UK Student Archery Association

Manchester win maiden NEUAL titles [12/May/25]

Following the NEUAL Outdoor Championships taking place this weekend, the results of NEUAL match 3 and the final league standings, have now been released, see the NEUAL 2024/25 page. Results from NEUAL Outdoors itself, as well as other matches this weekend (SWWU match 7, SEAL and TOUCAN Outdoors) will all follow shortly.

Manchester have claimed their first ever NEUAL titles, winning both the senior and novice leagues. Lancaster were a close second in the senior standings. Liverpool were novice team runners up and won the unsighted league title in a close finish. NEUAL matches 2 and 3 were both postal and were held over a series of weekends in the spring term. Match 2 started in January and concluded in March, with match 3 held in March and April.

There were quite a few pieces of symmetry in the two match results, with Manchester and Lancaster swapping 1st and 2nd places. Manchester/Lancaster won match 2/3 with 2200/2210 as against 2169/2166. Manchester's win in NEUAL match 2 was their first ever outright NEUAL match victory. Liverpool were third both times on 2125 and 2155. In match 3, York were also quite close to the leading trio, with a score of 2144. Keele, Sheffield and York (match 2) and Leeds and Bangor (match 3) were in the low 2000s.

There was more symmetry at novice team level, as Manchester and Liverpool shared the honours. In both cases, the winner was a little under 100 points clear at the top, with the gap from second to third at over 100. Manchester (1602 and 1493) were first and second, whilst Liverpool (1505 and 1576) were second and first. Newcastle and Keele took the respective third spots.

Liverpool won both unsighted team matches with 1461 and 1488, winning by 92 and 63. York led the chasing pack in match 2. MMU were third in match 2 and were second ni match 3 with 1425. Keele were third in match 3, a point under 1400.

In match 2, Kobe Pioquinto (Lancaster) scored 580 to lead his side to second place. Pioquinto's score was the second highest in the match behind Will Addison (Keele) who scored 587. Will Luddington (Sheffield) hit 576, with Emily Thompson (York) the top lady on 573. Elsewhere, Rafail Panagiotidis (Manchester) anchored his side's win with a 564. Top novices were Qingyang Li (Manchester) with 544 and 549 and Abir Al-Ansari (Liverpool) 531 and 551. Shihui Chen (Manchester) scored 541 in match 2. The top unsighted scorers in the respective matches were Wenze Jiang (Manchester) 551 and Daniel Kilgallon (UCLan) 548.

In match 2, experienced longbow Alexandra Langdon-Reich (Sheffield) amassed a score of 488 and in doing so, smashed the All Unis Portsmouth record, which had stood for over six years at 457.

Manchester won NEUAL titles for the first time - winning both the overall and the novice team titles in a remarkable breakthrough season. They were also in with a shout in the unsighted team league as well. Manchester only joined NEUAL fully in 2021/22 and their best senior finish had been 9th.

Manchester finished the senior NEUAL season on 95 points, two ahead of their main rivals for the crown, Lancaster. By the end of the season, this duo had pulled well clear of the pack. Consistent scoring was the hallmark of Manchester's successful campaign - all their scores were between 2166 and 2200. Manchester become the ninth different club to win the overall NEUAL league - but it is a title no club has successfully defended since 2006.

Lancaster actually won 3 out of the 5 matches, but a costly 7th place at NEUAL Indoor Champs prevented the Red Roses from adding to their 2009, 2015 and 2017 senior NEUAL titles. Second place is Lancaster's best post-Covid NEUAL finish. A pair of third place finishes in these two matches saw Liverpool pip Keele and Sheffield to third. Liverpool and Keele both finished on 82 points, with BUTC winners Sheffield fifth on 78, two ahead of York. Liverpool match their finish from last year. Keele's 4th place is actually their best result since 2013 - when they won.

In their debut NEUAL campaign, Bangor placed a respectable 8th, with 60 points. Sixth place in match 3 was their best individual NEUAL match result. Bangor also participated in all 5 NEUAL fixtures - they were even one of the hosts in match 3 - as their switch from SWWU to NEUAL payed dividends in terms of match participation.

A string of really strong scores powered Manchester to the NEUAL novice title, also for the first time. They scooped up 118 out of 120 possible league points. Only Liverpool were able to keep any sort of pace - they finished second to Manchester 4 times out of the 6 matches, picking up a win in match 3 to end on 112. Liverpool were also NEUAL novice runners up a year ago and have won 3 times before. York were best of the rest, back on 95, 3rd place is the White Roses' best novice league finish since 2012.

Liverpool completed a remarkable comeback to win the NEUAL unsighted league for the first time. They were 8 points behind the leaders heading in to matches 2 and 3, but two wins later they were on top. Liverpool end as winners on 106 points, with York in second on 104 and Manchester in third on 102 - all three clubs recorded best ever finishes in the NEUAL unsighted league, albeit it's only in its third season.

A review of NEUAL Outdoor Champs will follow separately.