BA Postal League, November 2007

Arundown AC enjoyed a successful start in this season's BA Postal League with a win in the Portsmouth Recurve competition against Cranford AC's B team by the score of 2619 - 2115. The Arundown team score was made up of:

• Graham Brown 541
• Russell French 531
• Rod Brown 530
• Liz Bowyer 519
• William Martin 498

Also shooting on the day were John Nolan (460) and Richard Cobden (457).

The next Portsmouth Recurve round will be shot on Sunday 9th December.

Unfortunately late notification of fixtures by the Postal League's organisers and the Arundown Portsmouth Tournament conspired to prevent us from shooting the first round of the Frostbite Recurve competition, which handed our opponents Malden AC 'B' a walkover. The next four rounds still provide the opportunity for fresh air and longer distance, so let's give it our best shot on Sunday 16th December.

Young Archers of Angmering v Worthing Juniors, Saturday 24th November

17 hardy young souls - seven from the Young Archers of Angmering and 10 from Worthing Archery Club - turned out for the inaugural fixture between the two clubs at Worthing's home field on Saturday.

Despite the cold (and boy, was it cold!? Just ask the parents!), the young archers set about their task in a determined manner. Enthusiasm was high and the curtailment of the match after 30 arrows probably owed more to the blue noses and toeses of the parents attending than any discomfort suffered by the archers.

The final outcome, with the best five scores from each club counting towards the team total, saw Worthing emerge victorious by 817 - 636. Top score of the day, however, came from Pip Tucknott with 241, followed by William Martin (Worthing) with 217. Emily Cobden turned in another fine performance with 176, while Isaac Rowlatt-Harrod (88), Leo (67) and Joshua Cobden (64) also chipped in with contributions to the team score. Not far off the pace were Parco with 49 and Disney Rowlatt-Harrod with 46.

The match was shot in a friendly but very competitive manner and was followed by hot food in the form of a very welcome barbeque. Our thanks to Doreen Cannon for organising the match. We look forward to staging a return at Angmering early in the New Year.

Good Shooting - or What?

When I had my camera with me down at the Targets at our Portsmouth Shoot on 18th Nov, I noticed that Eric Pember from Chichester had just pile-driven a fantastic group with his Recurve, and took a snap of it. On the next end he did even better, amazing, all in the inner ten ring, see the picture below (but the first end is on the right, the second is on the left). Compare his group with the two Compound archers using the Triple Face on Target 19.
Eric ended up in second place with 563, and as it happens these were the only two perfect ends he managed in the shoot - but he certainly got his 'perfects' in style.
More Pictures in the website Gallery

We Don't Get Trophies Like This In Sussex

Back in September the report on the Lincolnshire County Clout at Boston mentioned the trophy given to the Lincolnshire archer with the highest score. At last they've published pictures on their website (but I don't recommend visiting it as it seems to want to down load all its picture galleries onto your computer, over 50 megabytes) and here's a picture of the Wilkinson Sword, which must be up there with the Scorton Silver Arrow in the top-rated archery trophies League.

Arundown Portsmouth Tournament, Sunday 18th November 2007

The results of the Arundown Portsmouth Tournament have now been published and can be found here. Congratulations to the medal winners and thanks to everyone taking part for making the day thoroughly enjoyable.

Notable performances from Arundown members included medals for Emily Cobden and Rebecca Tucknott in the Junior Ladies Under 13 Recurve and Under 16 Recurve respectively, while Isaac Rowlatt-Harrod improved on his last competition score by more than 70 points to finish in second place behind Sam Randall of Chichester Bowmen in the Junior Gents Under 12 Recurve. There is more and better still to come from these young archers, especially Isaac when he learns not to be surprised at hitting the gold!

A special mention and thanks must go to Isaac's target partner, Richard Cater of High Weald AC, who took time to help and mentor Isaac throughout the final session while on his way to second place in the Gents Recurve Double Round.

Competition in the Junior Gents Under 16 and Under 14 Recurve saw rivalries from the Meridian Junior shoot renewed. Thomas Hooper of Bognor Regis AC once again triumphed in the Under 16s Single and Double Rounds ahead of Liam McAnaspie of Six Villages. Liam did, however, take first place in the Triple Round.

In the Under 14s, Daniel Phillips of Holbrook and William Martin of Worthing AC took first and second place respectively in the Single Round with Pip Tucknott of Arundown a distant third after a disappointing start to his round. Daniel continued to dominate in the Under 14s Double Round, recording a personal best Portsmouth score of 533 for a combined total of 1,057. Pip followed in second place, shooting a new personal best of 516 for a two round total of 1,019 and a new Arundown junior record. Daniel made it a clean sweep by taking first place in the Triple Round.

With Russell French unable to shoot due to work commitments, Richard Cobden still nursing an injury and Graham Brown on catering duties, it was left to John Nolan, Rod Brown and Liz Bowyer to carry the Arundown flag in the seniors.

Despite struggling with a heavy cold John recorded a respectable 478, but Liz found the transition from Clout shooting at 180 yards to Portsmouth at 20 yards had come a few weeks too soon and had a frustrating time shooting 492. Despite his organisational duties, however, Rod shot a fine 541 for ninth place in the Gents Recurve.

