MFTA Winter League 2009-10 Part II

Sunday 4th October 2009 - Far Coley
The MFTA Winter League began at Far Coley in Staffordshire. Despite a clear sky and plenty of sunshine there was a cold edge that signalled winter was on its way. A light breeze drifted across the Far Coley woodland, just enough to tickle pellets away from the kill zone or perhaps not enough to guide that straight-one onto the paddle.

After a very successful summer for midlands' shooters there now followed the challenge of ten rounds of the Winter League. Whilst the WL is a great introduction to the sport of Field Target shooting it is also a fervent competition. Top gun from last year was Neil Daniels and there were many excellent shooters after his crown. Maybe the overall title was only for a coveted few but the lure of a place in the MFTA Inter-regional team (top 15) and the Frayed Knot team (top 30) was there for all to dream.Steve Page, back from South Africa and amongst the favourites for the WL title.

Far Coley's shooting ground consists of various terrain set in working farmland. Today the course started with six targets around a fishing pool, it then meandered up to a new shooting line offering woodland targets. Then on to the empty pool, where declined shots could be found, and finally a tricky pair in exposed field. An excellent test!

Two shooters, Stuart Hancox and Steve Page, came off the course early sharing an impressive score of 28; this would be later matched by Neil Daniels. Michael Brown and Marc Fisher bagged a pair of 27's to give Castle three shooters in the top 5. The scoring then got tight with fifteen shooters sharing 16th spot having knocked over 24.

It was good to see old friends and some new faces on the line.

Welcome to Kev Jones and all the other first timers.

One of the bonuses of FT is that there's always something to see. Today the farmland was alive with birds but I was surprised when this little fellow flew across the pond whilst I was waiting at lane 1. Sunday 18th October 2009 - Castle
Round 2 of the MFTA Winter League took place at Castle FTC near Nottingham. It was a beautiful autumn morning, the sky was clear and there was only a little wind. The car park at Castle was bathed in sunshine but a trip into the woodland saw the temperature plummet. The weather forecast had promised 8mph wind and this coupled with Steve Page's poly-directional course was sure to be a test. The dense woodland of Castle can provide some shelter from the wind but there are open avenues that are exposed which meant that each target needed careful thought.

The misses on the targets today were offering little clues as to the wind direction. What was evident though was that some shooters were missing low, probably because of the cold. Targets were showing the tell tale crescent below the kill-zone. Some face plates had taken quite a battering, particularly the 40 yard stander!

Despite talk of lots of misses some top guns were constructing a good round. Once again Mr Daniels sent the message that he was MFTA Champion and wasn't ready to relinquish it. Well done Neil for an excellent 29.Neil was joined on 29 by Anthony Johnson from Castle. He was thrilled with his score and 100 points puts him top of B grade. Just behind is Millride's Mitchel Tomes who posted an outstanding 26; well done Mitch. There was a string of 28's sharing third place.

Being close to the NEFTA region means that a Castle competition will attract our friends from the north but today a surprise Welsh interloper, fresh from 3rd place at the Worlds; well done Berty!
Sunday 1st November 2009 - Harriers
I wasn't there but I gather it was very windy. Congratulations to Marc Fisher whose score of 23 was 2 clear of the field.
Sunday 15th November 2009 - Millride
Millride it seems is always blighted by poor weather. Last Winter League the wind was gale force and the GP in May saw conditions more akin to the Southern Ocean. So when the forecast for this weekend was for more of the same I'm sure many shooters considered doing a bit of DIY on Sunday. However, the sky remained blue all morning and the sun slowly warmed us all up. I think that some shooters were disappointed that the urban myth had been broken, I heard one claim "we're not supposed to get sunshine at Millride".
Today's shoot consisted of 22 targets within the small wood and 8 exposed targets in the field. It started with a welcoming 55 yarder which was quickly followed by a high stander that caused problems for a few. The wind direction was mainly parallel to the shooting line which meant only a little needed to be given for wind but deciding which side was tricky. It was a long course yet early scores were high. First on the line was Karl and Debbie Clarke from Millride; Karl set the pace with an excellent 28 and Debbie a strong 20 to help her pursuit for the C grade table. This is Debbie; I think!
It had been suggested that Debbie's outfit had a bit of a polar bear look, no such subtely from Mr Page!Karl's 28 was soon bettered by Des Edwards of Harriers who posted a 29 and his score lasted the day; well done Des!
Millride is the home ground of Mitchell Tomes who today added another 21 to his string of good scores. He is 2nd in B grade and a shoe-in for the Frayed Knot team. Keep it ip Mitch!

