Arthur Lee Cup Round 2 - City vs Havant

Happy New Year everyone!  Yes, it is now 2017 and technically a 'new year', however, over at the club we're right in the middle of the winter leagues and those include the Arthur Lee Cup matches, of which we had our second round match against Havant last Thursday (having beaten West Meon in the first round).

Here's how we did:

Portsmouth City - 1156 I. Cooper (96, 95) G. Scruton (99, 100) A. Nevatte (96, 97) P. Upchurch (91. 95) S. Hart (98, 97) R. Ashman (95, 97)

Havant - 1149 A. Perry (93, 91) A. Morley (96. 97) D. Cotton (93, 97) L. Hanna (97, 97) M. Nevatte (98, 98) T. Brown (96, 96)

We had the home advantage once again and thankfully too advantage of it.  So, City progresses to the next round!  No double tonnes this time but we achieved a win and sometimes that's what counts.  The regular shoulder-to-shoulder season starts this week and this Thursday we head for our away match against Chichester (who have recently put together a lovely new website).  Wish us luck! 

Arthur Lee Cup Round 1 - City vs West Meon

So tonight was the first round of this season's Arthur Lee Cup - again we were up against West Meon, except this time it was on home territory.  The Arthur Lee matches, unlike regular Portsmouth & District matches, are teams of six shooting two cards each.

Here's how we did:

Portsmouth City - 1177 I. Cooper (99, 98) A. Nevatte (96, 97) S. Hart (100, 100) J. Rowe (98, 95) G. Scruton (100, 98) R. Ashman (97, 99)

West Meon - 1120 G. Stone (94, 96) A. Smith (95, 95) M. Atkins (94, 95) P. Hannington (95, 96) D. Corbett (96, 95) G. Dixon (80, 89)

So, we are through to the next round!  Congratulations to Sarah Hart for her excellent double ton!  A ton is special, but a double ton is a whole other level of awesome.  Well done, Sarah!  Well done to the rest of the team as well for a solid performance all round.

We're up against West Meon again next week for the Portsmouth & District league, but next Tuesday it's an away match.  Should be fun!

Arthur Lee Final (Sarisbury vs Portsmouth City)

Thursday night saw the long overdue final of the Arthur Lee Cup.  Back in April, we won the local final against Portsmouth Railway Rifle Club, the local final being the decider of which Portsmouth & District team would go on to represent the association in its match against the Southampton & District Association.

In the Southampton & District corner was our old rivals, Sarisbury, who have frustrated our efforts in a few recent competitions.  Here's how we did:

Sarisbury - 1169 T. Gleed (96, 96) M. Guille (99, 98) P. Pearce (98, 99) G. Barber (96, 97) M. Holdway (95, 96) I. Kuprov (99, 100)

Portsmouth City - 1154 M. Nevatte (97, 96) I. Cooper (94, 95) G. Scruton (96, 100) J. Rowe (95, 95) S. Hart (96, 95) R. Ashman (98, 97)

So unfortunately we were not able to take the cup home this year, and if we're completely honest, our scores were not as good as our previous matches against Railway (1163) and against West Meon (1169).  Congratulations to Ilya Kuprov for his overall score of 199.

This was a bittersweet match for Portsmouth City as it marked the last match for our captain, Marian Nevatte, who a little while ago moved to Havant Rifle Club but came back to finish the Arthur Lee season with us.  Many thanks, Marian.

As for what we've all been up to over the summer, the overall summer report is on its way!  So watch this space.

Arthur Lee Cup 2016 (Local Final): City vs Railway

This evening was the local final of the Arthur Lee Cup.  Last year, we reached the local final but were narrowly beaten by Fareham.  This year we managed to get to the final once again but were up against Portsmouth Railway Rifle Club.  The match was kindly officiated by Wayne Dugan of HMS Excellent Rifle Club and was held at Havant.

This match is a little different from our normal shoulder-to-shoulder matches.  This was teams of 6 (instead of the usual 8), shooting 2 cards each (instead of 1), and unlike our other competitions, every team member's scores counted.  Here's how it went:

Portsmouth Railway - 1147 J. Ring (98, 97) M. Carter (93, 94) C. Richards (97, 97) C. Coles (97, 96) N. Perman (94, 93) K. Hardyman (94, 97)

Portsmouth City - 1163 M. Nevatte (98, 98) S. Hart (95, 100) G. Scruton (97, 94) I. Cooper (99, 95) A. Nevatte (94, 100) R. Ashman (96, 97)

So Portsmouth City goes on to represent Portsmouth & District this year against Sarisbury, who will represent Southampton & District.  Well done to Sarah Hart and Adam Nevatte for their tonnes.

City's First Match of 2016!

Happy New Year!

Been a bit too busy recently to update this blog but hopefully that's made up for with a few different posts with news.  First of all, City got started with its first match for this season's Arthur Lee Cup - round 2 against West Meon Rifle Club.  If you are wondering how we did in round 1, we got a bye and automatic progression to the second round without needing shoot (bit of a pity, we always like reasons to shoot).

