The annual Leinster open took place over the weekend of July 16^th & 17^th.

This year saw the introduction of an Air rifle competition which was held at UCD rifle club on Sunday 17^th. The weekend started with the now annual 3 positions competition.

This event is the marathon of shooting, taking in excess of 3 hours shooting and 120 shots for record. The match is broken down between 3 positions, with 40 shots for each position being the course of fire. This year we had a record entry as usual.

The match began with the prone stage with Declan Kelly making a charge with 389 ex 400 to surge into lead. DRC club chairperson JK Walsh was lying in second place with a 2 point lead of 367 followed closely by Daniel Flemming on a 365. Standing was next and with Declan making a good start of a 95 ex 100 on the first string, a good result was expected, but alas this could not be maintained and he ended up with a 361 while increasing his lead to 115 points over the rest of the field. JK Walsh was looking good to securing the silver position after he increased his lead from 2 points to 29 points. The kneeling stage set up a grand finale to a long and tough shoot. Daniel Fleming soldiered on through his first 3 x 40 match and gained much experience in this multidiscipline event. Daniel put in a brave 345 to JK's 275 and thus over hauling JK to land him self into the silver medal position by 41 points. Declan completed kneeling stage with a 367 to end up with a total 1117, taking the Gold by a credible 166 points. While this is a standard result for Declan, all credit must go to JK and Daniel for sheer determination to complete this mother of all target shooting events.

Results for the DRC 3x40

Next on the agenda was the Prone 60 shot match. This year saw a low turnout for this event but some good results were attained none the less.

JK Walsh points out the wind direction.

Declan Kelly and Daniel Flemming got the early bird detail for the prone match starting at 08.00am, yes 8 o'clock in the morning! It was decided to hold an early detail to accommodate any shooter whom wanted and made their wishes known to shoot in the 2 events on Sunday.

Declan placed himself ahead with a solid 584 to Daniel's 528. As the first prone detail finished, more competitors arrived to the Ballyforlan range. Declan's lead in the Prone match was short lived with the excellent 589 scored by Michael Walls of the Fingal Target Shooting Club to oust the triple champion of the Leinster open in 1993, 2003 & 2004 to 2^nd place. Third place was a close contest between 1994 champion Leslie Fagan of Wilkins town and DRC veteran Tony Cogan last winning this championship in 1988, taking the bronze medal by a single point.

Congratulations to Michael Walls for a fine display of shooting and his first place in the Leinster Open 2005.

Results Prone Match

Finally for the first time in the 77 year history of the Dublin Rifle Club an Air rifle event was added to the programme of competitions. Unable to stage the event on our 50m range, UCD rifle club were kind enough to facilitate our request to hold our inaugural air rifle match on their range.

Most shooters chose either prone or Air rifle to compete in, with exception of Daniel Flemming and Declan Kelly. The match was poised for a climax when the qualification preliminary results were posted.

Competitors preparing for the Air rifle Match.

Junior Shooters Sarah Cunningham and Damien Fagan of WTSC set the early pace with personal best scores of 573 and 570 respectively. Declan Kelly recovering from the early prone match was placed 2^nd on 572 with Richard Stapleton 566 and Sean Baldwin taking up the rear on 565 to challenge for the bronze position.

The final as always throws up surprises with some solid shooting being produced by Sarah Cunningham to claim her first victory in the Air rifle event.

Declan Kelly held onto 2^nd position and never got a start to challenge for 1^st position after his 3^rd shot was a 6. Damien Fagan claimed the 3^rd podium position only just from challenging Sean Baldwin of the Army Shooting team.

Competitors during the Air rifle Match.

Results Air Rifle Match