Sunday 29th November 2009 - Purley Chase
What is it with the long range forecast? Or even the 24 hour forecast? Well thankfully the ugly weather didn't show and we had the most delightful conditions at Purley Chase. Would the benign conditions lead to high scores? As I joined the queue for lane 1 there were already three clearances and suggestions that more might follow; well done to Karl Clarke, Kevin Sayers and Steve Page.
Purley offers a range of shooting opportunites and today we had up and down hill, high in trees, on the ground and over the valley. It was an excellent course in an excellent setting.
Lane 1 was a pair of slightly elevated targets, the tricky bit was the shooting gate that fell away downhill hence making breathing difficult. By contrast lane 4 was shooting slightly downhill and the seating area was deep in leaf litter which made for a very comfortable position. The first 10 ended with a pair of standers, both at a missable distance so a score of 2 from this lane would be most welcome.
There then followed some testing downhill shots and a pair of kneelers. The last five lanes contained some long range shots across the valley and a very golden bunny that blended in with the colour of the surrounding bracken. As I neared the end of the course James Osborne and Luke Williamson added two more clearances.
So benign conditions did lead to high scores and it does show that the Midlands is fortunate to have so many fine FT shooters.
After my victory in the golden bunny it seemed apt to spend some of it in the Market Tavern in Atherstone. A group of us enjoyed some excellent brew from the Warwickshire Beer Company; thanks to Bill for recommending the hostelry.
Sunday 13th December 2009 - Cross Guns
The last outing of the year for the MFTA WL took us to Cross Guns near Kinver; it is situated adjacent to the Kinver shotgun club which offers 100 birds every Sunday. Here's Daz Tomes tackling the silhouettes with the shotgun ground in the distance.
This is only the second visit of the competition circuit to Cross Guns and today Ryan had prepared a very different course from last year. The first 24 targets were situated in a small copse so they benefited from some shelter from the tricky and changing wind. The finish was challenging: a pair of downhill standers followed by four lengthy targets in an exposed field. Many a good score wilted on this section.

