UK Student Archery Association

Keele claim NEUAL crown [17/May/11]

The results from ten of the thirteen scheduled NEUAL matches have been published. Combined with results from the NEUAL championship events, Keele become NEUAL senior champions for the second time, whilst Lancaster pick up the novice title. Lancaster are currently in second place in the senior table, but will be overtaken by Sheffield, if Sheffield win/have won their remaining fixture with a reasonable score.

In the matches scheduled before Christmas, there were wins for Sheffield, Lancaster, York and Keele. Defending champions Sheffield were run close by Keele, but they prevailed 2190 to 2179, with a 572 from Rory Campbell (Sheffield). Liverpool were third in this match, just over 2000. Lancaster scored 2167 to comfortably beat Huddersfield, with MMU Cheshire a DNS. York won a four way match on 2031 with Liverpool second, Huddersfield third and Durham fourth. Keele's was a close affair against York 2159-2142 with David Jobin (Keele) making the difference with 573. Neither MMU Cheshire nor Northumbria attended.

After Christmas, Keele got 2157 to ease past Huddersfield. Leeds fielded an incomplete side in third, whilst Bradford were absent. York then posted their highest NEUAL score of the season, 2179 to beat Sheffield, who got 2143 in response. Arjun Kharpal (York) scored 563 in this match, whilst Rory Campbell (Sheffield) posted a 576 but it was not enough to help his side over the line. Lancaster scored 2102 for third place in this match, Leeds again fielded an incomplete side in fourth. Lancaster then enjoyed a comfortable win, with 2140, over Liverpool and Northumbria.

The last batch of matches were all due to be played on the weekend of Sat 12th Feb. Keele pulled out the NEUAL score of the season with 2236, helped by David Jobin's 577 and Neil Robson's 569. This was comfortably enough to beat Lancaster who score 2123, with Durham third, despite a 572 from Rob Storrar. Sheffield also broke 2200, with 2202, thanks to Rory Campbell and Chris Griffiths on 570 and 568, with Huddersfield well behind and Northumbria absent. York easily beat Bradford in the only two way match of the year.

Full results for the NEUAL novice matches can be seen on NEUAL page. Lancaster won all four of their league matches. There were also wins for Keele (twice), York, Sheffield, Liverpool and Bradford.

The three matches without results are Durham v Leeds v Northumbria and Bradford v Durham v MMU Cheshire v Sheffield, both originally scheduled in November, plus Leeds v Liverpool v MMU Cheshire from February.

In the senior table, these results leave Keele on 48 points, confirmed as champions. Lancaster have 47 and York are on 46. Sheffield are on 37 with one match result to come, so if they win (and score at least 2008 points) they will finish second. These four, all former NEUAL champions, have been very much the leaders in NEUAL all season but the margins have sometimes been razor thin. Keele beat Sheffield by a single point in the NEUAL Indoor Champs - reverse that result and Sheffield would almost certainly be champions instead. As it is, Keele add the 2011 senior NEUAL title to the one they won back in 2007. Lancaster have dominated the novice league and have won with 59 points, with York second on 53.

See latest NEUAL tables and results. Past NEUAL champions: 2003-2006 inc.York, 2007 Keele, 2008 Sheffield, 2009 Lancaster, 2010 Sheffield, 2011 Keele.