So how did we do?

West Meon - 1135 G. Stone (94, 93) A. Smith (94, 96) M. Atkins (93, 94) P. Hannington (94, 95) D. Corbett (92, 95) J. Dalton (97, 98)

Portsmouth City - 1169 I. Cooper (98, 99) A. Nevatte (97, 98) S. Hart (97, 97) M. Nevatte (98, 99) G. Scruton (98, 96) R. Ashman (97, 95)

So, we are through to the next round!  Congratulations to Ian and Marian for their excellent scores and commiserations to West Meon - better luck next year!

Fareham vs Portsmouth City (The Arthur Lee Local Final)

This Monday saw the local final of the Arthur Lee cup.  The winners of this match go on to face whichever club wins to represent Southampton & District League.  For the first time in quite a few years, Portsmouth City managed to reach the local final where we faced Fareham.  Just like the Duttson Final we shot on a neutral range, this time Portsmouth Railway Rifle Club kindly provided the use of their range and a big thanks go to John Ring for scoring the cards, and again to Wayne Dugan for running the event.

This competition was teams of 6, shooting 2 cards each.  Unlike a few of our other competitions, every team member's scores counted.  Here's how it went:

Fareham - 1158 J. Lacey (97, 96) D. Shepperd (96, 97) D. Spendlove (99, 99) P. Randall (98, 98) T. Read (96, 94) J. Hounsell (94, 94)

Portsmouth City - 1151 M. Nevatte (99, 97) S. Hart (97, 95) G. Scruton (99, 99) I. Cooper (96, 99) A. Nevatte (96, 94) P. Upchurch (90, 90)

So a close match but unfortunately Portsmouth City will not go on to represent Portsmouth & District this year against Southampton.  Well done to Fareham and we wish them good luck in the final.

What is the Arthur Lee Cup?

Last Thursday saw the first round of the Arthur Lee Challenge Cup (we won!).  This is an annual knock out competition where clubs in the 'Portsmouth & District' and 'Southampton & District' Rifle Associations battle it out to represent their association in a Portsmouth vs Southampton final.

Each club puts together a 6-person team where all six shooters' scores count (known as '6 to shoot, 6 to count').  This differs from our other shoulder-to-shoulder matches where the P&D league follows the rule of '8 to shoot, 5 to count', where the best 5 scores of each team of 8 are selected (see examples of this here).

1st Viscount Lee of Fareham

The cup was donated by Arthur Lee, an MP for Fareham at the turn of the 20th century who went on to become 1st Viscount Lee of Fareham.  Lee was a man of some historical note being knighted, a peer of the realm, holding the office of First Lord of the Admiralty after the First World War (a position later held by Winston Churchill during the first year of World War II), and donating the Chequers estate in Buckinghamshire to the nation for use as the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

Arthur Lee's various titles and positions mean that, while the trophy is now known as the 'Arthur Lee Challenge Cup', it has in the past been referred to as the 'Lord Lee Cup' or simply the 'Lee Cup'.

The cup is currently held by Sarisbury.  However, Portsmouth City Rifle Club, in its various forms, has won the cup several times, the first time being all the way back in 1911 when the club was called the Borough of Portsmouth Rifle Club.  In fact, during Portsmouth City's domination of shooting in Hampshire from after World War II up to the mid 1960s, our club won the cup 12 times!

This photo (from the Portsmouth & District Smallbore Rifle & Pistol Association website) shows the cup with its 1914 winners, the 6th Hants Regiment Rifle Team.  Their captain, Charles A. Sandell was an important member of Portsmouth's Main VIII rifle team before the outbreak of war in 1914 and again throughout the 1920s.

Hopefully we'll be able to post a photo of the cup at some point as well as a complete list of winners which then answers the all important question... who's won it more often, Portsmouth or Southampton?

1st Round of the 2014/15 Arthur Lee Cup

Last night saw the first round of this year's Arthur Lee Cup being shot at home against Portsmouth Railway Rifle Club.  The shoulder-to-shoulder match was different to our usual efforts in that the teams of six (as opposed to eight) had to shoot two cards each (as opposed to just one card).

The home team (PCRC) managed to achieve a victory.  While neither team was on particularly good form last night, there were a few examples of good marksmanship.

Portsmouth City - 1153 L. Haskett (93, 90) S. Hart (99, 100) P. Upchurch (96, 94) A. Nevatte (97, 99) G. Scruton (94, 99) M. Nevatte (97, 95)

Portsmouth Railway - 1139 J. Ring (96, 96) C. Coles (94, 97) C. Richards (97, 92) M. Carter (96, 91) J. Stockham (95, 96) K. Hardyman (94, 95)

Special congratulations go to Sarah Hart for following up her 99 with a possible.

Next week we resume our normal match schedule and enjoy another home match with... Portsmouth Railway, again!  See you guys soon!