THE COMPETITION was fierce at the Northern NSW Branch Indoor Championships in Tamworth over the weekend with local archers coming up against strong opposition from across the north of the State.

The Tamworth Field Archers Club did have some success though.

Steve Anderson was the best performed male Tamworth archer when he finished third in the men’s bowhunter unlimited class B event.

In the corresponding women’s event, Cassie Ireland went two better with a win.

Some local kids also did well in the juniors.

Jaiden Muller finished first in the cub boys bare bow compound with brother Jackson second while Christian Fritze won the cub boys bare bow recurve.

Avon Valley (Gloucester) archer Greg Wall was the highest scorer for the weekend with a score of 598 out of 600.

That included a perfect round of 300 on Saturday.

But the main event went to Scott Buscombe from the Newcastle City club.

He shot 597 to win the men’s bowhunter unlimited class A title even though he missed out on the top overall score by one hit.

Other local clubs to compete were Gunnedah and the Sapphire City club from Inverell.

In all, there were 73 competitors from eight of the 11 clubs in the northern branch competing at the Tamworth’s club home at the old Tamworth Workers Club.

The best represented was the Hunter Academy of Sport, with 25 archers making the trip.

Some archers also used the event as a warm-up for the Australian indoor titles in Queensland in three weeks’ time.

Tamworth’s next event is at Gloucester next month and the next meet it will host is the 2009 northern indoor titles next February.

The club also runs an outdoor section and held its main outdoor event of the year back in February.

For full results from the weekend or for more information on the Tamworth club, visit its website at www.tfarchers.org.au.