I was feeling good about this match. So good in fact that something was bound to go wrong. Aside from having to turn up several hours too early to bring another shooter down it seemed like a good day. Oh, and forgetting about my cold which was killing me and leaving me incredibly dehydrated.
Whatever happened, it wan't good. Lying down in position was grand, it felt OK, no pain, nothing awkward. The result was different though. I couldn't keep the group tight enough. I don't know how many points I lost to 9.9s and 9.8s all throughout the match. I wasn't the only one either, both Kealan and Conor also dropped a lot of 9.9s, three in a row each at one point!
Keeping with my current tempo I rattled through sighters and the first 20 match shots in about 15 minutes. Rested and trying to get my head settled and back on the game I got back down again and started with 3 9s! With the inevitability that this was not going to be a good day settling in I just went for it and put in the rest of that block of 20 before getting up again.
The fifth card was a bit of a disaster, though I don't remember it being much different from the other ones. Finishing that one on a 94 was particularly poor, I had thought I was well beyond that. The last card being a 98 was decent enough however. It may signal that I need to take a little more time on each shot as I did rattle through them quite quickly overall, only slowing down a little on the last string.
Owing to two absences I also made it into the final where I was given a chance to redeem myself. I had done it before and with only 3 points between me and Conor with Mark and Kealan in between I knew there was some serious ground I could make up. So the pressure was on a little to prove myself and show what I could really do. Keeping my cool as much as possible I took my time a little more, checking my focus on the foresight for each shot, gently applying pressure to the trigger. It paid off, finally I was grouping well in the 10 ring, most of the shots being 10.5 or 10.5 and all right on the same spot. If I had a more accurate rearsight one or two clicks would have seen me putting in consistent 10.9s, which would have been very sweet. The end result was putting in a total of 103.6 and jumping from 7th to 4th in the final, almost overcoming a 5 point gap to take third but falling short by 0.9.
To make sure I got my €15 euro worth of shooting there was also a tie announced for 4th place with another DURC shooter, Mark who had a great final. I'd never seen, let alone taken part in a shoot off before so this was quite exciting, but a lot of a pain and very nerve wracking. Fortunately I had stayed in position for this exact reason, knowing it was always a possibility. A the order to load came my heart was thumping. I didn't think there was any way I could get this shot in with my heart rate about the same as it is climbing up a mountain. I heard Mark's shot go off and all the crap that I've ever heard about how much pressure there is when the other person has taken the shot and how difficult it is to overcome that hurdle flashed through my mind until I decided to Hell with it all and took the shot; 10.7, exact same spot as the last few shots :) Mark put in a great 10.3, just to make it more exciting for everybody else.
As it turned out, there was no need for the shoot off as the system had just not added up the decimal scores, meaning that I actually had 1.6 points over Mark anyway, but it was still a great experience. Learning that I can put in a 10.7 under pressure was well worth it.
Next time I shall try paying more attention to the lighting conditions on the day. I think it was a bit dark where I shot the match compared to the final, and the difference between the two could not be more marked. Good end to a bad day though :)
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