Scots positive despite tough Celtic Cup fishing contest

Scotland team manager Gus Brindle looked back on last weekend’s Celtic Cup match in Northern Ireland and said: “That was a worthwhile exercise.”

Scotland Blue were third and Scotland White fourth in the contest between Ireland, Wales and the Tartan team with the hosts taking the silverware and they were well in front.

Scotland were tucked in behind Wales with only a few points separating the nations with Ireland A six points clear of the rest.

The final points were: Ireland A 20, Wales Red 26, Scotland Blue 29, Scotland White 33, Ireland B 34.5, Ireland C 38.5 and Wales B 43.

Fife-based Brindle said the conditions were really tough on the final day of the match on the Newry Canal, opened in 1742 and built to link the Tyrone coalfields to the Irish Sea, with crystal clear water and fish tough to tempt with anglers in poor areas of the can only hooking into one or two fish.

Brindle, chairman of the Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling said that the result was not the most important issue, far more important was recruiting anglers to the national team.

Scotland had two men in each section and a number of experienced internationals including Dave McAuley, specialist product manager at Tackle Guru, builder James Dornom from Currie near Edinburgh, and fruit and vegetable marketeer, Derek Brady, were in the squad, mentoring newcomers.

Brindle added: “This was a really positive weekend with potential anglers for the squad identified and it was not about winning, this was for the longer term.”