120, Harry Ward second, 90/120, and third place take by Matt Woods 88/120.
The club’s next shoot at Woods Point is the King of the Mountain Championships at 10.30am on Sunday 25 September.
