A hardy core of 20 shooters took part in Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club’s annual pre-Christmas All Round Competition at the weekend.

The event was sponsored by the club, with all entrants getting a selection box for entering the shoot which was held in wet, cold and very windy conditions.

All the class prizes were meat packs of beef, pork and ham. The shoot was held over three disciplines, with the SBDTL and the Skeet doubles being shot first with 20 targets in each discipline.

The leader after these two disciplines was A class shooter Michael Cross on 34 points.

In second place on 31 was B class marksman Calum Craine, with junior Zac Bellhouse, Ted Kermeen, Rob Corlett and Mark Hepworth next on 29.

The leading C class shooter at this stage was John Kneen on 21.

After a short break, the shooters were re-squadded in ascending order before the pro sporting got underway.

The final results were as follows: in the team event the winners were Andre Vishnjov and Ted Kermeen on 83 points, with Calum Craine and John Moore taking second place with 82 and in third with 78 were Mark Hepworth and Stan Cross.

In the classes, Johnathon McCarthy was third in C class on 15 points with Les Devlin taking second place on 24 but winning C class with 26 was female shooter Sue Doyle.

In B class a shoot-off was required to determine third place between junior Zac Bellhouse and Ted Kermeen, with Bellhouse claiming the final spot on the podium.

There was also a shoot-off for first and second between Calum Craine and Andre Vishnjov, with Craine ultimately taking the honours ahead of Vishnjov.

Yet another shoot-off was needed to decide second and third in A class between John Moore and Peter Kelly, with the former taking the runner-up spot.

Winning A class with 40 points was Stan Cross which only left the highgun which went the way of Michael Cross with a well-shot 51 points.

Results: Highgun – M. Cross 18SD,16 SBDTL,17 PS=51. A Class 1, S Cross 16, 11, 13=40; 2, J. Moore 15, 12, 12=39+2; 3, P. Kelly 14, 11, 14=39+1. B Class 1, C. Craine 15, 16, 12=43+2; 2, A. Vishnjov 13, 14, 16=43+1; 3, Z. Bellhouse 13, 16, 11=40+2. C Class 1, S. Doyle 11, 6, 9, =26; 2, L. Devlin 11, 4, 9=24; 3, J. McCarthy 5, 6, 4=15.

This Sunday sees the main Christmas shoot take place over 50 SBDTL sponsored by Top Spec Fencing.

Anyone wanting their names down for the dinner presentation at the Crosby Hotel should contact Peter on 461203 ASAP.

PETER KELLY