Fifteen of the IoM Archery Club Members travelled to Wigan to take part in the 16th Orrell Archers shoot. Fortunately the sea was relatively calm and the group had an easy time on the trip over.

The Orrell shoot was, as ever, friendly and welcoming. The inexperienced archers in the group Carl Albrigt and Junior Club Members James Hill, Toby Young and Joseph Reaney were able to relax and deliver personal best scores for the round. Carl added 24 points to his pb, as did Toby Young. Joseph Reaney added 28 points to his personal best score while James Hill added a whopping 101 points to his. Their scores were not high enough to get them into the medals but they all gained valuable experience and had a lot of fun into the bargain.

The other Junior archers in the line-up on Sunday were Josh Trafford and Charlotte Harris. Josh was a little disappointed not to record a pb but his score was enough to take the bronze medal. In fact his score tied with the person in second place. When this happens the number of golds scored is taken into account and Josh had one fewer.

Charlotte Harris who had suffered an incapacitating migraine on Friday woke on Saturday with a bit of a cough and the sniffles but decided she was well enough to travel. By Sunday morning she had a hacking cough, a streaming nose and was getting by on pain killers and cough drops. Charlotte was determined to shoot and although she was nowhere near her best her score of 521 gave victory by a comfortable margin and she lifted the Trophy for the fourth time.

The line-up in the Gents Compound was an unusual one with Rhys Moore shooting in place of his father Dave. Rhys had only shot a compound bow a couple of times in preparation for Orrell but his score of 554 was very respectable. Billy Lightfoot who had just undergone knee surgery and essentially shot the round balanced on one leg. Pete Mumford shot solidly but the standard on Sunday was very high, the eventual winner dropping just eight points.

Joy Gough, the defending Ladies Compound Champion, found it hard to find the 10 but was happy to see her title pass to fellow Club Member Sarah Rigby who had no such difficulty.

In the Ladies Recurve division Karen Lott was looking to improve upon last year’s third place and did so in style. Her winning score of 557 gave her a comfortable win and saw her lift the beautiful cut glass Ladies Recurve Trophy. This was not the only Trophy she picked up however as her score combined with that of husband Rob secured the Family Trophy. This was particularly nice since Orrell was to be Rob’s last shoot as an IoM Club member before he took up a job in Surrey. We all wish him the best of luck.

Results Orrell Archers 16th Annual Shoot – Gents Compound Pete Mumford 60/561/22, Billy Lightfoot 60/556/17, Rhys Moore 60/554/23. Ladies Compound – Sarah Rigby 60/575/35 (Ladies Compound Champion), Joy Gough 60/546/9. Gents Recurve – Danny Cowin 60/516/6, Rob Lott 60/514/16, Carl Albrigt 60/445/4pb. Ladies Recurve - Karen Lott 60/557/27 (Ladies Recurve Champion), Barbara Harris 60/510/12. Junior Gents Recurve – Josh Trafford 60/527/14 (Overall third place), James Hill 60/462/7pb, Toby Young 60/454/8pb, Joseph Reaney 58/441/?pb. Juniors Ladies -  Charlotte Harris 60/521/14 (Junior Ladies Champion.