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Castletown back on track against Kirk Michael
Kirk Michael's surprise package - even to his own team-mates - was the appearance of Tom Lord at Castletown last night.
Club stalwart Tom has been out of action due to a long-standing and at times frustrating hand injury for seven months. Medical opinion urged him to get back to his first hobby, rifle shooting, as a soon as he felt comfortable.
Tom was determined to give it a go and, after a taster session at St John's Sinclair Range earlier, he decided he would make the lengthy journey for the match in Castletown to at least give his clubmates some moral support as they sought to build on the previous week's success against IoMSC Sandsiders.
In the end, he brought some shooting kit along and elected to have a go in the pressure cooker match atmosphere which went on long into the night.
Tom produced a highly creditable 94 points with no apparent discomfort and finished as one of Kirk Michael's higher scores.
There was to be no fairytale ending, though, despite the usual plea to the Little People while crossing the Fairy Bridge on the journey south from Kirk Michael.
The home side ran out winners by nine points in the Division 1 match and by a hefty margin of victory in the other two fixtures. But it was a relief for Castletown after their defeat by Sulby in the previous round.
Trevor Taubman's 98 was Castletown's top individual score on the night along with a solid display from Nigel Christian, Robin McFee, Richard Arthur and Ian Arthur.
Perryn Watson delivered the best shooting for the away side with Suzanne McKnight just one point behind as they continue to battle on with the limited numbers available to the Kirk Michael club.
Castletown Kirk Michael
98 Trevor Taubman Perryn Watson 97
97 Nigel Christian Suzanne McKnight 96
96 Robin McFee Alex Trafford (J) 95
96 Richard Arthur Tom Lord 94
96 Ian Arthur Kevin Quinn 92
483 474
Sulby see off IoMSC Sandsiders at St John's
Bill Jones hit a superb 99 for IoMSC Sandsiders but it was not enough to secure them victory against Sulby and they fell short by three points in the only other match of the evening in the Isle of Man Rifle Association winter indoor league.
Young Fergus Coulter scored a very solid 97 for Sulby as their tighter batch of results in Division 1 made the difference and relegated the home side to a second defeat on the trot.
IoMSC Sandsiders Sulby
99 Bill Jones Fergus Coulter 97
98 Andy Traynor Peter Webb 96
94 Matthew Roosen (J) Teddy Sayle 95
93 Steve Callus Peter Farragher 95
91 Tony Kneale Mark Cain 95
475 478
Sheer weight of numbers on the night handed Sulby straightforward wins in Divisions 2 and 3.
As ever, full results from all the matches in all the divisions can be found at:
http://iomra.net/www/PAGES/Results.html in the next few days.
Port St Mary were not in action as their match against Laxey was postponed due to lack of numbers and medical reasons. Port also have a free night for the next round as they have a bye.
Look out for the results from the Lady of Mann handicap competition for female shooters, due to be staged at Kirk Michael rifle club, in next week's Examiner.
National Smallbore Rifle Association competition update
Isle of Man Rifle Association lost to Cambridgeshire TSC in their latest ladies' Inter-County match by 480 points to 482 despite notching some tidy scores.
Gemma Kermode 99, Tracey Skelton 98, Perryn Watson 97, Suzanne McKnight 94, Sharon Drysdale 92.
Meanwhile, the main Isle of Man Rifle Association team stand proudly at the summit of Division 6 in the Inter-County leagues with four wins out of four after their victory over Nottinghamshire RA by 1920 to 1910. Scores were as follows:
Richard Arthur 99, Gemma Kermode 98, Eddie Maddrell 98, Kevan Kneale 98, David Humphrey 98, Harry Creevy 97, John Wood 97, Nick Brown 97, Ashley Gardner 97, Andy Traynor 97, Robin McFee 97, Mark Cain 96, Fergus Coulter 96, Michael Duncalf 95, Barry Jones 95, Tracey Skelton 94, Nigel Christian 94, Perryn Watson 93, Suzanne McKnight 93, William Jones 91.
