England gold at Home International
Unbeatable lead means Home International is theirs again
DRENNAN Team England have retained the Home International title after a dominating performance on the River Severn at Shrewsbury.
They dropped just two points over the two-day event, the talented seven-man side winning 12 out of a possible 14 sections to score an unbeatable 16 points and take gold.
Wales won silver after a weight countback, tying on 36 points with Scotland. In the individual stakes it was all England too, as James Dent enjoyed a perfect two-point score and a 27lb 15oz 8dr total, with Matt Godfrey and Will Raison in second and third.
The Severn was in perfect form for the four teams, as the young England squad of James, Matt and Will, plus Lee Kerry, Callum Dicks, Cameron Hughes and Matt Derry, relied on a mixture of long pole and bolo float tactics to target roach and dace.
England manager Mark Downes said: “We caught most of our fish on the pole with 1-2g floats over a groundbait mix of Sensas Gros Gardons, Canal Black and Terre de Riviere, containing joker and casters. The bolo was our backup plan and we either fed small groundbait balls in the deeper sections below the bridge, or loosefed hemp and maggots in the shallower areas upstream.”
On day one it was England’s Matt Godfrey who took top spot with a 15lb 12oz 8dr net, the highlight of which was a personal best roach of 2lb 7oz on pole tackle. England won six out of the seven sections, which gave them a commanding position as they went into day two.
That saw an equally good performance and an identical points score as Wales’s Darren Frost was the only man to beat an England angler in the two matches, on his way to overall fourth-placed individual. James Dent took the second day accolades with his 16lb 4oz, which included a bonus 6lb barbel among some quality silverfish and a good perch.
“James was second overall last year in Ireland and fished brilliantly again,” said Mark.
Team result: 1 Drennan Team England, 16pts; 2 Tri-Cast Weston Team Wales, 36; 3 Team Scotland, 36; 4 Tubertini Ireland, 52.
Individual result: 1 J Dent, Drennan Team England, 2pts (27-15-8); 2 M Godfrey, Drennan Team England, 2pts (26-14-8); 3 W Raison, Drennan Team England, 2pts (23-5-8); 4 D Frost, Tri-Cast Weston Wales, 2pts (22-1-0).