The dragons take top spot in the inaugural Home Nations Carp International 2017
History was made this week, when the Welsh Carp Team came out on top in the first ever Home Nations Carp International match. The dragons roared to victory during a tight match on Brasenose One at the Linear Fisheries complex.
Four pairs from each nation made up the teams from England, Scotland and Wales, who participated in the event organised by England captain Rob Hughes. The match was run under FIPSEd International rules to keep the event as fair as possible. Brasenose Two was split into four sections, with a pair from each nation pegged in each. The rules work on a point scoring system, with a section win being awarded one point, second awarded two points, third three points and fourth four points. The aim is to achieve the lowest number of cumulative points across all four sections.
Unfortunately the match coincided with cold snap and the first frost of the year which meant the usually prolific Brasenose Two fell very quiet. The fish seemed to spend all their time in one small area of the lake, and so nine out of the twelve pairs blanked! There were only ever three pairs in contention throughout the match.
Two very quick fish within the first two hours for Welsh pair Nick Davies and John Flewin put them into the lead from the off. However, the Scottish pairing opposite them had something to say and took three fish through the course of Friday afternoon and took the lead on the 6pm weigh-in. Davies added another to the Welsh tally in the early hours of Saturday morning, but this signalled a lull in the action.
The lake remained quiet until late on Saturday night when England pairing; Tom Maker and Graham Mabey, landed two fish in quick succession. This looked like The Lions could make a late charge for the win, however it wasn’t to be and they remained fishless for the remainder of the match.
Scotland managed to add one more fish to their tally on the final night, however it wasn’t enough to overtake the Welsh. The final result was made on a greater weight advantage to Team Wales, who come away with the gold medal. Welsh captain Nick Davies commented on their victory: “It was an incredibly tough match and the carp just didn’t want to play ball. It was amazingly tight too and one fish anywhere around the lake could have changed the result. We are understandably over the moon to have won!”
