Competitions
15 September 2025
Barnsley take Feeder National crown in tight and tough Fenland clash!
A glorious year for Drennan Barnsley Blacks continued this weekend as they added the Angling Trust Feeder National title to their illustrious CV, winning what turned out to be a hard and very close affair on the River Great Ouse and Middle Level Drain.
Scoring 31 points from their five anglers, Barnsley took the gold medals by just three points from Feederland Nomads on 34, bronze being claimed by MKM with 47 points. The win now sits alongside Winter League, Commercial National and Sensas Challenge crowns taken in 2025.
Both venues were tough mistresses to tame with a little under half of the 120-strong field weighing in over a kilo. Even so, only six dry nets were recorded, the two sections on the Middle Level being by far the best areas compared to a gin clear Ouse.
A good draw is always important in a team match and Barnsley got that, but even then, the fish need catching. Add to that the changing nature of both venues, where good areas one day can be devoid of fish the next and it was far from a certainty that they’d win.
Top performers for the champs were individual winner Will Freeman on E section at Crooked Chimney on the Middle Level and Mick Vials with a section win from C section on the Ouse at Modney Bridge. Josh Newman added five points from D section at Peter’s Bridge on Middle Level, Oli Scotthorne returning a valuable ninth in B section from the Ouse at Wissey Mouth. Mac Stephens found it tough going in a rock-hard A section at Denver on the Ouse though, scratching out a few fry to secure 15 points.
“We’d put in a lot of time on both venues and knew full well how hard it would be and how we’d need to fish,” said Barnsley captain Lee Kerry. “Our draw was very good, I can’t deny that, but even so, we had no idea of knowing if what we felt were good pegs would fish or not. The rivers change to much from day to day, and it could have been that the fish were at completely the other end of the sections to where we were drawn.”
“As the match went on, it became apparent that Mick, Will and Josh were doing very well, but that Oli and especially Mac would need eyes on them to catch a few more fish – every 100g in such a hard match is like gold dust, so if they could catch a couple more roach or perch, that could make a massive difference,” he continued. “Oli has worked wonders to score nine points from the hardest end of his section, but poor Mac has had the rough end of the stick at Denver.”
“He was blanking with a few hours to go and if you score 24 points in a section, you can forget all about finishing in the top six, let alone winning!” Lee revealed. “He’s managed to scrape together a few fry for just 25g, but that’s scored him 15 points. Without them, we’d have been dead and buried. In a tight match, it’s not always your sections wins that win you the match – it’s the lads like Mac and Oli who nick a few points here and there to get you over the line.”
We’d like to thank Ray Malle, Ash Brown and all of their helpers at KLAA King’s Lynn AA for providing and preparing both venues and running practice matches, all of the head and team stewards for their help, plus Tracey Elflett and her staff at the Heron Pub for a great draw and presentation HQ.
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Individually, Barnsley’s Will Freeman made it a win double for the team thanks to an 8-350 net from peg 2 in E section on the Middle Level at Crooked Chimney, which secured him the gold medal, and an all-important section win for the team cause.
It was tight though, as only 275g behind him on 8-075 was Steve Cable of Preston Innovations Black Horse at peg 17 in D section still on the Middle Level but at Peter’s Bridge where he bagged a trio of tench backed by small fish. The bronze medal went to Maver/Bait-Tech Peterborough Black rod Matt Page on 7-650 with three tench plus small fish from peg 1 next-door to Will.
Will’s net consisted largely of small fish bolstered by a bonus tench, all taken on scaled down feeder tactics fished at short range, plopped onto 15m and 6m lines with bites coming throughout the day.
“It was a strange match in that the species changed throughout the day,” Will said. “I started off catching plenty of rudd before the peg then filled up with perch. They then vanished and I had a run of small skimmers before the rudd returned. The first few hours were brilliant, but it slowed right down after halfway and with Matt catching three tench next to me and losing two, I was beginning to think that he might catch me up and even just pip me!”
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