On Tuesday 9 October, the Shiplake College Shooting Team competed in the Marlborough College Sporting Clay Challenge at the Barbury Shooting School in Wiltshire.
On the back of a strong year last year, in which the Shiplake team finished in the top ten of every competition, hopes were high for a strong start to the season. Due to the success of its first year, the Shiplake Shooting Team has grown and fielded an A and B team for the competition. The competition comprised of 50 English Sporting targets in a challenging layout with over 20 schools competing.
The draw was somewhat unkind to the Shiplake teams, as they were required to complete the course in reverse order with the most difficult stands shot first. This proved tricky and some rusty performances damaged confidence early on but morale did not drop. Soon, the team's performances improved, with their score rising up as they progressed through the course shattering clays with few misses throughout both teams. With the wind in their sails, the boys’ scores began to rise and concluded with a solid score in the final ‘flurry’ for both teams.
Shiplake A team finished in 7th place with the B team close behind in 14th. The competition featured some close scores as all teams struggled with the challenging course but Shiplake maintained a top ten position beating teams from Wellington, Radley, Eton and Marlborough College themselves. Shiplake High Gun went to Jamie Gibbs with 33 clays out of 40 (joint 4th overall) and a special mention to Joe Hayward for exceptional shooting from Shiplake’s B team.
The Shiplake College Shooting Team look forward to the next competition with high hopes and budding confidence.
Report provided by Captain of Guns, Harry Martin
