Rathfriland club hold first shoot of 2013

THE William Hughes Perpetual Cup was the focus for the shooters who arrived at Rathfriland Clay Pigeon Club for the ground’s first 100-bird DTL event of 2013.

A bright start to the day saw for an impressive turn-out, with 64 guns in attendance. However, the weather was to turn as the day went on, which was reflected in the scores, which on the whole, were poor.

Early to the punch was Belfast shooter Trevor McGibbon. The Rathfriland regular was one of the first shooters through the gate, and used the initially bright conditions to his advantage; McGibbon thrust himself ahead of the pack with an impressive score of 99/294.

William Armstrong came closest, shooting 99/293, while Ronald Sloan was among the top shots; however his 98/292 was not enough to stop the Belfast man from taking the silverware.

The local shooters were making their presence felt too; Rathfriland’s George Gracey took control of class A, finishing with 97/289 to win the class overall, while Mourne shooter David McBride took third place, shooting 96/284. Final class places were as follows;

High Gun & William Hughes Perpetual Cup winner – Trevor McGibbon; AA: 1st, William Armstrong;2nd, Ronald Sloan; 3rd, Tommy Beattie. A 1st, George Gracey; 2nd, Clifford Barr; 3rd= David McBride & Thomas Cunningham. B 1st, Sean Martin; 2nd, Albert Jones; 3rd, William Hughes. C 1st, David Dallas; 2nd= Frank Rooney & Jimmy Rountree

The club would like to thank those who contributed to the successful running of their first 100-bird DTL event of 2013; shooting at Rathfriland takes something of a break in the next few weeks with the DTL calendar taking shape. The next event held at the club will see the Stuart Campbell shield up-for-grabs, held Saturday, 16 March.