The Isle of Man Archery Club sent an eighteen man contingent to the Orrell Championships in Wigan at the weekend and returned home with three trophies and several medals to show for it. The Orrell Championship is a Portsmouth round and is classed as a Record Status shoot which attracts high calibre archers as well as beginners.

Sarah Rigby was the first to lift the silverware, taking the Ladies Compound Trophy with a score of 60/580/40. This was achieved in spite of Sarah having back problems which were exacerbated by the trip. Joy Gough had been lying in third place but the scores in the afternoon detail pushed her off the podium.

In the Ladies Recurve division, Barbara Harris found herself up against the high ranking archer Vlada Priestman and ex-club mate Karen Lott. Karen, now shooting out of Guildford, retained the trophy she won last year; while Vlada took the Overall Recurve Trophy. Barbara, who was short of practice due to illness, shot solidly to take third place and a bronze medal.

A bronze medal also went to Tilly Ashton in the Junior Girls Recurve. Ten year old Tilly only took up archery a year ago and began coming to the Club shoots this season. Orrell was her first taste of a Record Status Championship and far from being intimidated by the occasion Tilly added 18 points to her pb for the round. This may be her first medal but it will certainly not be her last.

Charlotte Harris was also competing in the Junior Girls Recurve. Charlotte had taken time away from archery after representing the Isle of Man at the Junior Commonwealth Games in Samoa last September. She managed only two club nights and one Sunday shoot due to school work and the after- effects of a tonsillectomy. Charlotte was only looking to improve on the one score she had posted this season, instead she added 9 points to her pb to break the 550 barrier for the first time. Her score of 60/554/27 put her into first place some 67 points ahead of her nearest rival. This meant that Charlotte lifted the Trophy for the third time in a row and for the fifth time overall.

The combined scores of mother and daughter Barbara and Charlotte Harris also saw them lift the Family Trophy and the gold medals that went with it, much to their delight.

In the Junior Boys Recurve, Josh Trafford was looking to retain the title he won last year while Toby Young, Joseph Reaney and James Hill were hoping to get in the medals for the first time. Josh led the morning detail but was pushed into second by an archer in afternoon detail and had to settle for a silver medal this time around. Toby, James and Joseph had a good time but none of the boys got anywhere near their top scores.

The Senior Gents did not fare so well. Dave Moore managed to outshoot his club mates but did not finish on the podium in the Gents Compound. Tony Hartley showed a welcome return to form in the Gents Recurve with a season’s best score of 60/555/24 but finished outside the running. Dave Berry also showed signs of a return to form but Danny Cowin had a nightmare of a shoot and probably wishes to forget it. John Hill took part for the first time and was just a few points shy of his pb.

Well done to everyone.

Apologies to Dave Berry whose score for last week’s round was accidently omitted. Dave scored 60/502/7 and finished in fourth place ahead of John Hill, Matt Elliott and Alex Parkes.