The Secretary's Trophy -Bathurst Rifle Club 12th May 2012
Steve Williams, as has become the norm, out shot the competition to win the Cock of the Walk and the first day of the Secretary’s trophy. With a score of 99.07 Williams was able to see through the wind gusts, which caught out many of his competitors. The southwest breeze gusted at times, then dropped off as it fishtailed down range, but there was not a lot of movement in general.

One who appreciated the conditions was John Coghill whose recent form has been abysmal. Coghill started with three centre bulls eyes in a first stage 49.04 but after threatening to upset Williams was unable to maintain the pressure in the second stage, dropping a couple of points mid stage before missing a gust which blew his last shot into the magpie ring

Dennis Lavelle, Ron Gibson and Lawrence Sim all got caught with heavy gusts and magpie threes and outer twos took a toll on their scores. All three however took some consolation with improved performances in their second appearances on the mound. Lavelle was the best of the three with a 49.4, while Sim posted a 48.03, his best stage for some time, earning him the B grade COW. Gibson was disappointed with his 46.03, which could have been much better, but for a miscalculation on the wind strength which produced a magpie three.

F-class was a family affair with brothers Geoff and Grahame and Grahame’s daughter Elizabeth rounding out the F-class contingent. Three points separated Geoff on 57.3 from Grahame 54.0 and Liz a further three points back on 51.2 after the first stage. Inner fours spoiled the efforts of both Grahame and Liz whilst Geoff’s 119/120 in the morning obviously gave him a lead into the afternoons competition.

The second stage was closer but still followed the established order. Geoff succumbed to an inner four start before a couple of bulls eye fives dropped his score to 56.4. Grahame started brilliantly, shooting four super-V’s in his first five shots, but couldn’t maintain the accuracy finishing with 55.5. Liz in only her fourth competition shoot improved two points on her first stage and is proving very competitive. Geoff won the COW by 4 points

The Tasmanian Postal Shoot was conducted on Saturday morning but the conditions were less than ideal for most of the contestants. The wind, which was virtually non-existent for the first shooters, increased as the morning progressed adding to the degree of difficulty. Steve Williams and Geoff Willis despite good centre counts both lost a point, which will make it very difficult to feature in the final standings of this nationwide competition. The remaining contestants were not able to post competitive scores

The Secretary’s trophy will conclude at 900-yards on the 19th May.


SCORES:
L Sim 92.04 (8 ¼) 100
J Coghill 95.08 (4 ¾) 99 ¾
S Williams 99.07 (1/4) 99 ¼
G S Willis (F) 113.7 (5 ¾) 99
G P Willis (F) 109.5 (7 ½) 97
D Lavelle (Opt) 93.06 (3 ½) 96 ½
R Gibson 89.04 (6 ¾) 95 ¾
E Willis (F) 104.4 (10) 95