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The 54th English Sporting Home International Report
The 54th English Sporting Home International took place at Auchterhouse Country Sports near Dundee, Scotland on Saturday 11th of September because of the Covid situation only 4 Home Countries were able to take part, let’s all hope that 2022 will better.
As always the competition is set over 100 targets, the targets were set by the Christie family with Drew Christie being the main instigator of the course. The course was set into halves stands 1 to 6 and stands 7 to 13, with a 30 minute break for a quick bite to eat and a cuppa. The shoot started at 9.30am sharp with a squad of six starting on stand 1 and a squad of six starting on stand 7 with squads following every fifteen minutes. At 11.00 am everybody stopped shooting for fifteen minutes to remember and pay respect to all those who were affected by what happened in America 20 years ago, red smoke flares were released around the ground which left a poignant image, and at 11.15am shooting resumed.
Saturday morning prior to starting there was a real buzz of excitement including some friendly banter with all the competitors getting ready to do battle. At the half way stage there was a bit of head scratching from some of the shooters, some were finding it quite hard, this was a tough shoot, Scott Barnet had started on stands 7 to 13 and was only 2 down from his first half 50ex52 which was quite incredible where as England’s Junior Fred Whitehurst was 43ex52, I mention Fred because when you see the final scores you see how well he shot the second half stands 1 to 6.
There was a shoot off for super veteran high gun between England’s Robert Gray and Wales Mick Harding which Mick went on to win so very well done Mick. England’s Georgia Moule shot off against Scotland’s Edith Barnes for runner up in Ladies with Edith coming out on top, good shooting Edith. Fred Whitehurst won the junior high gun for England finishing on 87 ex 100 (remember Fred dropped 9 targets on his first half) so very well done Fred. Tony Dean of England claimed the veteran high gun title 82ex100. The ladies high gun of the match went to England’s “new cap” Sarah White70ex100 so very well done to Sarah too. England’s new cap were Tim Simmons and Sarah White. The overall High Gun of the match was England’s Scott Barnet who finished on 90ex100 and in the process picked up a big haul of trophies and cups, well done Scott!
Some of the targets were on the technical side, but no target was an eyesight test out of range the overall feeling by most of the shooters was yes, it was tough but it was also fair to everyone.
The 2021 Home international concluded with a fantastic banquet at The Apex Spa Hotel so after all the pressure of shooting for your country had finished we could all unwind and enjoy the moment.
Special thanks must go to Tony Maher and all his team who worked so hard to make this a weekend to remember! Also special thanks to all the staff at Auchterhouse, the referees and the Christie family for all their hard work everything run to time with no hiccupps or breakdowns, you have certainly raised the bar yet again. And thank you to the sponsored goodie bags! A really nice gesture.
My very special thanks must go to The Captain of team England Josh Bridges who was absolutely amazing; Josh did everything that a good captain does and much more! In his Captains speech Josh asked the banquet to observe a minutes silence for Tony Heeks who was a former England Team Manager for nearly two decades.
We are all looking forward to 2022 when it will Jerseys turn to hold this fantastic event.
Please click here for a full list of each teams results and the overall Team results.