York Shooting Club fought valiantly against firm favorites Hull in the Varsity-deciding clay pigeon shootout, but were ultimately unable to bring the trophy home.
The contest took place at Hull University’s shooting range near Scunthorpe, giving a slight home field advantage to the Hull shooters. However, despite a fresh-faced team in which a third had never shot competitively prior to the event, York were able to post some impressive scores on the board.
As expected it was York’s top talent Jordan Gillies who led the charge, shooting a round of 40/50 clays destroyed, clearing the last stand out completely. Strong performances were also put in Sheldon Warnick and Martin McClenaghan shooting 29 and 26 respectively. First time competitive shooter Sean Bossick also had a fine day with a not too shabby posting of 24 clays down.
York’s women also put up a strong challenge with UYCPSC President Charlotte Williams and Lisa Richardson putting up scores of 23 apiece.
However Hull’s shooting team, who came fifth in BUCS last year compared to York’s tied ninth, and who are currently tied second for this year’s BUCS title, proved just too strong. Hull boasted a top round of 43 by their own star man, a Team GB clay pigeon shooter.
Despite this the shooting event carried on from the general theme of Varsity 2013 with allegations of poor conduct on Hull’s part. Shooting convention dictates that competitions generally involve the teams going round in small mixed groups of rival shooters, enforcing the social nature of the sport.
However, at Hull the two teams went about their rounds separately with little contact between the two teams, creating an air of a frosty atmosphere between the York and Hull shooters.
Regardless, Hull Shooting can be proud to have been the team to have brought the Varsity title to their university for the first time ever. Whilst York can hold their heads high that they battled bravely against exceedingly tough opposition, and did it with the quiet class and dignity expected from clay pigeon shooters.