The IoM Archery Club met on Sunday to shoot a Metric Round as part of the Club’s Handicap League. The start was delayed due to rain but on the Met. Office promise that it would clear by 11 o’clock the field was set up and shooting began. It rained persistently until 1:15, after which the sun became so hot that the archers were fighting for shade. The sun was better than the rain but it brought with it tricky wind conditions which created problems for the afternoon session.

In spite of the rain, Compound archer Colin Moore continued his run of good form by adding 52 points to his pb for the Long Metric round he shot in the morning session. After the handicap was applied Colin finished in third place.

Pete Mumford shooting a Metric I was trying out a number of changes to his bow not all of which were successful. He suffered particularly at the first distance of the afternoon session (50m) when five of his arrows failed to find the target. After handicapping he came in second last.

Dave Berry, Josh Trafford and Danny Cowin turned out to shoot a Gents WA1440 round. Josh, unable to practice due to exam commitments, was nowhere near his best. Danny Cowin shot consistently and although he suffered along with everyone else during the first distance of the afternoon he was never in any danger of being caught. His overall total after handicapping put him in second place. Dave Berry had a nightmare of a day finishing dead last after handicapping.

Lone Lady Compounder Joy Gough, coped well with the weather conditions to record the highest scratch score of the day, although her handicap total was only good enough for fourth place.

Barbara Harris struggled more with poor form than the weather and finished well down the field.

The Junior archers seemed to suffer the least from the adverse conditions. James Hill and Toby Young shot a Metric III (50, 40, 30, 20m) for the first time. Toby took the honours by a considerable margin but handicapping reversed their positions overall.

Tilly Ashton had an exceptional day. The sun actually bothered her more than the rain but Tilly added 100 points to her pb and took the overall win into the bargin. Apologies are owed to Tilly as the Records Officer failed to spot that the Metric V round she shot on the 24th of April was actually a New Club Record having beaten the one previously held by Aalin George. Obviously Tilly broke her own record at the weekend to set a new Club record of 1138.

Results Metric Handicap – 1. T.Ashton 1593 (144/1138/19/6)pb, 2. D.Cowin 1436 (143/1000/11/3), 3. C.Moore 1425 (72/581/12/4)pb, 4. J.Gough 1407 (142/1229/30/7), 5. J.Hill 1396 (123/737/3/1)pb, 6. T.Young 1391 (133/917/12/2)pb, 7. J.Trafford 1369 (139/975/7/3), 8. B.Harris 1324 (137/976/9/4), 9. P.Mumford 1310 (138/1176/32/6), 10. D.Berry 1233 (127/858/12/4).

Also shooting John Hill Short Metric 65/386/1/0 pb.