City vs Country for 2009 was conducted from Friday 13th to Sunday 15th March at the Windamere Regional Shooting Complex.
Country WINS Again! ***
The Friday pistol matchs got under way on Range 1 about 10am, with an overcast
sky. The threatened rain fell in light showers to start with and then got heavier for later details, everyone got
wet, including the score sheets & equipment. A good attendance turned out , with 23 signed up for both classes
of pistol across three different matchs. Later in the day the rain abated for the Cadet/Trainer, with 30 contesting
the match.
In the pistol 3P core match class 1, first place in grades are : GM grade Nick Abrahall 345.13, M grade Simon Ross
349.17, A grade Dave Toovey 336.9, B grade Rob Prowse 329.4, C grade Andy Brown 299.4, no juniors this year. Class
2 top three outright are Ben Doherty 350.10, Simon Ross 348.16 & Nick Abrahall 348.14.
The winning Country pistol team consisted of Andrew Palmer (ring-in), Nick Abrahall, Ben Doherty & Don Mackay
who won with 2461.74 defeating the City team of Simon Ross, Rob Irving, Paul Wilkinson & Graham Smith on 2449.66.
All scores were from Class 1 pistol.
Following the pistol events was the Cadet/Trainer, Match 18. Top shots on the day are: Nick Abrahall 147.14, Don
Mackay 146.15 & Rob Irving 145.16.
Saturday's events on Range 2 were delayed by fog & mist leftover from the previous days rain & probably
Friday's nocturnal activities. 51 competitors were on hand for the standard rifle events. The competition began
with the 300 deliberate, a top score of 50.6 by Mort, with Richard Ottery 50.4 (good one dad!) & Tim Hayes
49.7. Next was the 3P core match, grade winners are: GM grade Mort 148.21, M grade Andy Brown 142.15, A grade Ned
Gligich 142.10 (soon to be M grade if he keeps this up), B grade Paul Wilkinson 142.10 (B grade! Ho, Ho.........),
C grade George Pabis 130.13 (also needs an up grade), top juniors are Chris Cross 116.1 & Melina Wherry 64.1
on her first attempt, very good considering Ross (dad) gave her a 30/06 to shoot with!
Rapidfire B was decided on V's, where none (most) of the top shooters scored below 100. In order: Nick Abrahall
100.16, Craig Mahoney 100.15, Rob Irving 100.13, Andy Brown 100.11, Darren Ottery 100.10 & Mort 99.11 (why
Mort, where did it go?), top junior Chris Cross 78.1.
The Noel Cross Memorial Shield on the Shilhouette Range is shot on metalic shilhouettes, which consists of five
targets at each distance of 150m, 200m 300m & 385m. Something was different this year, someone only used 20
rounds to knock down 20 targets which has not been achieved before! Top score went to Ben Doherty 100,followed
by Darren Ottery 94, Bob Harold 93 (go Bob), Richard Ottery (on fire dad) 92 beat Andy Brown also 92 on a countback
from Rams to Turkeys, with Mort on 89 trailing the field, top junior Chris Cross 13.
Ladies trophies went to Jeanette Doherty, Kerry Benson & Melina Wherry, for being good sports, having a go
& putting up with the rest of us. Really it was decided on 3P core rifle match scores.
The dinner on Saturday night was not as well patronized as hoped. Roasts of lamb & beef with veges & dessert,
with some very worthwhile local wines which went down nicely for those who attended. A huge thank you to the catering
committee consisting of Jan & Tom Wensrich, Dave Toovey & others I have missed, for an very filling &
satisfying meal. The evenings activities continued after a birthday cake for our national discipline chairman who
turned 59 on the day, the bottle of port was good but the bow tie of toilet paper was um...., congratulations Steve
(& Linda for putting up with him for so long).
Sunday's modified events were 3P core & Rapid B. Attendance was down on last year, sadly some competitors had
already left for another shoot & family reasons. Of the stayers, the best are in order: Rick Gleeson 245.18,
Graham Smith 243.19, Tim Hayes 241.18, Ben Doherty 238.21, Andy Prowse 236.17, with the Tag Team of Simon Ross
& Craig Mahoney 232.22 (just for the fun of it) & our local junior Chris Cross 202.4.
Country won the rifle events with 2331.143 to City's 2319.176. This year the Sunday events were included in the
points so Country did not win by too much, because if we used only Saturday's, the margin would be much greater.
The winning Country team: Ben Doherty, Tim Hayes, Andy Prowse & Steve Heidrich (our ring-in from Qld)
The City team comprised: Rob Irving, Bob Harold, Graham Smith & Simon Ross (the ring-in from ACT).
A big thank you to all the competitors from both City & Country and thank you to all other long distance travelers
who helped make the City vs Country a competitive & enjoyable shoot in 2009.
Again in 2009 the Mudgee & District Branch have provided Service Discipline shooters with a memorable event.
Due to some absences, most of the organising and range sort out load fell on Dave Toovey (everything), Don Mackay
(everything), Darren Pearce (cooking & cleanup) Andy Prowse (just about everything) Head scorer Rob Prowse
(well done) & Richard Ruppas (assistant at pistol scoring), by Mick Toovey (range preparation), Tim Hayes (score
board & shooting), John Nichols (Nicko's BBQ's each day) Carlos Herreros (shilhouette RO), Kerry Benson &
Gisella Herreros (range 2 office) & last but not least, the good sportsmanship shown by all competitors, with
assistance to other shooters whether they were City or Country.