Smallshaws take over at top of Bernard Yates Trophy league with
THE latest round of matches in Hinckley Air Rifle League’s Bernard Yates Trophy competition brought together the top two teams, with table leading Hinckley Phoenix visiting the home of the second place Smallshaws team.
The home side won the toss and decided to put their guests in to shoot first, a decision they may have regretted after a strong Phoenix first half that included
Craig Bown’s 26, Roxy Ratheram’s 27, and the 28s of Karen Bown and Luke Bown. These helped the visitors to score 7 points, giving them a small lead over Smallshaws who managed 6 points with the help of David Stephens’ 27, and the 26s of Mick Stephens, Robert Good, and Tom Williams.
However, the visitors failed to capitalise on their first half performance, their second half scoring just three more points courtesy of Geoff Herbert’s 26 and
Ian Ratheram’s 27.
Neither of the resulting totals, the 186 in the league match and the 10 points in the Yates Trophy, proved sufficient as Smallshaws managed to surpass each by one, finishing on 187 and 11 points after Bob West’s closed with a match winning 29, enabled by Rob Wainwright’s 26 and Simon Grewcock’s 27.
These results left both teams languishing towards the bottom of the league table but moved
Smallshaws to the top of the Bernard Yates Trophy standings, leap-frogging over their night’s opponents.
The match between the Trojans and Ashby Road ended with wins for both teams, the Trojans maintaining their perfect league record, whilst the visitors managed a comfortable win int the Yates Trophy. Shooting first, the visitors had a reasonable start thanks to Alison Finney’s 26, and the 28s of Danielle Finney and David White, but the Trojans improved on this with a Dave Brown 26, Phil Hood’s 28, and Leigh Hall’s 29. Ashby showed enviable consistency in the second half with their first four shooters – Innes Droomer, Bertie Bugden, Richard White, and Seamus Moore – all scoring 27s. It was only their final shooter, Pete Finney, who managed to break the pattern as he closed for them with his first 30 of the season.
The resulting 194 league score wasn’t quite enough as the home