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Bathurst Rifle Club Inc 14th May 2016 Secretary's Trophy, 800yards

            Saturdays shoot was held in conditions which were as close to ideal conditions for shooting as could be imagined. With next to no breeze and just the whisper of a mirage, the sun shining brightly and the mound freshly mown, the only distraction was the abundance of small biting black ants. The ants aside, scoring was heavy and almost all shooters shot at or above their handicaps.

           Jeff Eppleston was the only competitor to take full advantage of the perfect day, at one stage taking the centre out of the target which required a full reconstruction. His subsequent scores of 60.7 and 60.6 emphasized his claim to represent Australia at the World F class Championships in Canada next year. His example was followed by Club Champion Grahame Willis who shot 119.9 just failing to emulate Eppleston after a mid stage pimple at twelve o’clock. To emphasize the dominance of the F class contingent Ben Wright shot his best score of the year completing a trifecta of handicap places for F class. Geoff Willis completed only one stage before work commitments intervened.

           Target rifle was a different proposition with no one able to go error free on the day. There were some close calls but technique and steadiness seemed to fail all, with Gordon Shepherd the eventual Cock of the Walk winner after stumbling at the last hurdle. In what is becoming a regular occurrence for him Shepherd despite a massive 12 centre bulls eye performance dropped his last shot in both stages. His 98.12 was enough however as Graeme Bright also dropped a point in each stage but could manage only 9 centre bull’s-eyes.

           Dennis Lavelle, 49.03, Ron Gibson, 48.03, and John Coghill, 47.02, all had regular shoots with Lavelle becoming a victim of a last shot inner. The second stage was a different proposition with Lavelle shooting a scratchy 45.03 and Coghill throwing a wild magpie three over the top destroying their challenges. Gibson however was able to hold on despite dropping three points on the way to a 47.03 taking out the B grade COW by a point from Lavelle.

           Next week is the last stage of the Club Championship and Shepherd who has led throughout the year will not contest the final due to family commitments virtually turning over the Championship to Bright who needs only to shoot a 94/100 or better to claim the trophy. 

Scores: 

J Eppleston FSA 120.13 (1) 100

G P Willis FSA 119.9 (1 ¾) 100

B Wright FSB 113.4 (8 ¾) 100

G Shepherd TRA 98.12 (2 ¼) 100

R Gibson TRB 95.06 (6 ¼) 100

G Bright TRA 98.09 (2) 100

J Coghill TRB 93.02 (5 ¼) 98 ¼

D Lavelle TRB 94.06 (4 ¼) 98 ¼

G S Willis FSA 57.1