The OWBA and the VRC joined forces on Saturday to compete against the school VIII for the Crowl cup.

A new dimension was brought to bear on our biennial shooting match due to the lack of .22 ammo. Instead of using .22 rim fire weapons at 25 yards we were using .177 gas powered air rifles at 10 mtrs. There are a variety of reasons for this change of direction but mainly all students can now take part in shooting at school without being involved in the CCF or having prior weapons training.

Subsequently there were some delays in setting a new competition format and going through the standard safety statement but eventually we were ready to shoot. Some of the veterans struggled with the tiny pellets-good eyesight and nimble fingers are definitely an advantage. In the speed shooting one of the weapons was incorrectly sighted which meant that Chris Davidson-Grant, Cicely Pring and myself all dropped about 20 points each. Cicely, as retiring Captain, probably would have won the Heather Ludlow trophy for the highest score on the school team.

However, her younger brother, Ruan who replaces her as Captain of shooting, has his name on the trophy for the first time. Ultimately the result was never in question. The veterans romped home with a lead of 150 points.

Many thanks to Dave Price for organising the competition and to all old boys and veterans who turned up to take part.