ESC's Grand Eastern competition was hosted at Dartford Clay Shooting Club on the weekend of May 3rd / 4th. 6 of Jersey's Skeet team competed in the competition which consists of 100 ESK and 100 SKD - both scores to count. The top 4 or 5 scores in each class (depending on numbers of entries) qualify for a shoot-off to determine class winners. The 4 class winners then shoot-off in the super-final to determine the overall winner of the competition.
In the first half, Alex Bayley (AA class) shot his first 100 straight to lay the perfect foundation ahead of the Doubles. Only Alex Garcia from the England Skeet team was able to put in a perfect ton. Mark Andrews (A class) shot a superb 99 to lead his class by 2 clays at the half way stage.
The wind had picked up in the afternoon which made the Doubles that little bit more challenging. Nonetheless, Mark shot 96 and Alex 95 - both finishing on 195/200 and securing their places in the class shoot-offs (sudden-death pairs on stands 3, 4 & 5).
Mark won the A class shoot-off after managing to survive 2 "match points" - all 3 remaining competitors missed a target on stand 4 at one point. Alex finished 2nd in AA class after a battle of over 30 pairs with Essex Masters winner, James Attwood. With the super-final swiftly ending up as a 2-way shoot-off between Mark and James, Mark's Skeet experience showed as James eventually dropped a target on stand 4 to give Mark the win.
Congratulations to both Alex and Mark for their exceptional achievements amongst some of the very best in the business. Mentions also for Fred Barette, Ian Gordon, Trevor Le Cornu and Gavin Lees who also flew the flag for Jersey.
Click here for all of the weekend's scores.