Once again Roger McMullan performed the judge's duties with a trademark mixture of authority and good humour, while his wife Zillah again provided invaluable assistance with registration, preparing the final results and as Lady Paramount. Our grateful thanks to you both.

Thanks also to Steve Hooper and Daniel Phillips for pitching in and helping to take down the equipment at the end of the day. You are gentlemen.

The efforts of several club members who turned out early to get the hall ready for the shoot and then returned late in the day to pack up cannot go unmentioned, so take a bow Hamish, Roger, Richard and Josh. Likewise, thanks to everyone who gave up their time the previous Saturday to refurbish the club's equipment at John Nolan's workshop and to Graham Brown, Liz Bowyer and Julia Tucknott who took care of the catering.

And, finally, special thanks to Rod Brown for organising yet another successful tournament. Great job and 'nuff said.

Arundown Indoor Tournament, Sunday 18th November

The target list for the Arundown Portsmouth shoot next Sunday has been published.

Help from any and all club members in setting up the hall on Sunday morning would be much appreciated. Please arrive at the School at 8am.

29th Crookhorn Shoot, Sunday 4th November 2007

The Mountbatten Centre at Alexandra Park, Portsmouth was the impressive venue for Forest of Bere Bowmen's 29th Crookhorn shoot last Sunday.

Well-known as a friendly but highly competitive competition, the Crookhorn is also possibly the largest Portsmouth shoot on the South Coast. Four Arundown members had squeezed into the target lists by the skin of their fletchings some three weeks before the closing date, albeit for the first session which necessitated a 6.30 am start for some. Immediately after the session it was agreed that shooting at such an hour represented a less than agreeable start to the Sabbath. It was further resolved that in 2008 the entry forms (for the third session) would be submitted soon after Easter.

Despite the early start, John Nolan recovered from a poor first dozen arrows to post a score of 480. And, despite being less than fresh from their exploits the previous day at the Middlesex County Clout Championship, Russell French and Rod Brown managed to readjust their sights and score 520 and 511 respectively.

Like John, both Russ and Rod scored more heavily towards the end of the round. This may or may not have had something to do with the performance of Pip Tucknott for, after three dozen arrows, the Young Archer of Angmering was leading the Arundown challenge.

"He's beating me by two points!" muttered a rather disgusted Russ.

"And I'm behind you!" said a worried-looking Rod.

"Tread on his arrows!" I advised and left them to it.

To their credit neither found the need to resort to such tactics but, in any case, Pip had a spare set of arrows in his bag. He finally recorded a new personal best competition score of 507, an improvement of 15 over his second session score at the Meridian Junior Open in October.

Due to absentees, the opportunity arose to take part in the next session. Russ and Rod gracefully declined and repaired to the cafeteria, leaving John and Pip to shoot a second round.

Both started brightly, but the early start eventually took its toll and their scoring dipped towards the end of the round. John recorded a final score of 479, while Pip signed for 498 and a double round score of 1005, a new Arundown junior record.

Full results from the competition will be posted on the Forest of Bere Bowmen website soon. There may be a small delay as the club's Records Officer Keith Mills (who many of us know as a judge from the last Sussex County Championships) was rushed into hospital last week. The latest news is that Keith is over the worst. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Our thanks go to Forest of Bere Bowmen and the organiser, Daph Leaworthy, for taking some trouble to accommodate Arundown's archers this year. The Crookhorn's reputation as a friendly tournament is well-deserved and it is most definitely an occasion that's worth attending.

Middlesex County Clout Championship, Saturday 3rd November 2007

The usual suspects - Liz Bowyer, Jon Stafford, Graham Brown, Russell French and Rod Brown - trekked north once more last Saturday for the final tassel-status clout shoot of 2007: the Middlesex County Clout Championship. The venue: Grasshoppers Club, Osterley (home to Greenwood Osterley Archers). The mission: more tassels and more Sussex county records to add to recent hauls.

Once again our intrepid band of clouters was blessed with almost perfect weather for the shoot: blue skies, dazzling sun and a moderate wind, although that proved to be variable and occasionally tricky. It also proved to be a good omen.

The full results from the shoot can be found here but, in summary:

• in the Ladies Recurve, Liz Bowyer took first place with a score of 164 and with it the Sussex county Ladies single and double round two way clout records. Her closest rival, Jeanetta McLean of Brent Valley, scored 157, leaving the rest of the field trailing in their wake;

• following up his second place in the National Championships, Graham Brown took first place in the Gents Longbow with a score of 55; and
  

• in the Gents Recurve, a score of 149 was enough to give Jon Stafford second place in the Visitors competition and the Sussex county single and double round two way clout records. In the same section, Russell French (124) was third and Rod Brown (84) sixth.

All in all a very satisfactory conclusion to a successful season for the club's clout archers. Well done to you all!

Plans are in hand for the club's first open clout shoot to be staged in the early Spring of 2008. Anyone wishing to flex their muscles and give clout archery a try before then should contact one of the above archers. On any fine Sunday (and Wednesday and Friday evenings in the summer) you'll find them at the far end of the field.