Euro Champs How did England fare?
A solid performance in Euro Champs
DRENNAN Team England’s bronze medal in this year’s European Championships has been hailed a resounding success.
England’s team of William Raison, Sean Ashby, Des Shipp, James Dent, Matt Derry and debutant Cameron Hughes finished fourth on day one on Slovenia’s River Sava, improving on that with a better showing on Sunday, scoring 18 points to take third – seven behind silver medallists Hungary and winners Italy, who tallied 29.
And that was just how England co-manager Mark Downes envisaged things turning out. Italy, Hungary and Slovakia all fish the venue regularly as these countries border Slovenia.
So Mark was pleased, not only with a medal, but also with how the team bonded and worked together over the week of practice and the two matches.
“Blooding young talent at international level and delivering a bronze medal for the team made the many miles of travel and pounds spent well worthwhile,” he said.
“To win any medal when you travel into Eastern Europe is now a real achievement. When a championships is held in Slovenia or Hungary, for example, more teams want to fish so doing well is harder.
“Many of these nations are familiar with the venues, the style of fishing and the fish to catch. People always expect us to win but it gets more and more difficult each year, it really does!”
“We’re currently using the Euros as a chance to get the younger anglers up to speed at this level, and it’s working well.
“There’s no opportunity to do this in the UK,” he continued. “James and Matt have a few years under their belts, Cameron was brilliant all week, and then we’ve got Matt Godfrey in the World Champs side. These lads are our future, so they need to be competing now.”
Day one pitched William, Sean, Des, Matt and James into action on a river that had coloured up, and the results were good except for James, who drew a poor peg in the deep section where there was 9m of water at 10m.
Will and Sean took second in their sections, Des scoring four points and Matt five. James returned 11 in what was a case of damage limitation.
“On day one we fished at either 13m or 11m depending on where the bottom was better, and fed Sensas Gros Gardons, River and Terre de Riviere leam with a bit of caster in it. This was mixed very wet so it went down in a big clump to avoid the bleak,” Mark explained.
“We topped up with the same mix but with more feed in it. That meant bloodworm, dead maggots, casters and a little joker.
“Gravel was also added in areas where we felt a few barbel might be present, but the main targets were vimba. There was also a bleak line on the go and a swim just over the weed to catch little fish if needed.”
Sunday went along similar lines with the top-up mix changing to 100 per cent soil as the river had cleared and weights looked likely to be lower.
England cut back on the initial feed but topped up more regularly, and it worked well.
William won his section to finish fourth overall, denied a medal on weight, and Cameron also won his section. They were backed up by Des and Matt on four points apiece and Sean on eight from an area where he bleaked his way into contention.
“Cameron’s debut performance was very impressive and Will just did what he always does – wins!” Mark said. “With good backing from Des and Matt and a decent result from Sean after his
match looked like being a bit of a disaster, we did really well.
“Okay, we were miles behind second and third but we beat France, Slovakia and Slovenia and got a medal. More importantly, those young lads got more experience under their belts and that’s our long game.
“Looking back, the weekend was brilliant for us. Everyone got along well, had an input into the fishing and worked hard.
“Thanks also have to go to Drennan for their continued backing and to my fellow manager Steve Sanders, who has been invaluable at these events,” Mark added.
“People expect us to win but it gets more and more difficult each year, it really does!”