THE Weaver's dredger length hosted Barnton & Frodsham Angling Club's first match of 2001 and a fair turn out ensured competition for points was strong, with nearly all the field weighing in.

The river, still carrying plenty of colour for this fifth round of the Scotts Shield series, saw Alan Forster take top weight in the tip dominated match.

Drawn on peg 410, Alan took a nearly all skimmer catch with samples to 12 ozs using ground bait feeder and big maggot to the far bank, finally placing 3-14-0 on the scales for a close but secure win.

Only ounces adrift, runner-up Steven West used similar tactics from peg 401, skimmer also making up the bulk of his 3-11-0 catch, again taken on big maggot to the far bank shelf.

Final placing on the day went to Geoff McCalmont, who included a bream of over 2-0-0 in his 2-13-0 net, the rest of his weight made up of small roach.

Peter Moore still leads the series with a fourth placing in the match and a total of 96 points, followed by Arthur Kennedy, 91 and Paul Caffery, 88.