England Fourth In Tough European Championships

Drennan England fought hard for a medal in a dire European Championships in Poland, but just missed out, finishing fourth of the 27 teams competing.

Taking the gold were France, a team noted for its small fish prowess. Indeed this is the first championship for some time where big fish have not played an important roll and France showed that when it comes to scratching for small fish, there are few better teams.
Their anglers caught 1197 fish over the two days – more than any other team – for a 4.314 kilo total and 35.5 points.
That was 3pts better than second placed Spain, who led after the first day. Taking the bronze were Belgium, who had the highest total team weight of 7.241kilos. England finished eight points behind Belgium.
England had travelled early after hearing that the Ulgi Canal was not producing the goods.
And so it proved, with anglers struggling for a kilo of small fish in the practice. As the week progressed and more bait went in the venue deteriorated further. The fish were not hungry and some of England’s anglers could only muster 150gr in the match.
Steve Gardener was in with a great chance of his first major international individual gold after the first day after he won his section.
But his third place in section on day two saw him finish fourth overall.
Wales had a strong second day to finish 10th. Ireland and Scotland did not compete.