Bill managed the 50+ yard target 27 only to be caught out by "no wind" on target 28 a reducer.
Rob Long hitting some and missing some but always enjoying his shooting!
Kevin Sayers fresh from his clearance at Purley set the early pace with an excellent 27. Quite a few shooters entered the field with a chance of matching or beating his score but their hopes were blown away! Then along came Marc Fisher who had top scored at round 3 at a very windy Harriers and he too posted a 27.
As the morning grew older the wind strengthened so 27 seemed out of reach. Enter John Harris; John likes the wind as he proved in winning the MFTA Masters earlier this year, and Andras Fekete-Moro. Andras and his wife Agi are visiting from Hungary. In very tricky conditions John matched the top score and Andras went one better!
With 6 rounds now complete it is Neil Daniels who leads the way on 553 points. The leader-board is rather more stretched out than last year. After 6 rounds last year 12 shooters had scored more than 500 points and they all made the inter-regional team. This year only 6 shooters have more than 500 points so it's all still to play for.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Sunday 24th January 2010 - Woodend
The period of snowy weather now thankfully over meant it was back to business for the MFTA WL after a break of 6 weeks.
The venue was Woodend near Huthwaite in Derbyshire as far as the MFTA region extends before NEFTA outriders can be seen guarding the frontier.
Woodend is a dedicated fishing complex and once a year the WL visits to enjoy a course set in a different environment. The sky was dull and grey with only the occasional view of the Sun which was doing little to melt the remaining ice that covered some of the pools. The ice and snow had also done for a number of fish which floated on the surface having starved of oxygen.
Today's course took us to new areas of the grounds and made good use of the varying height of the terrain to offer shelter from a subtle and changing wind.
The course had been set expecting more wind than arrived so the length was on the short side but would it be cleared? Early on Dave Harrison posted a 29 and four more shooters matched it but no one went one better.
Steve Page dropped only 2 and ironically this is how many points he now leads the WL. It's Steve Page's hat and his rifle but whose steering? It's Mitch on his way to an impressive 25 and second overall in B grade and holding a place in the Frayed Knot team; come on Mitch!
Lane 1 was a gettable pair of standers followed by a string of targets set in a coppice across the smallest of the fishing pools. The course then turned 90 degrees and we shot from inside woodland out to targets set around the pool. Exiting the wood to finish with 10 targets in more exposed conditions.
So the WL is back up and running and with 18 shooters scoring 28 or above the six week break has done nothing to lessen the standard of the MFTA competitors. If you're like me and had a bad un then don't worry there's only one week unitl the next round at Dowry Hill and then one week later the WL makes its debut at the Greyhound.
Sunday 31st January 2010 - Dowry Hill
One week later and we're back on the WL trail. Today the MFTA visited Dowry Hill FTC near Groby in Leicestershire. This is a terrific venue that offers variable terrain in which to shoot. The course included targets within copse, across a ravine, up onto a bank and exposed conditions in an open field.
The early leader was Kevin Sayers who despite the tricky conditions dropped only two; recently Kevin has had a resurgence of form which now seems him lie 4th overall, well done Kev!
For a long time it looked as if no one would approach Kevin's score; many of the big players were dropping 5 or 6 shots and sometimes more. The problem was the last ten targets in the field. The wind was changing and if you were lucky the targets needed half a kill if not then a few inches were required. Then along came Mr Daniels to once again show that he wasn't ready to relinquish his MFTA crown; Neil matched Kevin's 28 and has closed the gap on leader Steve Page from 20 to 7 points. No others could compete with 28 but Steve Mason, Phil James and Andras Fekete-Moro managed 27. Posting an impressive 26 was Mark Brewitt of Castle. Mark is normally found shooting his springer but at Woodend he decided to try out his Steyr LG100 and had great success. It was out again today and with similar results; good shooting Mark!
There was a strong turnout from Welsh shooters today and all seemed to enjoy the day; come back soon guys.
We haven't seen Alan for a while and now we know what he's been doing; nice beard Alan!
Next time out the MFTA visits the Greyhound near Coventry. This is a popular shooting venue and next week it makes it debut in the WL. It also happens to be next to a real ale selling pub. Hope to see you there!
Sunday 7th February 2010 - Greyhound
A new challenge today as the MFTA hordes stormed the Greyhound Gun Club. And what a good course it was; thanks to Simmo and his crew. This ground was like no other I've visited, it had trees and open ground but what stood out was the marsh area and the winding brook. The Greyhound staff had set out a varied and challenging course. Lane one offered an easy start with an 11 yard reducer followed by a whopper at near full range; you had to learn the wind very quickly! The course then skirted a copse offering sheltered targets but exposed lanes before entering the marsh area. Here it proved very interesting shooting, there was only a little wind but it would change direction meaning that if you applied your previous solution you might end up with a dink. Two people didn't dink at all: Marc Asbury of Millride produced his first ever clearance and later he was joined by James Griffiths of Harriers. Marc's 100 points is the culmination of an excellent run which sees him move to 9th overall in the WL standings.
With one round to go there are still prizes up for grabs:
Overall - 4 people can win the title Steve Page, Marc Fisher, Neil Daniels and Karl Clarke.
This should make for a very exciting final round at the Midland Game Fair at Shugborough Hall on 21st February 2010.
A Grade - Marc Asbury has this one sewn up; a nice farewell as he goes off to AA, well done Marc. There could still be a bit of change for the minor places.
B Grade - Jim Vickers looks to have secured B grade but there is a scenerio that sees him finish second and it evolves his mate Chris Lee. All you need is a clearance Chris!
C Grade - Karl Hutchinson has been very consistent this year and only Dave Oakes can take the title from him. Dave all you need is a clearance.
There are also the team places of the Frayed Knot (top 30) and the Inter-regional (top 15). I'm sure there will be quite a few changes to the present positions after round 10. One newcomer to both teams is likely to be Andras from Hungary. He has shot exceptionally well and needs one more high score to secure his place; good luck Andras.
So to the finale at Shugborough Hall. With the public watching and much at stake it promises to be a cracker.
Many thanks to Big Phil Lloyd for the above photos.
Sunday 21st February 2010 - Shugborough Hall
The Winter League ended with some more winter weather. An early morning snow fall threatened my attendance at Shugborough but with a lot of luck and a little judgement I made it.
Today saw a shotgun start and round 1 was already underway when I pulled onto the car park.
Three of the 4 contenders were shooting round 1: Karl and Steve dropped shots early on which put them out of contention but Mr Daniels ploughed on. Neil shot superbly to drop only two shots in very tricky conditions. This meant only fellow Castle shooter Marc Fisher could take the title from Neil.
The second session began around midday and maybe the conditions were a little tougher. When watching the wind never seems as severe but when on the line, and seeing those pellets zoom 4 inches to the right of my aim point, it makes me wonder how a 28 is possible. The wind howled but Marc held on; he dropped only 5 finishing joint third which gave him 97 points and a 2 shot lead to take the MFTA title.
Marc Asbury won A grade at a canter, Jim Vickers was well clear in B grade and congratulations to Karl Hutchinson who won C grade and the Stourvale trophy. Karl looks like a great prospect; he has produced that rare feat of going from C grade to AA in one WL season.
So another Winter League comes to an end and it's time for some thanks. A big up for all those who have set out courses and to all those shooters who have made the WL such a friendly experience. There are a few who without their input it would not be possible: Tony, Cedric, Neale, Kevin and Sam. Well done guys and gal!!
Thanks also to Big Phil Lloyd for letting me use his pics. Now it's time for a blogging break I'll be back with FT Diary reporting on the BFTA Championship on April 10th 2010.