Target Shooting Nelson hosted the Andrew & Faulkner Shield match on their Saxton Field range on 28 July, with 12 teams competing, plus 2 half teams and 5 Junior teams, a total of 172 competitors. The 18 mound Nelson range worked well, and this will be a good shakedown for Nelson, who are hosting the Inter-Island match in three weeks time.
Congratulations to this years winners Marlborough who headed the new Mid Canterbury Association after being behind for most of the match. Mid Canterbury finished second, and gained promotion to Division I next year at the expense of East Otago, who drop down to Division II. Hosts Nelson took out the Junior trophy, Mid Canterbury took out the top 5 team trophy, and Ashburton won the bottom 5 handicap teams match on count back from Ellesmere.
Scores were a bit average overall, this seems to be a feature of A&F matches, I don't know if it was the frost on the ground when the match started, or maybe the 4-5 hour wait between rounds for each shooter. Well done to top individual shooter Steve McArthur from Mid Canterbury with 298.17, just ahead of Darren Quigley from North Canterbury with 298.15. Top Junior was Shania Harrison-Lee from Mid Canterbury with 296.20.
The TSNZ and Shooting Stuff shops did a busy trade, with shooters taking the opportunity to buy the latest gadgets to help them shoot better.
Thanks very much to Nelson for hosting the event which ran very smoothly, largely due to the background work from people like Lyn Baigent and Peter Slinn, assisted by a big Nelson team on the day. See you again in a few weeks.
Val Wadsworth