The IoM Archery Club got the Indoor season underway at Onchan on Sunday with a Portsmouth round. This consists of 60 arrows shot at a distance of 18 yards. There was a decent turn out with nine adults and four juniors taking part.

Dave Moore, Pete Mumford and Colin Moore lined up in the Gents Compound division. After the first dozen arrows Dave had the lead, Pete was in second and Colin was in third; this state of affairs remained unchanged and Dave Moore took the honour of the first win of the season. Dave carried on shooting into the afternoon and recorded a total for the Double Portsmouth just one point below his personal best.

Joy Gough was the only Ladies Compound archer competing on Sunday and put in a respectable score of 545.

Danny Cowin, Josh Trafford, John Hill and Matt Elliot fought for the honours in the Gents Recurve division. It soon became apparent that the fight for first place was between Danny and Josh, with John and Matt struggling to take the last place on the podium. It was all square between Danny and Josh after the first dozen arrows but Danny had a two point lead at the end of the second dozen. By the end of the third dozen Cowin had extended his lead to five points over Trafford. Josh fought back to lie just two points behind going into the final dozen. Both Trafford and Cowin put in their best dozen total of the day but Josh just edged it to draw level with Danny. The win then depended upon the number of golds scored – Danny had 23 and Josh had 24 and so took the honours. The fight for third place was less exciting with John Hill leading Matt Elliot from start to finish.

Barbara Harris was the only Lady Recurver in action. Lacking practice and clearly lacking focus (at one point she had to halt the shoot because she had left her finger tab at the boss) her performance was well below her best.

In the Junior section Tilly Ashton shot for the first time and set a decent score of 325 for her first attempt. Joseph Reaney, James Hill and Jacob Brookes lined up in the Boys recurve. James Hill was breaking in new equipment and was consequently a little below his best. Joseph Reaney shot a little erratically but still managed to add eleven points to his personal best for the round and take the win. Jacob Brookes, shooting indoors for only the third time, showed marked improvement adding a whopping 171 to his personal best for the Portsmouth.

Results Portsmouth – Gents Compound: 1.D. Moore 60/572/33, 2.P. Mumford 60/561/21, 3.C. Moore 60/558/17. Ladies Compound: J. Gough 60/545/11. Gents Recurve: 1.J. Trafford 60/550/24, 2.D. Cowin 60/550/23, 3.J. Hill 60/412/3, 4.M. Elliot 59/385/0pb. Ladies Recurve: B. Harris 60/518/12. Girls Recurve: T. Ashton 56/325/3pb. Boys Recurve: 1.J. Reaney 60/452/5pb, 2.J. Hill 59/399/3, 3.J. Brookes 59/365/3pb.

Double Portsmouth: D. Moore 120/1150/72.