UK Student Archery Association

Bradford lay NEUAL marker [05/Dec/18]

Two reminders about national competitions: 1) BUTC needs a host urgently and 2) E-League Round 2 score submission deadline is today. This article meanwhile, reviews NEUAL matches E3, W3 and N2 and the NEUAL Novie Champs. SEAL and SWWU updates will follow.

Bradford posted the highest NEUAL senior team total of the year so far, winning match E3 with 2199, missing out on a 2200 by the equivalent a line cutter. Central Lancashire won W3 with 2127, an increase of roughly 200 points on the week before, coincidentally, also roughly their margin over second placed Keele. Sheffield were second on match E3 on 1880, both runners up out-scoring Newcastle who scored 1842 but who won N2. This match should have seen the return of Northumbria but they were a DNS.

Top scorer across the three matches was Matthew Gardiner (Bradford) who scored 573, just a fraction ahead of Thomas Braxton (Leeds) on 571, whilst Harlie Mason (Central Lancashire) knocked in a 565.

Bradford, Chester and Sunderland won the novice matches. Sunderland were the only team over 1000, whilst Bradford pipped Sheffield by only 10. Chester recorded their first ever maximum (senior or novice) in a 3-team NEUAL conference match. Alec Raven-Wise (Keele) was the top novice on 486.

In the novice championships a week later saw Durham take maximum points on 1290, with Sunderland on 1231 in second spot. Liverpool and Hull were also above 1200, with Keele and Northumbria just below. Northumbria's top scorer on their reappearance was therefore Amirul Kassim whose 452 only lost out on the individual high score to James Stafford (Sunderland) who also scored 452. Stafford recorded 60 hits to Kassim's 59. Georgina Hill (Liverpool) was the top scoring novice lady, her total of 411 shot with a barebow.

For results and updated tables, see the NEUAL 2018/19 page. Reading NEUAL tables at this stage of the season can be quite tricky - points "lost" and aggregate can be indicative though. Central Lancashire, Sheffield and Keele have all got 39 points from 2 fixtures, with UCLan currently top courtesy of a higher aggregate. Five clubs have 1 win from 1 match so far, including Bradford, whose 2199 is 70+ con everyone else thus far. Bradford have never won NEUAL outright, but have finished second in the senior table three times - 2005, 2016 and 2017.

The novice table has had the first of its 3 all-vs-all rounds at the Novice Champs. Sunderland are top with 58 (out of 60), with Hull on 57. Durham are fifth, but are the only club with a perfect record to date, 40/40 from 2 fixtures. Liverpool currently sit 13th out of 17, but have only shot at the Novice Champs so far, gaining 18/20, so will surely rise sharply as the season progresses.

The next batch of NEUAL fixtures are scheduled for the weekend of the 26th/27th January. Matches E4, W4 and N3 are Leeds vs Huddersfield, UCLan vs Liverpool and Teesside vs Northumbria.