Only two points separated the top five as Ayre Clay Target Club’s English Sporting winter season got underway last weekend.

A total of 33 shooters participated over a tricky 50-bird layout and the outcome remained in the balance until the end of the competition.

John Taylor emerged victorious by hitting 42 targets, one clear of joint second-placed men Alan Kinrade, Marty Kneen and Paul Mihailovits.

Only one further shot adrift of that trio was Peter Chadney whose final score of 40 topped C class from Peter Lowe and Nick Barham.

Tony Tongue, fresh from an outing to the UK (they do let him out occasionally), was the leading marksman in B class ahead of Mark Corrin and George Davies.

The competition, sponsored by Jason Bulliment Joinery and Construction, was paused midway through the morning as participants observed a two minutes’ silence for Remembrance Sunday.

Results: Class A 1, John Taylor 42; 2 (joint), Alan Kinrade, Marty Kneen and Paul Mihailovits 41.Class B 1, Tony Tongue 38; 2, Mark Corrin 36; 3, George Davies 35.Class C 1, Peter Chadney 40; 2, Peter Lowe 36; 3, Nick Barham 30.

The winter English Skeet league bursts into action this Sunday (November 17), kindly sponsored by Paul’s Gun Stocks. Entries close at 10am.

The following Sunday sees the opening round of the sportrap league, sponsored by Manx Vehicle Glass before December’s action gets underway with the second round of the Field and Range-sponsored Down the Line (DTL) league.

The second round of the English sporting league, sponsored by Jason Bulliment Joinery and Construction, takes place one week later on Sunday, December 8 prior to round two of the Paul’s Gunstocks-sponsored English Skeet League on December 15.

JAMES DAVIS