The new Indoor season got underway at The Hub at Onchan on Sunday. The traditional Portsmouth opener was a little low on numbers but it was nice to see new face Eric Lutes, and to welcome Lesley Sleight back from international duties. The Portsmouth comprises of 60 arrows shot at the largest of the indoor target faces – single face for Recurve, triple face for Compound and was shot as part of the Club’s Scratch League.

The largest field of the day was provided by the Gents Compound where Pete Mumford, Simon Musgrove and Dave and Rhys Moore faced off against each other. Rhys Moore made the best start dropping only 3 points in his first dozen arrows, while 1 point separated the other three. Rhys maintained his lead over the second dozen but then seemed to lose focus during the third dozen as he struggled with the difficult lighting within the sports hall. Whilst he never dropped out of the gold, Rhys just could not hit enough 10’s and he found himself a point down on dad Dave. Abandoning the tinted lensed shooting glasses he had been utilizing Rhys tried to get back in front but even when Dave punched an arrow into the 8 Rhys still found himself 2 points adrift. A perfect score with his last six arrows sealed victory for Moore senior and Rhys tasted a rare defeat. Both Pete Mumford and Simon Musgrove put all their arrows into the gold but as with Rhys they hit too many 9’s. Pete Mumford, gloriously accessorized in his new blue and mint green colour scheme, was the more consistent of the two and took third place.

Lone Lady Compound Joy Gough put in a reasonable opening score but was feeling the lack of practice since the end of the Outdoor season.

Barbara Harris had some company in the form of Lesley Sleight but Lesley was shooting Barebow and so the two were not in direct competition. Harris put into practice a new shooting regime she had worked out with her coach and recorded the highest score she has had in the last three years, falling just 4 points short of her pb. Lesley Sleight struggled to find an aiming point and was nowhere near her best.

Eric Lutes was the only male Recurve archer in the morning session and was shooting in competition for the first time. It took him a little while to find a sight mark but once he did his form was encouraging.

In the afternoon session Danny Cowin turned up with actual juveniles James Hill, Jacob Brookes and Nathan Kinrade. Danny had some equipment problems to start with as he adjusted his set-up for Indoors but started well. Cowin’s lack of practice showed a little as he had a problem with consistency and whilst he easily outshot Eric Lutes, Barbara Harris’ score remained unbeaten.

Jacob Brookes managed to turn up without a belt for his quiver but it did not put him off and he took an easy win. James Hill struggled to find a sight mark but once in shot well enough for second place. Nathan Kinrade had a bad day and had to settle for third.

Joy used the afternoon session to trial a back tension release aid and did not post a score, while Pete Mumford fiddled with his red ring in the hopes that it would improve his aim for the up-coming Worcester rounds. Only Dave Moore and Barbara Harris carried on to shoot a Double Portsmouth round. Dave improved upon his morning score and the combined total meant that he equalled his pb. Barbara had never shot a double round before so her final score was naturally a personal best.

Results Portsmouth – Gents Compound – 1.D.Moore 60/574/37, 2.R.Moore 60/571/31, 3.P.Mumford 60/565/25, 4.S.Musgrove 60/563/23. Ladies Compound – J.Gough 60/545/11. Ladies Recurve – B.Harris 60/553/26. Ladies Barebow – L.Sleight 60/437/4. Gents Recurve – 1.D.Cowin 60/544/24, 2.E.Lutes 60/432/6. Junior Boys – 1.J.Brookes 60/454/3, 2.J.Hill 60/464/9, 3.N.Kinrade 59/369/2.

Double Portsmouth – Gents Compound – D.Moore 120/1150/73=pb. Ladies Recurve – B.Harris 120/1101/47pb.