The selection process was always going to be fairly straightforward with only thirteen Scottish prone shooters attending the meeting (all except one in Class X or A), and the team of ten plus the two reserves were picked on the Wednesday based on performances to date ahead the match on the afternoon of Friday 16th August.
The team was:
Bill Vaughan, James Paterson, Richard Simpson, Alan Gordon, Bill Baird, Mel Mutch, Bill Brown, Robin Law, Charles Allan and Ken Silver. The reserves were Sheena Sharp and Cyril DeJonckheere.
Bill Brown was named as Captain and Bill Baird as Secretary. Alan Gordon of Dulnainbridge was winning his first Scotland ‘cap’ but otherwise the team was packed with experience.
The weather was difficult, with strong winds and the occasional shower being the predominant conditions in the hours leading up to the start time of 4:40, and these continued during the match making it very hard to shoot well. That said, both Richard Simpson and Bill Baird shot amazingly to record 198 on their 50m cards, a point better than the two best England shooters. However, the Auld Enemy was more consistent and Scotland were down by 13 points after 50m and by another 21 after the 100 yard cards so England won the match by a fairly convincing margin. Wales were third, 35 points behind Scotland.
Once again, Scotland could not provide a team of five for the Ladies match, being four short.
Mention must be made of Alan Gordon’s performances. In only his second National Meeting and his first International match, he top-scored the Scotland team and was joint second overall. Earlier, he had come 3rd in the A Class Aggregate and the following day he finished 5th in the Final of the Earl Roberts British Championship. Outstanding.
Also in the Roberts, James Paterson qualified for the Final in 2nd place from the second stage. His first two 50m cards of 192 put him ten points behind the leader, but a brilliant 198 on his first 100yd card saw him jump up the leaderboard and into contention. A 196 on the second (giving him the best 100yd total by a whopping ten points) put him into a tie for first place with the young Welsh shooter Theo Dodds. Unfortunately James could not keep the 100yd run going and Dodds won the shoot-off by 191 to 190. Congratulations are due to James on a very fine effort.
Report and Photographs : Bill Hamilton/Bill Brown