Scotland vs USA and Canada

Posted on 14 Mar 2014 by WH

Going into the 3rd and final match of our tour, we were in a positive mood about the day's shooting that lay ahead with only a gentle wind on the flags. Little did we know of the drama to come and how close the match would be between the USA and Scotland.

The 8-man team match was shot over three distances: 800, 900, and 1000 yards with 2 non-convertible sighters and 15 rounds to count at each distance.

On a glorious day all three teams from Canada, Scotland and USA (with the Bald Eagles alongside) set up to fire on the 800 firing point, with Scots Jon Ford and Will Hanley taking to the firing point first under Matt Charlton and Hamish Hunter's wind-watchful coaching eyes. Whilst Jon Ford kicked-off the team score with a flying start and a top 150 and 15 centrals, the drama started to unfold with Mr Hanley's rifle firing a round off early as its bolt was closed, meaning he had to withdraw and carry on later with, alas, one shot counted as a miss.

It all seemed as if the result of the match had already been determined. However the team rallied well and put in some tremendous scores to keep our in a tenable place in the match including Kenny MacDonald's 150 having being asked to quickly fill in for Will. The left hand target of Ford and Scott, Maclean and Shaw, coached by Charlton, are equally worthy of mentioning in despatches for not dropping a point at the 800 yards. So on leaving the 800 firing point to get ready for the 900 yards, Scotland was trailing the USA by only 10 points despite all the drama! Canada were a further 3 points behind.

The 900 yard stage proved less dramatic, thankfully to us Scots, but at this point the wind decided it was time to enter the game. The wind picked up halfway through the 900 stage but the coaches on all teams kept their cool to keep the shooters firmly on target. That being said the Scots, with the left hand target still only two points off, managed to claw back 2 points from the Americans leaving the deficit at 8 points going into 1000 yards whilst the Canadians fell further behind.

Into the last stage at 1000 yards, the Scots reckoned they were still in for a chance of winning even though the wind was looking more challenging and there was an unearned deficit to make up. It all depended on what happened at this distance. Surely there would no more dramas to give Scotland every chance to go out on top on this final day of the tour?

The first detail at 1000 yards proved the excitement amongst the team was growing. At this point the Scots clawed back a further 4 points meaning that the difference was only 4 points - even the USA team Captain declared his anxiety at this point!

So it was down to the second and final detail at 1000 yards.

The detail commenced and soon into the firing the Scotland team wind coaches felt the wind was proving too changeable so stopped the team from firing for what seemed an awfully long and deafeningly silent period - 25 minutes in fact. Meanwhile the other teams seemed to carry on.

When the Scots did decide to fire again, there remained very little time to complete the shooting for two and a half shooters. On the right hand target, Iain Hindshaw completed his course of fire to allow Will Hanley his turn who, already down on the point waiting for his turn, had managed to nod off and was noticeably snoring, face-down in the firing point gravel. Upon being awakened for the third time by plotter, Watson, it was time for Hanley to fire but with well under 10 minutes to go, with an unfamiliar rifle due to his rifle troubles on the 800 point. So in about five minutes, Hanley unleashed his 2 sighters and 15 to count to snatch the top score at 1000 yards with a 149 and 8 central bulls-eyes in an astonishingly good shoot.

Meanwhile on the left target, Ian Shaw was the last firer. Surely, its in the bag now? Down went his last fifteen rounds toward the target but drama struck again! One of those shots didn't reach the target! The firer was certain of a good clean shot but the pit marker was adamant no shot had arrived (and nor had any other targets received a cross-shot), resulting in a further miss - half of the points dropped by that target team of four - on the team score sheet. How cruel a twist to the Scots' Californian campaign. The came, they saw, they nearly conquered and had certainly shot well enough to have done so.

Despite this second drama, the Scots still won the 1000 yards stage by a single point! Alas this was not enough to win the match. Overall the USA were worthy winners by a 7 point margin in a very exciting match. Many congratulations to the USA team!

Post match merriment was had with the Scots providing the barbecue and drinks, fuelled by plenty of malt whisky brought all the way from the homeland. This was followed by the Scottish team Captain presenting the Caledonian Quaich to the winning team, duly filled with some Whisky to be drunk (oops - imbibed) by the victors under the rules (and quite possibly under the watchful eye) of the late David Hossack. May it provide an incentive for many future international matches at Sloughhouse. We all heartily recommend that other teams follow in our footsteps for some superb competition and company.