Shooters brave the cold in the Noel Carson Cup

The club saw a total of fifty-three guns in attendance for an event which would see the much-admired Noel Carson Cup up-for-grabs, making for tough competition throughout the day.

It was a day when the scores would be the main talking point or more so the lack of scores as the high winds and bitter cold conditions made for very tough targets; Ronan Morris leading the way early on with 98/284.

Scores were to remain well-down for much of the day, until the final few squads brought some much-needed improvement.

Rathfriland’s own Enoch McCauley had been shooting well and finished with a very strong 98/288, but was pipped by Willie Armstrong who shot 99/289.

However it was the in-form Noble Patterson who hit the headlines again, blasting through the rest of the pack with a superb 99/292 to take home the silverware.

There were several other local shooters among the final places too, namely junior shooter Andrew Charleton who saved his score for the final squad, shooting 97/287 to finish overall winner of class A.

Rathfriland shooter David Graham finished runner-up in the same class, shooting 97/286. In class B it was Raymond Graham who led the way, shooting 96/279 to finish winner, while Rathfriland regular Frank Rooney was also victorious, in class C. Final places were as follows.

High Gun & Noel Carson Cup winner – Noble Patterson (99/292); AA 1st – Willie Armstrong (99/289), AA 2nd – Enoch McCauley (99/288), AA 3rd – Mark McKeown (97/283); A 1st – Andrew Charleton (97/287), A 2nd – David Graham (97/286), A 3rd – Ronan Morris (98/284); B 1st – Raymond Graham (96/279), B 2nd= Gerard Jordan & JP Smyth (97/278 & 95/278); C 1st – Frank Rooney (89/252), C 2nd= Jimmy Rountree Jr. and Roy Mitchell (86/247 & 89/247)

The next shooting at Rathfriland will see the beginning of the club’s Christmas programme, the first of a series of 20-bird DTL events will be held on Saturday, 1 December. Hot food will be available; everyone welcome.