East Midlands Winter League THE sixth and final round of this year s Winter League was fished on Cock Bank, on Sunday. Although it seemed likely that Browning Hotrods and Sensas Mark One White would take the two places in the semi-finals, it was still ma

East Midlands Winter League

THE sixth and final round of this year's Winter League was fished on Cock Bank, on Sunday.

Although it seemed likely that Browning Hotrods and Sensas Mark One White would take the two places in the semi-finals, it was still mathematically possible for our VDE Stanjay Special team to qualify.

On the day, Mark One White won with a fantastic total of only 22 points with Stanjay Special finishing second - also on an excellent total of only 30 points.

Browning Hotrods were a disappointing fifth and lose the first choice of semi-final venue, putting them on Woodlands View rather than the Grand Union Canal at Milton Keynes.

Our Special team was left to rue the poor performances on the Cam and Oundle which gave us too much to do on the final day, although we can feel very positive about the result.

Special mention must be made of Jon Hazelden, who has had a nightmare series of winter league results. He wrote off his car on the way to the match in the morning running into a pick-up vehicle already rescuing a motorist.

When most anglers would have given up and gone home, Jon waited to get the car sorted out and was then picked up and taken to the bank. He proceeded to win his section, by far his best result of the year.

RESULT (Individual): 1 Mick Asker Sensas Mark One Black 14lb 9oz, 2 John Taylor Sensas Mark One Black 14lb 5oz, 3 Sean Higginbottom Sensas Mark One White 12lb 11oz, 4 Dale Stones Wades MG 12lb 10oz, 5 Rob Lincoln VDE Stanjay Special 12lb 8.5oz, 6 Matt Fovargue MAP Peterborough 12lb 4.5oz

Teams on Day: 1 Sensas Mark One White 22pts, 2 VDE Stanjay MG 30pts, 3 Wades MG 36pts, 4 Sensas Mark One Black 41pts, 5 Browning Hotrods 50pts, 6 VDE Stanjay Turbo 53pts.

League Final Positions: 1 Mark One White 15pts, 2 Browning Hotrods 18pts, 3 VDE Stanjay Special 21pts, 4 Sensas Mark One Black 23pts, 5 Wades MG 24pts, 6 MAP Peterborough 34pts

The Stacey Cup for the top individual was won by Wades' Chris Hardman, and in the junior competition, Mark One's Alex Bates finished ahead of our Stanjay duo Josh Pace and James Drakulic.

Stanjay Sports Open Match

Saturday's match was fished on the Lock Cut and was won by Stan from peg 21, the golden peg, who included a tench in his 11lb 12oz.

Ian Benton was second and Paul Ashcroft and Ray Myring equal third.

RESULT: 1 Stan Binge VDE Stanjay MG 11lb 12oz, 2 Ian Benton VDE Stanjay MG 4lb 4oz, 3= Ray Myring/Paul Ashcroft St Ives 2lb 10oz.

Cromwell Lake

The first frost for a while made catching difficult for most of the anglers.

Steve Ashwell was the winner with 9lb 6oz, the first single-figure winning weight for months. Graham Gooddraw was second and John Pratt third.

RESULT: 1 Steve Ashwell St Neots 9lb 6oz, 2 Graham Gooddraw Brampton 5lb 8oz, 3 John Pratt Gt Paxton 2lb 10oz

Best Small Fish Weight - Charlie Pratt 1lb 2oz

Brampton AS

Brampton fished their Christmas match on Sunday with a win for John Pratt, who caught 8lb 8oz of roach.

After two frosts, most of the anglers could only catch very small roach, but John managed to find fish of a better quality. Paul Irons was second and Chris Saunders third.

RESULT: 1 John Pratt 8lb 8oz, 2 Paul Irons 5lb 14oz, 3 Chris Saunders 5lb 8oz.

Benwick AC

The club used the pegs from peg 10 upwards at the village end of Chapel Farm.

Kevin Gaunt's total weighed more than twice the second-place weight with 7lb 3oz. Jon Seekins was second with 3lb 6oz and J Ayres third.

RESULT: 1 Kevin Gaunt 7lb 3oz, 2 Jon Seekins 3lb 6oz, 3. J Ayres 3lb 2oz, 4 Robin Stearn 2lb 7oz

Ramsey AS

Ramsey St Mary's was the venue for last Sunday's Christmas Open.

George Coles from peg 3 caught the only two tench netted to give him 11lb 14oz, which earned him the match win ahead of Andrew and Paul Kilby.

RESULT: 1 George Coles 11lb 14oz, 2 Andrew Kilby 8lb 8oz, 3 Paul Kilby 8lb 4oz, 4 Frank Bevilaqua 8lb 2oz.

RAF Fur and Feather

Raveley Drain was the venue for this year's Christmas match, and 11 of the 17 anglers caught at least double-figure weights.

The first three all included one tench in their weights.

The winner was Pete Wray with 20lb 14oz, from Craig Shaw with 19lb 1oz and Chris Saunders with 18lb 4oz.

RESULT: 1 Pete Wray 20lb 14oz, 2 Craig Shaw 19lb 1oz, 3 Chris Saunders 18lb 4oz, 4 Graham Welton 17lb 14oz, 5 Roy Whincup 16lb 2oz, 6 Ian Craft 14lb 4oz.

FISHING FIXTURES

Saturday

Godmanchester AS Saturday Open (King of the Rec) - Godmanchester Recreation Ground - Draw 11.30am - Fish 12.15-4pm

Cromwell Lake - Sweepstake - Draw 11am - Fish noon-4pm (two keepnets needed)

# There will be Christmas matches on both Cromwell Lake and the Recreation Ground on Saturday, December 23

Grahams Pond - no further matches planned this winter but lake open for pleasure fishing (01480 351034)

Sunday

Raveley Christmas Series - Raveley Drain - Draw 8am Marex - Fish 10am-3pm

Ramsey AS - Members Only Christmas match - Factory Bank - Draw 8am - Fish 9am-2pm

Benwick AS - Christmas Match - Chapel Farm - Village End - Draw 8am - Fish 9am-2pm (Ticket Only)

St Ives AS - Christmas Match - Pike & Eel Marina - Draw 7.30am - Fish 8.15am-1.15pm - Members Only - £4 pools - Please bring a prize

Tuesday

Lawn Farm - Golden Rod Open match - Willow Lake