Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club’s CM Partners English Skeet GP was held at Meary Veg, Santon in dull and cloudy conditions on Sunday.

It was a pre-entry competition so shooting commenced spot on 10am and after the first round young gun Zac Bellhouse set the pace along with James Simpson with perfect 25 straights.

in third place on 24 was another junior Joe Faragher with Michael Cross, Roman Sammer and Andy Morgan next on 23.

There was no letting up in Bellhouse as he cleaned the second round as well to lead with a 50 straight, while in joint second place on 47 were Faragher, Cross and Simpson, with Sammer next on 46.

Bellhouse maintained a three-shot lead after the third round by scoring 24 to have a running total of 74, with Cross and Simpson next on 71 followed by Faragher and Sammer on 70.

With the top five going into a super final, it was all to shoot for in round four. Bellhouse showed no sign of letting up as he recorded his third 25 straight of the day to have a running total of 99 ex 100 to qualify for the final in first place.

In second place on 95 was Cross on countback from Faragher in third also on 94, while in fourth on 94 was Simpson, with Sammer making the final in fifth place.

In the final the first to miss was Cross who missed his first target out for the fourth time. The next to miss was Sammer on stand four,then Simpson also on stand four, but the leader Bellhouse was still clear along with Faragher until stand five when Bellhouse missed low five.

That was the last target to be missed and at the end Cross took third place overall on 119, while Faragher was the runner-up on 120 but the CM Partners English Skeet champion, after leading from start to finish, was junior Bellhouse with a very fine score on 123 ex 125.

Results: High gun – Z. Bellhouse 25, 25, 24, 25, 24=123; 2, J. Faragher 24, 23, 24, 24, 25=120; 3, M. Cross 24, 23, 24, 24, 24=119. A class – J. Simpson 94; 2, R. Sammer 93; 3, J. Moore 90+4. B class 1, M. Cross 95; 2, D. Corlett 86; 3, M. Hepworth 82. C class 1, M. Whitehead 82; 2, D. Morgan 80; 3, P. Fabrizio 79. Teams 1, R. B. Matthews and J. Faragher 185; 2, M. Cross/M. Hepworth 180+14.

It was good to see Paul Mihailovits back at the range helping out after his enforced lay-off.

This Sunday is the third round of the Suntera Sporting League in the morning, followed by the Ballaneven Side by Side Championship in the afternoon.

Duty officers this week are W. Rand and B. Faragher.

PETER KELLY

- For more information about Isle of Man Clay Pigeon Shooting Club, including results and fixtures, visit the club’s website which can be found at https://iomclays.com/