March 2004 saw the 5th running of the NSW City Vs Country that also combined to be round 4 of the NSW Grand Prix Championship Series. Like last year, the “special” and favourite silhouette match was dedicated as the Noel Cross Memorial in honour of Noel’s pioneering in getting the discipline “kick started” in the late 90’s and co-founder of the CvC concept.
Although competitors rolled in from midday Friday, there was little work to be done. The Mudgee organisers and especially Darren Pearce and Dave Toovey, had the pistol, rifle and silhouette ranges ready for the great weekend of competition. All arrivals had to worry about was shooting their best and enjoying themselves. Darren and Dave set up 120 silhouette targets alone – that’s over 2.5tonne worth. Tireless efforts by individuals like this truly do spoil shooters and should never go unforgotten.
Friday had the inaugural running of CvC pistol, which doubled as the pistol GP. City were off to a great start scraping home over Country by a very narrow margin. It was a lot of fun, as are all our events, and a very laid back affair was enjoyed by all. Results:
CvC Teams. Winners – City - Rob Irving, David Waters, Kerry Benson, Peter Pitchford.
Runners Up – Country – Brian Haynes, Tim Hayes, Darren Pearce, Wal Cameron.
GP Pistol Top 6 (Class 1/2). Rob Irving, David Waters, Kerry Benson, Brian Haynes, Tim Hayes, Darren Pearce.
Pistol Class 3/4 Top 3 – Wal Cameron, Rob Irving, David Waters.
Following pistol, the NSW Martini Cadet match (great to see every GP round supporting this match) rolled on the fun and treated its participants to an incredible display of shooting by Rob Irving registering the highest ever score in NSW at a sanctioned event. Top 6 results:
1st Rob Irving (283.7), 2nd Craig Mahoney, 3rd David Waters, 4th Frank Gasparini, 5th Brian Haynes, 6th Morton.
Friday night, before the weekend carnival, had all the typical extended family around camp fires (permit acquired), talking about fun rubbish as usual. As long as a cold one was in the hand, that was all that counted. After laughs and lies, a good night sleep was in order for us to be at our best the next day.
19 City and 25 Country plus 1 Independent took part for this 5th running. Over a dozen regulars could not make the date due last minute commitments – a sign of the current times we guess.
Perfect weather presented itself for the kick off of friendly rivalry. Competitors gathered for the CvC challenge starting with a briefing and a 300m warm up to get the blood pumping. The competitors were split into groups to contested the paper target matches while simultaneously, the other groups shot silhouette for some “heavy metal” rifle action. Shooters then swapped to complete the course of the day. The 3P core and Rapid Fire B also doubled as Round 4 of the 2004 NSW Grand Prix. Without doubt, again, the draw card for the weekend is the Silhouette match. Ping’s and oohhh’s are a regular sounds heard from spotters and shooters who hit or miss these damn heavy targets.
By Saturday’s conclusion, the CvC teams and individuals plus the GP Rnd 4 results were announced at the days debrief and presentation. Country undisputedly came out on top after some very good scores were achieved. The country team, although made up of ANY NSW SSAA member across the whole state, just somehow seemed to work like a well oiled machine in tune to each other. The City team just didn’t have the legs to go that next step. City were basically taught a lesson – but there is next year, and city will be back! Country and now leads the City 3-2.
CvC Teams Challenge
Winners – COUNTRY – 1,856.89. Darren Ottery, Greg Millsthom, Brett Anthes, Brian Haynes, Ian Brown, Phil Prangley.
Runners Up – CITY – 1820.99. Robert Irving, David Waters, Craig Mahoney, Rick Gleeson, Frank Gasparini, Fred Meyer.
Individual winners were:
CvC Std Rifle Events
Masters; 1st Dave Rushbrook, 2nd David Waters, 3rd Craig Mahoney
“A” Grade; 1st Darren Ottery, 2nd Morton, 3rd Rob Irving
“B” Grade; 1st John Lewis, 2nd Jim Rushbrook, 3rd Richard Ottery
“C” Grade; 1st Chris Cross (Jnr), 2nd Ken Burrell (Scruffy), 3rd Kerry Benson
CvC Noel Cross Memorial (Medals presented by Anne Cross)
Masters; 1st Dave Rushbrook, 2nd Rick Gleeson, 3rd Jeff Genn.
“A” Grade; 1st Darren Ottery, 2nd Morton, 3rd Rob Irving.
“B: Grade; 1st Brad Hedges, 2nd John Lewis, 3rd Richard Ottery.
“C” Grade; 1st Chris Cross (Jnr), 2nd Kerry Benson, 3rd Ken Burrell (Scruffy)
Special mention to Darren Ottery, who shot a magnificent score of 97 out of 100. Well done!
NSW Grand Prix Rnd 4
Masters; 1st Dave Rushbrook, 2nd David Waters, 3rd Rob Spittles.
“A” Grade; 1st Brian Haynes, 2nd Darren Ottery, 3rd Morton
“B: Grade; 1st Jim Rushbrook, 2nd John Lewis, 3rd Leigh Sinclair
“C” Grade; 1st Chris Cross (Jnr), 2nd Ken Burrell (Scruffy), 3rd Kerry Benson
Before all fled for camp or home, the raffle was drawn for both a lucky door prize - a leather bolt holster of the finest quality put up by sponsor Graeme Harries from Tamworth - a leather maker and long time discipline sponsor. Also, many thanks to the generous people who purchased raffle tickets to raise money.
Day break Sunday, typically a special day for modified rifles, had a healthy number stay over from the “main day” Saturday. It was an early start for an early finish to let the long distance travellers get home at a respectable hour. They shot the 3P Core and Action “M” which proved to be a tough objective.
CvC Modified Rifle Events (possible 200.40).
Masters; 1st David Waters, 2nd Rob Spittles, 3rd Jeff Genn
“A” Grade; 1st Frank Gasparini, 2nd Tim Hayes, 3rd Morton
“B” Grade; 1st Jim Rushbrook,, 2nd Ross Spittles, 3rd Leigh Sinclair
“C” Grade; 1st Chris Cross (Jnr)
Weekend - 2-Gun Grand Agg Top Guns
1st David Waters, 2nd Morton, 3rd Rob Irving, 4th Rob Spittles, 5th Brian Haynes, 6th Frank Gasparini
Thanks again to the members of the Mudgee branch, who deserve all the credit for the success of the event. The amount of labour they pored into the range facility is second to none. Providing facilities for events of this magnitude doesn’t come by accident. It is a credit to this close nit SSAA branch. Also, special thanks to the Mudgee Holden dealer who also lent us a table top 4WD for “getting around”.
Special thanks to the volunteers who helped in many ways. Young Sahara for selling raffle tickets, 2 ladies who cooked and scored, Jamie Harris, Graham Harries and the other sponsors of the event.
At the conclusion of the event, many shooters agreed that the CvC is due for a change to team arrangements to not be only based on the top 6 from each team, but incorporate more from each team. We are looking into that and will advise in time.
Full details and results of this event and other events can be found on the NSW Mil/Serv website at http://www.ssaa.org.au/nsw/msd
Happy Snaps
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