Meath guns give good account of themselves
Meath clubs were well-represented at the NARGC Leinster Clay Pigeon Championships at the Fingal Sporting Club, The Naul, where club, ladies, veterans, super veterans, side by side, colts and under-21 competitions were to be decided. A total of 10 counties and 140 guns competed. The course of 50 sporting targets consisted of dropping duck and incomer, looper and crosser, quartering and going away, quartering and crossing incomer, and going away and crosser. The weather was bright and sunny, but the swirling wind caused occasional problems to competitors. Drumconrath of Meath were fourth in the club championships. Ladies results were: Gold, Alison McGuire (Wexford); silver, Claire Mooney (Meath); bronze, Michelle Kavanagh (Dublin); fourth, Sinead Bates (Wexford); fifth, Anne Moore (Meath); sixth, Nicola Kearns (Meath); seventh, Grace McConnell (Laois); eighth, Jennifer McDonnell (Meath); ninth, Mary Lindsay (Dublin), and tenth, Karen Power (Wexford). Super veterans: Gold, Tom Murphy (Wexford); silver, Barry Lynch (Meath); bronze, Willie Irwin (Meath); fourth, Ian Faulkner (Meath); fifth, Freddie McKenna (Louth); sixth, Lockie Lindsay (Dublin); seventh, Tom Kenny (Meath); eighth, Michael Leonard (Dublin); ninth, Paddy Matthews (Meath), and tenth, Joe Smith (Louth). Veteran Dennis Farrell (Meath) was 10th in the veterans category. Side by side results: Gold, Robert Irwin (Meath); silver, Ziad Chammas (Meath); bronze, Ken Murray (Meath); fourth, Shane O'Connor (Wexford); fifth, John Kavanagh (Dublin); sixth, Joe Grafton (Dublin); seventh, Gerry Tynan (Kildare); eighth, Oliver Daly (Meath); ninth, Andrew Cleary (Wexford), and tenth, John Boland (Westmeath). Under-21 results: Gold, David Benson Jnr (Wexford); silver, Brian Maguire (Louth); bronze, Chris Bradley (Kildare); fourth, PJ O'Rourke (Kildare); fifth, Jake Byrne (Louth); sixth, John Clarke (Meath); seventh, Gary McManus (Meath); eighth, Davin Murphy (Wicklow); ninth, Conor Daly (Offaly), and tenth, Matthew Murphy (Kildare). Under-16: Gold, Kevin Fallon (Wicklow); silver, Cathal Dunne (Westmeath); bronze, Daniel O'Hara (Wicklow); fourth, Eoin Aughey (Westmeath); fifth, Andrew Doolin (Meath). Overall High Gun: Gold, Roland Morris (Wexford); silver, John Higginbottom (Kildare); bronze, Denis O'Sullivan (Laois); fourth, Naji Elmayss (Meath); fifth, Conan Kelly (Westmeath); sixth, Daniel Reddin (Westmeath); seventh, Colin Dunne (Wexford); eighth, Robert Irwin (Meath); David Benson Jnr (Wexford), Paul Callan (Dublin) and Aiden O'Sullivan (Laois). On day two of the championships, the county competition was to be decided. The eight counties competing were Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Louth, Offaly, Meath, Westmeath and Wexford. The course of 50 sporting targets was similar to day one, and the weather was excellent, with no wind of any kind to hinder the competitors. Meath won the county championships with the results: Gold, Meath (455); silver, Dublin (445); bronze, Louth (444); fourth, Wexford (426); fifth, Laois (423); sixth, Westmeath (416); seventh, Kildare (387), and eighth, Offaly (377). Full results of both days can be seen on www.fingalsports.com