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[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 31 May 2014 F A Wilde Trophy, 300yards[/b]

It was the quiet before the storm as the promised wet weather failed to arrive and the conditions were almost perfect for target shooting. The occasional quick flick of the wind or the corresponding drop off was just enough to spoil the aspirations of most competitors as only three possibles were shot on the day.

Two of those were by Nick Cock visiting from Lithgow who every time he comes to the Bathurst range seems to show the locals how to beat the challenge of the conditions be they rough or benign. Cocks’ 100.15 was by far the best shoot of the day.

In F-class it was left to Geoff Willis to rest the initiative away from Lyndhurst visitors Greg Emms and Bruce Rowlands and he was ably assisted by Jeff Eppleston and Grahame Willis. Geoff Willis finished with a 60.5 possible for a total of 119.8 to snatch the win from Emms on 118.11 and Eppleston on 118.9. Grahame Willis finished with a 117.10 after two consecutive bulls eyes late in his second stage curtailed his attempt at the Cock of the Walk.

In target rifle the Bathurst contingent was always floundering in Cocks’ wake and even club champion Steve Williams was unable to match Cocks’ brilliance. Williams shot a pair of 49’s but was well down on the centre bullseye count. Graeme Bright continues to battle the odd poor shot and managed just 96.08.

B grade was a battle between Dennis Lavelle, Ron Gibson and John Coghill and it was Lavelle who set the tone with a 48.04 first stage. Coghill threw away his chances with a first stage 44.0 and Gibson likewise struggled with just 46.0. Lavelle came back to the field a little with a 46.01 second stage but Gibson despite an improved 47.03 failed to measure up.

Half the field shot at or above their handicap and all shooters were in the high 90’s or above so the F A Wilde trophy is not beyond any competitor with stages at 500 yards and 600 yards left to complete the competition.

The second round of the F A Wilde trophy will be at the 500 yard mound next Saturday.  

Scores:
G S Willis FSA 119.8 (2) 100 R Gibson TRB 93.03 (9 ¼) 100 G P Willis FSA 117.10 (3 ¾) 100 S Williams TRA 98.08 (2) 100 J Eppleston FSA 118.9 (1 ¼) 99 ½ G Bright TRA 96.08 (2 ¾) 98 ¾ D Lavelle TRB 94.05 (4 ¼) 98 ¼ J Coghill TRB 90.02 (6 ½) 96 ½ N Cock TRA (Lithgow) 100.15 G Emms FSA (Lyndhurst) 118.11 B Rowlands FSA (Lyndhurst) 111.1

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 24 May 2014 Secretary's Trophy 900yards[/b]

 The final round of the Club Championship concluded with a whimper as current Club Champion Steve Williams and F-class champion Jeff Eppleston retained their crowns with a minimum of fuss. Williams’ lead of eighteen points was pared back by Graeme Bright to the final thirteen point margin in what is Williams’ nineteenth victory and seventh in a row.

F-class champion Eppleston went into the day with a ten point lead and despite some indifferent shooting held Geoff Willis out by five points. Epplestons’ eighth win means his is still the only name engraved on the trophy since its inception in 2007. The B grade title was an anticlimax as Ron Gibson, at the time leading by 4 points, was unable to attend the final shoot and Dennis Lavelle failed to complete two 600 yard shoots making him ineligible.

The B grade title went to John Coghill who had a day out shooting his highest score in more than 17 months, surprising everyone including himself with a 50.06 possible, topped off with a 47.04 second stage. Coghill picked up 16 points in the Championship, won the B grade Cock of the Walk and overall high score in the process of winning the QVM trophy, the handicap section of the club championship.

Apart for a short patch of instability early in the shoot and the light fading a little, late in the day, conditions were almost perfect with good even light and a whisper of south westerly breeze. Scores in general were high, particularly in the target rifle group, with most achieving 100% handicap rating or better.

The F-class group was not the dominant force they normally are, with the best scores being a number of 58’s. Grahame Willis, who had a slow start to the season, finished very well taking out the COW and finishing within five points of his brother Geoff in the Championship.

