Mark McKeown is first name on Perpetual Cup

This was also one of the annual compulsory shoots which determine the Northern Ireland shooting team, so there was a big turn-out for this important date.

Indeed a big crowd was present, one of the biggest seen at Rathfriland with 117 guns there.

After numerous 100 scores there were also three perfect 100/300 scores. These were shot by WJ Young, Nick McKeown and Mark McKeown. These were some of the best scores seen at Rathfriland with the majority of the scores pushing for prizes.

The three 300 scores of course forced a final for the silverware and in the end, after sudden death, it was Mark McKeown who came out the first winner of the Willie Hughes Perpetual Cup.

Among the local prizewinners were Aaron Smyth who could only manage third equal in AA class with his 100/299. Also impressive was Dean Smyth, shooting 100/298.

There were numerous other local shooters who shot good scores at the compulsory. Rathfriland shooter George Gracey shot 98/292 in class A while junior shooter David Henning continued to impress with 99/291.

Final class results for the day were as follows: High Gun – Mark McKeown; AA - 1st, Nick McKeown and WJ Young; 3rd= Aaron Smyth and Hendy Hume. A - 1st = JP Doran, Geoff Birch and WA McKinney. B - 1st, Ken Carson; 2nd, Brian Scott; 3rd, Geoffrey Black; C - 1st, S Smiley; 2nd, G Buchanan; 3rd, N Cochrane.

In other news, the Northern Ireland clay pigeon shooting team recently took the trip to South Africa to partake in the annual World DTL championships.

The team members certainly took their time to acclimatise to the weather with the hot climate and windy conditions taking influence on the shooters.

However despite this the team managed to finish fourth in the overall competition which is a great achievement for such a small country.

More success was seen in the individual competition with Northern Ireland shooter Nick McKeown finishing runner-up in what was a very hotly-contested final.

This is also a fantastic result and certainly something to be proud of. An in-depth report of the South Africa competition will follow in the coming weeks though the team would like to thank all those who provided support before and during the trip.

This support was essential to team morale and was much appreciated by all involved throughout the South Africa experience.