WALES won their first medal of the XVII Commonwealth Games after Caerleon's Michael Wixey held his nerve in the men's trap pairs to take bronze in the clay-pigeon shooting.

Wixey and partner James Birkett-Evans, from Chester, were in the hunt for a gold medal in the shooting competition at Bisley's National Shooting Centre in Surrey after Birkett-Evans hit two maximum 25-points in his first two attempts to set the pace.

But the Welsh pair both dropped points in their last two rounds to finish with 186 points as the Australian pair of Adam Vella and Michael Diamond took gold after winning on countback having tied with England's Ian Peel and Christopher Dean, after both pairs ended on 187 points.

But while Wales missed out on gold by just a point another slip could have cost them dear with the Northern Ireland pair of Thomas Allen and Philip Murphy just behind them in fourth on 185 points.

Having taken part in Saturday night's medal ceremony, a proud Wixey said he had thoroughly enjoyed the moment.

Wixey said: "We are delighted, it's a fantastic result. We discussed it the night before and realistically we knew that if we shot well we were in with a good chance of the bronze, but talking about it and doing it are two totally different things.

"You could fall into the trap of thinking about how close we were to a gold or silver, but you have to think the Northern Ireland pair were only a point behind us.

"It's my first Games so to get a medal is superb and more than I could have hoped for and the fact it's Wales' first medal makes it even better.

"Hopefully it'll get our medal table rolling."

Having first learned to shoot as a 10-year-old in Newbridge, Wixey, 31, who represented Britain at the European Championships last year in Croatia, said the win was some positive publicity for a sport which struggled in the public eye after the Dunblane tragedy.

He said: "The sport has received some bad press in recent years, but it received a big boost at the Sydney Olympics and hopefully this will continue the trend."

Partner Birkett-Evans, who took silver for Wales in the individual trap at Auckland 1990, added: "In a country like Wales it's a big thing to get a bronze medal. We were both pleased with what we've got.

"We were a bit unfortunate because we were doing quite well, but fell short on the last round."

The Welsh even earned some praise from Australia's gold medalist Adam Vella, who was surprised to pick up a medal after they missed on the last round, but recovered to tie with the English and deny England's Peel a third Commonwealth gold.

Vella said: "I am amazed we won it."

Wixey will be hoping his success in the pairs helps boost his confidence when he takes part in the individual trap tomorrow and Wednesday.