Admittedly, this update may appear to be a bit overdue seeing as the match took place over two weeks ago, but this my third attempt at getting it done as the previous two attempts failed miserably due to the old Apple laptop that I'm currently using (since my proper computer died) seems to not get on too well with the Blogger website and, contrary to what some people would have you believe, I'm not in the position to visit the Apple store and buy a shiny new one!
Anyway, a new venue for this year's Christmas match (Acorn Paddock Lake) meant that at least everybody would be fishing on the same lake and would therefore have an equal chance at the draw.
And with 32 booked in it meant we could have four 8-peg sections with payouts of 1st Overall, 1st & 2nd Silvers overall and 1st & 2nd in each section (11 payouts in total) which seemed quite fair and, for once, everybody was happy.
Unfortunately there was one no-show which meant one section ended up with seven in and that was left to the drawbag to decide the empty peg.
As it turned out the peg that was left in the bag was 34, arguably the best peg on the lake, (worth bearing in mind for those that like to jump the draw queue).
Steve Tanner had the good fortune to be drawn on 33 which gave him the double advantage of an all-important "bridge" peg and an empty peg either side and he duly won the match with an all-carp weight of 49lbs 11oz.
Brian Shanks took second from peg 3 with 45-4 followed by Colin Ellaway on another bridge peg (40) with 39-4.
Fourth place went to Luke Tanner with 37-12 from peg 7.
So, on the whole, a decent match for the time of year with 20 anglers weighing double figures and just three dnw's.
By comparison, last year's match at Westerleigh was won with 33-7 and saw just 6 out of 22 anglers weigh double figures, five of which were on the old lake.
As normal the aftershow party was held at the Midland Spinner along with the payouts, tackle prizes and raffle, helped along by a generous buffet.
The winner enjoyed a quality hamper which included (amongst other stuff) a turkey, a brace of pheasants and free membership for next season plus picking up
£100 in pools.
Overall:
- Steve Tanner .... Peg 33 ... 49-11
- Brian Shanks ....... 3 ....... 45-4
- Colin Ellaway ...... 40 ....... 39-4
- Luke Tanner ....... 7 ........ 37-12
- Paul Elmes ......... 22 ....... 36-7
- Darren North ...... 1 ......... 35-4
- Ed Wynne .......... 20 ....... 30-1
- Chris Szakacs ..... 13 ........ 29-13
- Simon Belcham (j) 36 ...... 26-2
- Mike Wilson (J) .... 5 ........ 26-2
- Will Dearlove ...... 37 ....... 23-2
- Mark Radford ...... 31 ....... 21-1
- Craig Edmunds .... 10 ....... 20-9
- Paul Reed ........... 6 ......... 19-2
- Chris Gay ............ 23 ....... 17-1
Sections:
Pegs 1 > 10:
- Brian Shanks (3) .... 45-4
- Luke Tanner (7) ..... 37-12
Pegs 12 > 19:
- Chris Szakacs (13) ... 29-13
- Ryan Radford (12) ... 12-0
Pegs 20 > 28:
- Paul Elmes (22) .... 36-7
- Ed Wynne (20) ..... 30-1
Pegs 29 > 40:
- Steve Tanner (33) .... 48-11
- Colin Ellaway (40) .... 39-4 (1st by default)
- Si Belcham (36) .... 26-2 (2nd by default)
Silvers:
- Brian Shanks (3) .... 5-4
- Matt Taynton (16) ... 5-2 (1st by default)
- Mark Radford (31) ... 3-9 (2nd by default)
Finally, I would like to thank everybody who helped out to make the day run smoothly, including Tony and Dean for their invaluable help with the prizes, Matt Taynton for supplying (and preparing) the brace of pheasants.
Plus a big thanks to Rich Jones & Derek for their help carrying everything out of my van and up the stairs in the pub!
And a special thankyou to the wife who did all the food.
Hope you all had a great Christmas.
Ps:
In case anyone was wondering, my match never went that great. Having the choice of the last 2 pegs in the bag I managed to put myself on 17 (middle of cyanide straight) and leave 34 in the bag. The result of this was 5 bites, 1 scale, a roach and a couple of skimmers for the impressive total of 1lb 5oz and last out of those that weighed in which won me a skid bung and a pole sock!
All was not lost though as Alan Healy was on 14 and could only manage 2-13 as his two skimmers were less tiny than my two so he never had much to shout about either!
On the upside, I did come second in the Sedges Christmas open and Al won the silvers at the Shiplate Christmas match so his Christmas wasnt a total disaster after all.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
