UK Student Archery Association

League Updates - E and Regional [11/Feb/10]

In the lead up to BUTC there have been a number of results to digest as the plastic disc fest approaches.

E-League news first and the big news in recurve division 1 is that, after grabbing top spot last month, Nottingham did not enter any scores for Dec/Jan and gained no points, tumbling from first to fourth place. Edinburgh won the round comfortably and have 28 points, Loughborough were second in the month and now have 26 points, four clear of Warwick in third. Birmingham are the top A side in Division 2 on 23, with Bath and Southampton on 20 and Lancaster on 19. Southampton have gained their points the hard way, with no scores in Sep/Oct but winning the division in Nov and Dec/Jan. Reading look odds on certainties to be promoted from the Conference. In the novice leagues, Sheffield collected maximum points, but it was their first of the season. Edinburgh were second in the month, but are now five clear at the top, with Birmingham sitting second. Southampton's novices are the top A side in Division 2 - could the south coast side be on for a double promotion?

To the regional leagues and Edinburgh won both the matches they needed - one from before Christmas - to win the SUS Senior and Novice Leagues with maximum points. Totals of 2157 and 2137 were enough as Naomi Jones easily top scored in both matches with 561 and 563. In the pre-Christmas fixture, Heriot-Watt finished 20 ahead of hosts Strathclyde for second, both clubs in the mid 1800s. In the post-Chirstmas fixture, Aberdeen shot 1993 ahead of Dundee on 1946. In the other SUS league fixture Aberdeen beat Heriot-Watt into second, with St Andrews third, the clubs finishing almost exactly 100 points clear of each other, starting with Aberdeen on 1927. All three novice matches finished in the same order as their senior counterparts, with Aberdeen providing some resistance to Edinburgh.

In the SUS novice championships in St Andrews, Edinburgh ran out comfortable winners with Napier pipping Aberdeen to second. Top scorer was Siobhan Garner (Edinurgh) 522 the with top gents both on 493. Ian Cairns (Edinburgh) won with 12 golds against the 11 from Ewan Gunn (Napier).

Disappointingly only Edinburgh, Napier and St Andrews will attend BUTC from SUS. Remarkably the SUS League Match Dundee v Heriot-Watt v Napier was scheduled by the clubs [correction] for the same day as BUTC, requiring Napier to be in Dundee and Nottingham at the same time. The clubs subsequently agreed to allow Napier's BUTC squad members to submit postal scores beforehand. Four time BUTC champions Edinburgh seem to provide SUS' only likely threat here.

In SEAL, Essex v Reading v Kent took place on 30th January. Provisionally Essex's total of 2101 was just enough to beat Reading's 2092 into second, but this result is yet to be confirmed as there is a scoring issue yet to be resolved. Kent were third on 2037 despite a 580 from Sam Perkins. Michael Judd scored 568 for Essex. The other SEAL match to have come to light was a highly competitive encounter. Imperial, Surrey and Reading all finished with 26 points of one another. Imperial came out on top with 2191, but Surrey close behind on 2182 and Reading unfortunate to be third after getting 2165. High scorers were Jordan Muscatello and Robin Baumgarten (both Imperial) on 567 and 558, Matt Sharpe (Surrey) 579 and Julie Chenery (Reading) 559.

Reading and Kent should both make their BUTC debuts on Saturday (as will Nottingham Trent). Both these SEAL sides will fancy their chances of progressing into the later stages of the tournament. Imperial, Southampton or Surrey would also be a dangerous draw - Southampton will be looking for their first quarter final appearance.

There was also a match in BUTTS - Derby hosting on Sun 7th Feb. Warwick have started to find their form with a 2235 to see off Birmingham in second, Cambridge third on 2156 and 2116 respectively. Birmingham won the novice match to put themselves in a good position in the BUTTS Novice League. Warwick pair Chris Wells on 582 and Andrew Shreeves on 569 saw Warwick win by nearly eighty.

As ever, BUTTS will be heavily represented in BUTC as the competition, with only Derby absent and Nottingham Trent making their BUTC debut. Defending champions Nottingham will be amongst the favourites. Loughborough should also do well, but most overcome their 0-5 record in BUTC quarter-finals. You can never guarantee a great tournament or the last shot drama of the 2008 and 2009 finals, but the 2010 edition of BUTC is shaping up nicely.