Match Report - Indoor County Match, 30 November 2013
Chris Horan [Castle Moat & Folkestone Bowmen].Saturday, 30th November 2013 saw teams from Kent, Surrey, Essex and Middlesex Archery Associations take part in an Indoor County Tournament. The venue was the Sittingbourne Community College, Kent.
The match was contested in Compound, Recurve Freestyle, Recurve Barebow and Longbow bow styles and each team consisted of four archers, with at least one person of each gender in each team.
The round to be shot by all competitors was the Portsmouth round: 60 arrows at a 60cm face. Compound archers were required to shoot on triple spot faces, where only the scoring rings from 10 to 6 were provided; all other disciplines used targets that provided scoring zones from 10 down to 1.
The morning session saw the Recurve Freestyle and Compound teams compete. Kent’s recurve team was largely unchanged from the team that had achieved numerous successes over the past twelve months, and consisted of Graham Souch, Adam Kells, Marc Martin and Jacqui Gould; with the latter two having recently been crowned Kent County Champions a fortnight earlier.
For the Compound team, this event was unchartered territory, as this was the first occasion that Kent’s compound team had competed at an Indoor County Match. The team consisted of Michelle Sword, Chris Horan, Kent Indoor and Outdoor Compound Champion Mike Kells, and Bob Beaney, making a return to the Kent Team since his last appearance in 2010.
Both the Recurve and Compound matches were hotly contested and when the results were announced, Kent finished 1st in the Recurve Division beating Essex into second place by 16 points. Notable scores in the recurve competition were Matthew Webb and Michael Judd, both representing Essex, who scored 591 and 588 respectively; Kent’s top men's score was from Graham Souch who placed third with 577. Jacqui Gould topped the ladies recurve scores with 573.
For the Compound teams, it was a reversal of places, with Kent finishing second, trailing Essex by 12 points. The Compound leader board was topped by James Howell from Essex, who posted a total of 587; Second and third placings went to Kent’s Mike Kells and Chris Horan with 583 and 580 respectively.
Crucially at the half way stage, this placed Kent overall in 1st place, with a lead of just four points over second place Essex.
The afternoon session was the turn of the Barebow and Longbow teams to shoot.
Kent’s longbow team consisted of Cliff Gadd, Geoff Barker, Neil Collins and Elaine Eyers; The Barebow team consisted of Michael Simpson, Mark Hudson, Alice Hudson and the current indoor and outdoor Kent Barebow Champion – Cecile Midrouillet, making her debut in the Kent Archery Team.
When the afternoon results were announced, Kent placed first in the Barebow division ahead of Surrey but with Essex not competing in this bow style; in the Longbow division Kent finished second, behind winners Essex. Both Cliff Gadd and Michael Simpson were successful in placing first in their respective Longbow and Barebow categories.
This left the overall results to be announced!
Kent finished the day victorious in 1st place overall, beating Surrey into 2nd place by 75 points. Third place went to Essex, with Middlesex coming fourth.
Finally, a special mention has to go to Adam Kenyon, without whose assistance in obtaining the venue, this event could have not been staged.
