This looks like it could be just as close as last year.
Bear, Rick and
Steve Dash all return to do battle along with new entry Jason Hoare.
On latest form and on last years match result,
Finally,
HOUR 1
Rick[6] and Bear[5] drew pegs on the opposite bank to the other 3 anglers.
Heads began twitching when Shaun Truscott stole an early lead by catching the first fish of the match after 30 seconds. It wasn't long however before Rick and Bear began catching and they were the first to settle down well.
HOUR 2
Pegs 5 and 6 were really producing the goods for Rick and Bear. Jason on the other bank was just starting to pick up smaller fish consistently.
Dash on the other hand was not catching much at all by this stage. Shaun was also getting no bites after his early fish.
Towards the end of the second hour, Rick hooked into something very big and managed to get it to the surface. It was a big bream 2lb+ but the hook pulled and it was lost forever.
After 3 hours it looked like Bear had a good lead. He was catching fish up to 6oz on a regular basis.
Rick was giving him most to think about, while Jason was still catching plenty of smaller fish from his peg.
Dash was now tempting odd fish but nothing of any size.
Shaun decided he'd given it his best shot and moved pegs to the bottom of the canal. With 4 anglers left, any of them could still win it.
During this hour however, Rick began matching Bear's catching and he was landing bream to 10oz.
Dash was now looking in real trouble. His catch rate was poor and they were still only tiny minnows.
Bear was now struggling for bites along with Dash while Rick continued to apply pressure with plenty of fish hitting his net.
It was Jason though who was the dangerous angler during hour 5 as he really got the fish feeding in his peg. This seemed too much for Dash and he to gave up and moved pegs leaving just 3 anglers to contest the match in the last hour and a half.
As Bear continued to struggle for bites, Rick's peg began to slow up as well and it must have been very tense watching Beavis opposite as he continued to rake in the fish.
And with about 40 minutes left Beavis's pole arched right round and he successfully netted a big bream. 15 minutes later he was at it again, only this time a good looking tench was in the bag.
It looked like he'd stolen it on the line.......
REVIEW
A brilliant finish to a brilliant match that could have gone any of 3 ways when the weigh in took place but the favourite won again. Rick, Jason and Bear tried super hard to win but as for Dash, I think he needs to re-think his tactics a bit for next year.
Rick Barker - 1st- Justified favouritism again but this time there was no sharing. It was a rock solid performance won with a good weight. There were lots of fish in the net as well and if the big bream he lost had been in the net, the win would have been even more convincing. 8/10
Jason Hoare - 2nd- Really gave it his all and turned this into a cracking match. The last hour was so tense because of the 2 big catches of his that left everyone thinking he'd won it. In the future, Beavis is going to be big, very big. 8/10
Bear Barker - 3rd- He will be angry for finishing so low down after he looked so good early on. The first 3 hours virtually belonged to him as he couldn't stop bagging up but he lost his way in the final 2 hours and he'll have to try harder still in next years match.. 6/10
Steve Dash - 4th- The defending joint champ couldn't have surrendered anymore easily than with that bad performance. He had run out of ideas by the 3rd hour and he didn't know where to cast next. He took the easy option of quitting but looking back, he was very weak this time. 2/10
Shaun Truscott - 5th - Was never going to win but at least he can say he led the match, even if it was only for the first 3 minutes. He'll need many more practice sessions before he's ready to challenge this lot again but he gave it a fair go and he may be back .2/10
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