IMOGEN Newby made sure she finished her 2019 outdoor season on a real high as the Halstead archery ace secured a silver medal at the Archery GB Youth Key Event finals at Caldicot Castle in Wales.

The Youth Key Event finals feature the top six young archers in the country going head-to-head in a knockout format until two remain in the final, with Newby, who is a pupil at Hedingham School, competing in the Cadet Women's Recurve event.

In testing conditions with 20mph winds, driving rain and cold, it was a superb display from the 15-year-old Halstead archer as she exceeded her own expectations and made it into the final where she was only denied a gold medal by a 6-2 defeat by number-one seed Penny Healey.

Newby had come into the season-ending event on the back of a testing year when she had had to overcome adjustments to her shooting technique and was hoping to make it on to the podium, so to progress into the final - after 6-0 wins against Lauren Rawlings and Thea Rogers - and to come away with a silver was a pleasing way to close the campaign.

Her father, Leon, said it would give Imogen confidence to progress further in 2020 when she will be hoping to gain an international selection with a place on the Great Britain team.

Leon said: "Imogen and Penny have been neck and neck for years and this year, Penny has shot superbly, but Imogen had turned a corner coming into this event.

"Four months ago, her coach had spotted something that had developed in her technique as a long-term inbred habit and she needed to get rid of that, but it meant she hadn't been doing as well as we knew she could.

"Imogen came into this event ranked third, but there was quite a gap between her and the second-placed girl - Thea (Rogers) - who has been her nemesis, but she beat her 6-0 on her way to the final.

"To come away from this with a silver medal having dispatched someone who she had never beaten before on the way was really special.

"It means she has finished the year on a real high and she will be looking for international (Great Britain) selection next year.

"She did qualify for the first leg of the Youth World Championships this year but couldn't make it because of an English exam that she had to do, so she'll be hoping to get a spot next year.

"This performance at the Youth Key Event finals can be a catalyst and give her belief that she can actually do it.

"She was hoping for a bronze coming into it because that was how good Penny and Thea had been this year, but Imogen really rose to the occasion."