Who won the cup?
Big carp lost and landed in nail-biting match down to the wire
ANGLING TIMES/BAIT-TECH SUPERCUP FINAL 2018 (SUN) Barston Lakes, Main & Match Lakes (15 teams)
WHITEMOOR Lakes are the new Supercup 2018 champions after comfortably winning the final at Barston Lakes.
The Dorset side lifted the silver trophy with 28 points, seven in front of runners-up Carp Shop, who were grateful of a section win to put them second.
Hooks 2 Go matched that score in third place, while Black Country Misfits took fourth just one point further behind.
On a venue such as Barston, home to plenty of big carp, earning an extra point or three boiled down to a fish lost at the net or a bite missed.
The lakes fished harder than normal owing to a change in the weather and wind direction that did not appeal to the venue’s big head of skimmers, carp and F1s.
The patchy nature of the fishing could be seen in the scores of the leading teams. New champs Whitemoor included a twelfth in section on their card, while Carp Shop had a last!
However, by doing their talking elsewhere on the bank, the damage of that low score was repaired to put them in the money. Whitemoor took the £1,000 winners’ cheque and Carp Shop, from Surrey, earned £500 for their troubles.
“We’re ecstatic, we really are,” said Whitemoor skipper Alex Nadin. “We totted up our points at the end to 28 but heard whispers of another team having that. If it went to section countback, we felt we’d miss out!
“When the results were read out and second and third both had 35 points, I think we were shocked to have won by quite a big margin, but the surprise soon turned to elation. We were buzzing, absolutely delighted!”
At the draw, however, half of the team were suffering from food poisoning or perhaps nerves – either way, they were feeling rough, hardly the ideal preparation for a big match.
However, once the fishing began they settled down to the job in hand, helped, as Alex admitted, by a good team draw.
“We went back to our table and looked at the pegs, and I think we all knew that we had half a chance,” Alex revealed.
“My peg on the Match Pool was bang on, Ian Dunlop and Ray Kelly had drawn well on the Main Lake, and Gareth Boycott’s peg was decent. Our only fears were my dad Steve on the far end of the golf course bank and Nick White, who was on the dreaded island that never seems to hold many fish! We said that the key was to get a midway finish from the harder pegs – the good ones should look after themselves.”
Having fished the previous two finals, Whitemoor felt that they’d got to grips with the challenges that Barston presents, and the lads had a firm plan in place based around extensive practice leading up to the day and those two finals.
“On the Main Lake we all began by fishing bomb and PVA tea bags to a range where we could comfortably ping in 8mm pellets over the top for the opening 15 minutes,” said Alex.
“If we’d had indications or caught, we stayed on it for another 15 minutes but as soon
as this line went quiet, it was time to change to the pole.
“The wind governed how far we could fish, but on this line we Kinder potted in micro pellets and a bit of corn, using corn on the hook for the big skimmers and the chance of an F1. On the Match Pool I had peg 1, which has a big margin. I fished long down the edge with expanders over micros.”
Alex returned a second in section with 50-2-0 of carp and F1s, Ian Dunlop taking second in section and third overall with 9612-0 of big carp on bomb and bag at peg 27. Gareth Boycott won his section from peg 60 with a fine 45-12-0, 40lb of which consisted of skimmers on the pole.
Dad Steve chipped in with an eighth in section on 22-15-0 at peg 98, while Ray, on peg 118, bagged 88-0-0 of carp on the bag to take third. Nick did struggle at peg 45 with 19-0-0 for twelfth in his section.
“I think the lads did the best they could from those harder pegs and Gareth, in particular, stood out to win his section. Ray, too, played a blinder for third when he was up against pegs 120 to 124,” Alex continued.
“We couldn’t be happier to win as this year we have put a heap of work into both the rounds, the semi and the final – I think if you take things seriously, you do well, and we’ve been up and down to Barston so many times!
“There was also a lot of thought put into the placing of anglers on each section. Ian had won his from the early numbers in the last two finals, so it made sense to put him there. Dad is good scratcher on hard sections, whereas I’m more of a canal pole angler than one that can throw a lead so the Match Pool was perfect for me!” Alex added.
Runners-up Carp Shop continued the southern dominance, sneaking into second thanks to a section win. They may feel that they had a good dart at winning at one stage but their card included a 15-point score from the Match Pool – halfway there would have knocked seven points off their final score.
As it was, the rest of the team did well, Dan Knight bagging that important section win and second overall in the match, skipper Tony Lane scoring seven, Michael Head a third in section, Lee Perry the same in his zone and Mark Parrett sixth.
Steve Turner was the man to suffer on the Match Pool. Team result: 1 Whitemoor Lakes, 28pts; 2 Carp Shop, 35 (section wins); 3 Hooks 2 Go, 35; 4 Black Country Misfits, 36; 5 Woodhouse Angling Centre, 38; 6 Team Martin, 39; 7 Oakham Hookers, 49; 8 Tackle & Bates, 52; 9 Scunthorpe Pisces, 53; 10 Bill’s Tackle, 55 (section countback); 11 Newmarket AC, 55; 12 Alliance & Leicester Liverpool, 56; 13 South Cerney Gold, 59; 14 Lakeside AC, 61; 15 Houghton Main AC, 69.