Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club’s annual CM Partners-sponsored English Skeet GP over 125 targets was held at Meary Veg, Santon in very hot conditions on Sunday.

There was a seven-way tie for first place after the first round, with Dave Corlett, Stan Cross, Giulio Fabrizio, Arthur Hayes, John Moore, Peter Kelly and Madeleine Simpson all scoring 24.

After round two it was reduced to a three-way tie for the lead with Corlett, Cross and Fabrizio all on 48.

There was a lone leader after round three with Cross hitting a 25 straight to lead with 73 points, one ahead of Corlett and Fabrizio on 72 with Paul Mihailovits,Moore and Rachael Bowen-Matthews next on 71.

It was all change after round four, with Corlett back in the lead on 97 but there was another three-way tie for second place on 96 between Cross, Bowen-Matthews and Mihailovits, while tying for fifth on 94 were Hayes and Fabrizio.

The fifth and final round saw the shooters placed in reverse order, with the leaders shooting last.

At the end of the round, there was a three-way tie for second and third in A class between Cross, Fabrizio and Hayes who all finished on 118.

There was also a three-way tie for high gun and the runner-up spot between Corlett, Mihailovits and Bowen-Matthews who shot 120.

In the shoot-off for second and third places in A class, Cross shot 23 to take second but Fabrizio and Hayes were still tied on 22 so a sudden death was required to decide third.

After 14 targets each, Fabrizio took third with 11 points, compared to Hayes’s 10.

In the shoot-off for high gun, Corlett claimed top spot after shooting 24 compared to Mihailovits and Bowen-Matthews’ 23s, but sudden death was also required to find a runner-up and it was Mihailovits who took it by hitting all four targets to Bowen-Matthews’ three on the first round of doubles.

The third round of the club’s Manx Petroleum-sponsored Olympic skeet league was held on Saturday afternoon in very hot conditions.

The joint leaders after the first round were Stan Cross and Jeff Corkill on 21, with junior Michael Cross third on 20.

After the second round Cross Sr was third place on 41 with Corkill taking second place on 42 but top of the class with 43 after hitting a 23 in his second round was Cross Jr.

Results: 1. M, Cross Jr 43; 2, J. Corkill 42; 3, S. Cross 41; 4, W. Rand 24.

The third round of the Sadler Agricultural Supplies ABT League was also held and leading the way with a 25 straight was veteran Peter Kelly.

In second place on 24 was Alan Wade with Neil Parsons and Stan Skinner in joint third on 23, followed by junior Arran Wade on 22 and making up the top six was Jack Clague on 21.

The high scoring was maintained in the second round, with Skinner hitting 24 to finish third on 47, while one point ahead on 48 and recording a 25 straight in his second round was Parsons but top of the class with 49 was Kelly.

Results:1, P. Kelly 49; 2, N. Parsons 48; 3, S. Skinner 47; 4, A. Wade 45; 5, Arran Wade 42; 6, S. Craine 41.

l Tomorrow (Saturday) at 1.30pm is a 100 Olympic skeet selection shoot, then on Sunday is the third round of the Colin Bowen Memorial English skeet league at 10am.

Duty officers this weekend are J, Moore and S. Cross.

PETER KELLY