NRA Journal - Spring 2011 - National Rifle Association

one at 600 yards. Dan Richardson went from a 50.10at 300 yards to a 50.2 at 600 yards but at least he wasstill clean.Following lunch at the Central Bankers hut providedby Pearl Townsend, Gwynne Jarvis and her friendSarah, there was a good team talk about complacencyand the job being only half done; GB then returned tothe fray and the afternoon began at 900 yards. Teamwind coaching was the major factor here and with thevagaries of Stickledown to contend with, Bill, Jane andJeremy had their work cut out. This was probablythe defining moment of the match as the GB shooterswent on to record a massive 498 out of 500, eightpossibles and two 49s – a superb team performanceenhancing how main coach/target coach and coach/shooter integration is so important in big matches. Thebest of the rest were the Channel Islands again but amassive 18 points behind GB, an unexpected bonusfor the GB hierarchy who had considered 900 yardsto be a pretty even range on the ICFRA target. Eventhe best get it wrong.GB (12 off) now had a 24 point advantage over theChannel Islands (36 off) who were six points aheadof Australia (42 off). Behind them was Canada on 48off with Germany 69 off and MaHoJa on 95 off. Just1000 yards to go and as has been proved many timesin the past, you must keep the momentum going andnot rest on your laurels.Going into 1000 yards there were only four shooterswho were still clean, David Luckman (GB), TomRylands (GB), John Warburton (GB) and David LeQuesne (CI).Stickledown at 1000 yards has a way with shooters,usually for the worst. Bill and his coaches started instyle with several possibles from the opening shootersbut the chasing teams were not beaten yet and followedsuit. Disaster for GB, a cross shot and five points lost,luckily the shooter was a very experienced GB shotand did not lose his nerve. Australia were stormingup the rankings until they had several peculiar highshots in the lower scoring rings. A protest resolvedthe issue but it meant they had come from behind totake second place, one point ahead of the ChannelIslands. GB meanwhile had won the match but notthe 1000 yards distance, that honour went to Australiawho finished the range 15 off.Final placings were:GB 1972.207Australia 1943.179Channel Islands 1942.181Canada 1928.166Germany 1901.134MaHoJa 1848.102The four shooters who carried clean scores into1000 yards all converted them into 200, the HPS forthe match. Tom Rylands, formerly the reserve andobviously proving a point, set the top score of 200.26.David Luckman shot 200.22 meaning he hadcompleted four matches for England or GB in the lastfour days with a clean sheet. He shot 105.21 in theNational Match, 150.27 in the Kolapore and 100.14in the Mackinnon, in addition to winning the GrandAggregate for the second time. John Warburton shota 200.20 and David Le Quesne of the Channel Islandsshot a 200.19.All in all a most satisfactory day for Martin Townsendand his GB team and thanks must go to all thosebehind the scenes from the various NRAs and ICFRAwho were involved with organising or staging thematch.The Captain would like to thank in particular NigelBall his Adjutant and the whole team for beingdedicated to the cause. He also wishes to thank AntonAspin for being close by with his tool box as well asJohn Webster, Nick Brasier, David Rose, Henry Day,Alex Bryson, Ken Willingale and Simon Harding forlooking after the team score board and our manyother needs. Finally a big thank you to all the NRAstaff for their hard work in organising the match, thevolunteers who helped with register keeping andother duties and all the supporters who stayed on towatch the match when they were probably desperateto go home!GB Captain Martin Townsend receives the picture of the trophy.Tom Rylands – reserve to top score in 24 hours!33