Bright won the Secretary’s trophy comfortably by 2 ¾ points over Lavelle.

 Shooting returns to the 300 yard mound next Saturday with the first of three rounds of the F A Wilde trophy.     

Scores:
J Coghill TRB 97.10 (6 ¾) 100 G Bright TRA 96.08 (5 ½) 100 G P Willis FSA 116.8 (5 ¼) 100 D Lavelle TRB 95.06 (6) 100 G S Willis FSA 115.8 (2 ¼) 97 ¾ S Williams TRA 95.07 (1 ¾) 96 ¾ A Smith FSB 101.2 (14 ¾) 96 ½ J Eppleston FSA 110.4 (5 ¼) 96 C Mills FSB 88.0 (18 ¼) 88 ½

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 17 May 2014 The Secretary's Trophy 800yards[/b]

 A magical autumn day greeted shooters on the 800 yard mound for the first round of the Secretary’s Trophy. With a mild northwesterly breeze and bright sunshine the stage was set for a day of high scoring.

Whilst in most parts the scores were good, only Graeme Bright and Greg Emms extracted the maximum, and then only in one of their two stages. Bright was a clear leader in the target rifle section with a 50.06 possible whilst Emms lead the F-class group with a 60.04.

Steve Williams and Lyndhurst visitor Greg Hahn dropped two points each for identical 48.04’s and B-grade contestants Dennis Lavelle, 46.04, and Ron Gibson 46.02 left a struggling John Coghill, 42.01, in their wake. Eppleston dropped a point on his first shot but then attacked the super centre finishing with a 59.06 whilst Bruce Rowlands dropped off the pace with a 57.04.

Scores generally improved in the second stage although not one shooter went clear. Bright was again the best of the Target rifle group with a 49.04 easily winning the Cock of the Walk from Williams who shot 48.04 and Hahn similarly with 48.04. Lavelle continued his form surge with a 48.05 taking out B-grade with Gibson 42.01 and Coghill 45.0 offering little competition.

Eppleston couldn’t complete a possible, but did win the COW with a high super V count 59.07, over Emms, who dropped two points for a 58.04. Eppleston won the day on a 13 to 7 Super V count. Rowlands suffered two consecutive inner four in the middle of his 55.1 stage.

 The Secretary’s Trophy will conclude next week at the 900 yards mound, the last range of the 2014 Club Championship. Williams has retained the Target rifle club championship with a lead of 18 points and only 17 up for grabs. Eppleston has not quite locked down the F-class club championship but leads Geoff Willis by 10 points with both shooters needing a score at 900 yards to qualify.  The B grade target rifle cup is still in the balance with Gibson leading Coghill by 4 points

Scores: G Bright TRA 99.10 (1 ½) 100 J Eppleston FSA 118.13 (1 ¼) 99 ½ D Lavelle TRB 94.09 (3 ¼) 97 ¼ S Williams TRA 96.08 (1/2) 96 ½ R Gibson TRB 88.03 (5 ¾) 93 ¾ J Coghill TRB 86.02 (5 ¼) 91 ¼ Greg Hahn (Lynd) TRA 96.08 G Emms (Lynd) FSA 118.7 B Rowlands (Lynd) FSA 112.5

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 10 May 2014 I Hughes Cup & J Porter Trophy 700yards[/b]

 The day dawned overcast with a light northwesterly breeze and the threat of rain. The conditions were never perfect for target shooting but neither did they threaten high scoring.

Unfortunately no one was able to take full advantage of the dull but otherwise benign conditions and the leaders in the Championship race Steve Williams (target rifle) and Jeff Eppleston (F-class) all but sealed their 2014 titles. Williams won the Cock of the Walk by one point over a brave Graeme Bright who battled Williams shot for shot throughout the day.

Eppleston won the F-class COW and put his hand on the Championship trophy with a very big 60.8 possible final stage to snuff out the challenge of Geoff Willis whose recent efforts have been high class but he was not up to the challenge on the day.

