Nick Jones, captain of Drennan Bordon takes a look back at the highs & lows of the past year.
The year started off well having won the Avon Valley Winter league & qualified for the 2017 Winter league final at Decoy lakes & The Fens. The lads put a lot of effort into this final and really enjoyed both venues.
A good set of results saw the lads record a 5th place on Fenns. However, a set of terrible draws at Decoy scampered any chance of making an impact on a top three finish. This saw a disappointing 17th place out of 32 teams, this was a very disappointing result for the lads after all the hard work put in! Very well done to Drennan Barnsley on a brilliant win!
Next up the Sensas K&A canal Spring league. This highly competitive league saw 26 teams of four fish four rounds on Marlborough & Devizes waters.
With two teams entered we had an overall good set of results throughout with just a bad round for each team that cost them both, this saw the lads record a respectable 4th & 5th place. A massive well done to Blackvale on taking the league!
June saw the team make four new signings, Adam Lee, Terry Malloy & Stefan Gent strengthening the Carp side while Carl Steffan was added to the canal/natural side. All of which proved their worth throughout the year, well-done lads!
Monks lakes Spring & Summer league teams. This saw a couple of our new star signings in Adam Lee & Terry Malloy make their debut for the team. The lads took second in the spring league after some really good result, behind Daiwa/Guru.
An up and down set of results in the summer league saw the team come in third overall behind league winners Dorking/Guru & second place Monks Lakes. The teams were mainly made up of Andy Quarmby, Antony Flint , Gavin Millis, Dave Lewis, Andrew Gregory plus the two new signings, well done lads!
August saw two of our very talented young guns Alex Clements & Matt Barnett get selected and fish for the Drennan England U25’s fished in Ireland. The team finished in fourth place over the two days but none the less being selected to represent your country in your given sport is a brilliant achievement, which you both should be proud of.
The Oxford summer league fished on the Thames. This was always going to be a bit of a learning curve for the lads, with only Matt Herbert having fished the venues on a regular basis. Along with Matt fishing the 6 rounds the team was made up of myself Justin Mabere, Brett Cooper, Matt Barnett, Alex Clements, Andy Gregory another new signing Carl Steffan. The team ended up fourth and leant loads to put us in good stead for next year.
Next up in the busy team schedule was the Avon valley summer league. We placed two teams into the league as it is fished across venues the lads don’t fish a lot so there is always a lot of interest. This league over the years has always been highly competitive and this year was no exception. Team Aqua took the top spot with the other coming a respectable 5th.
Then it was time for the big one the Avon valley winter league. This year also saw the addition of a couple of new teams including the superstars Daiwa Dorking. The lads were certainly bang up of for the competition and I couldn’t have asked for more effort from the lads. We pushed them all the way to the last round and unfortunately, we were pipped into second place, however, most importantly qualifying for the all-important big final.
So the new year has started and the first key focus for the team is the winter league final in February. The lads are certainly focused and prepared to put in the effort as usual and I am sure we will smash our performance from last year. Every league and match the team enter we only have one goal and that is to win. I am certainly looking forward to the year ahead and the successes I am sure the year will bring.
Finally, I just wanted to say a massive thank you on behalf of the team to all of our sponsors. Drennan International, Peter Drennan, Gary Barclay and Bordon Angling Centre.