The closest competition of the day was amongst the B grade target rifle group where Dennis Lavelle led Ron Gibson ahead of a wayward John Coghill, one point separating each of them after the first stage.

 With the light diminishing quickly the second stage became a bit of a lottery and Lavelle in particular lost his way. An uncharacteristic shoot saw him finish with a 40.0 second stage whilst Gibson also found the light a challenge. After a four bulls eye start a string of inner fours ruined his chances. Coghill shooting a little earlier in dull but slightly better conditions surprised himself with a 47.05 which contained a string of 5 consecutive centre bulls’ eyes to snatch an unlikely B grade COW win.

In the Championship race Williams has an unsurpassable 18 point lead over Bright and Eppleston leads the F-class section by 10 points from Geoff Willis with Grahame Willis a further 5 points back. Neither Eppleston nor Geoff Willis have qualified as yet and must shoot the final 900 yard range otherwise the trophy will go to Grahame Willis who already has two counting scores at 900 yards.

 The I Hughes Cup was won by Bright by ½ a point over Williams and the J Porter Trophy went to Coghill for the second year in a row by the same margin over Gibson. Next week the Secretary’s Trophy will commence at the 800 yard mound

Scores: G Bright TRA 96.05 (5 ½) 100 G S Willis FSA 114.4 (6 ½) 100 S Williams TRA 97.08 (2 ½) 99 ½ J Eppleston FSA 116.11 (3) 99 ¼ J Coghill TRB 90.06 (8) 98 R Gibson TRB 89.01 (9 ½) 97 ½ G P Willis FSA 110.3 (5 ¾) 96 ½ L Sim TRB 79.03 (15) 94 D Lavelle TRB 85.02 (9) 94 B Rowlands (Lynd) FSA 113.5 G Emms (Lynd) FSA 108.0 G Doyle FSB 101.2

[b]Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 3 May 2014 the L Williams Cup 600yards[/b]

Last weeks’ score fest was a distant memory when the forerunner of the winter blasts hit the range on Saturday. The moderate westerly breeze was accompanied by icy conditions which deteriorated to misty rain late in the day. The F-class contingent shot as if their telescopes had frozen over whilst the target rifle group fared much better.

Steve Williams had a modicum of control over the conditions dropping just the one point in an otherwise excellent shoot. Although finishing with just six centre bulls eyes his 99.06 he was a street ahead of his rivals. Graeme Bright held onto Williams coat tails with a 49.02 first stage but was unable to complete the task when misty rain partially obscured the target and proceeded to drench the mound and all on it. John Coghill whose recent form has been abysmal made some progress shooting a pair of 46.02’s. After finally sorting out his sight zero he at least started on the paper and saved two sighters in the process.

The F-class shooters, Bruce Rowlands from Lyndhurst aside, were totally overcome by the cold blustery breeze and performed well below their respective abilities. Despite the fact that this was the last of four 600 yard Championship ranges, Eppleston was unable to improve on his banked score and Willis gained just two points over his previous efforts. The result means Eppleston has a 15 point lead, but with Willis holding an eight point advantage at 900 yards the remaining 700 and 900 yard ranges become critical to success. Eppleston only needs to keep Willis within a couple of points of his scores to hold onto the crown. Greg Emms from Lyndhurst was a little nonplussed with the cross wind and came off the mound scratching his head after a first stage 51.0. He fared much better at his second attempt but still didn’t look like troubling the super bullseye ring, but on the plus side he didn’t stray into the inner four ring either with a 57.0.

Williams won the L Williams Cup quite convincingly 299 ¾, over Coghill on 298. Next weeks’ competition will be for the I. Hughes (A Grade) and J. Porter (B Grade) trophies at the 700 yard mound   

Scores:
J Coghill TRB 92.04 (11) 100 S Williams TRA 99.06 (1) 100 G Bright TRA 95.04 (4) 99 G S Willis FSA 113.5 (3) 96 ¾ J Eppleston FSA 112.6 (2) 95 B Rowlands (Lynd) FSA 116.7 G Emms (Lynd) FSA 108.0