Godfrey realises the dream

Magnificent Matt Godfrey realised the dream of every sportsman over the weekend when he was declared world champion.

The 14-year-old Worksop junior angler lifted the under 16s title at the World Junior Angling Championships in Serbia.

He also won a team gold medal as England claimed the world team prize on a match fished on a tributary of the River Danube.

The two medals for Matt, of Wales, now sit alongside the two golds he won at national
level earlier this summer.

The venue, close to Belgrade was very similar to the embankments seen close to home on the River Trent or the River Nene.

Fishing was at a depth of nine feet at 10 metres of pole and the river flow was steady.

Catfish, skimmer bream and the occasional small carp were the target species.

Matt managed to put 3.95kg of these on the scales on the Saturday for a section win and one point.

On Sunday he netted 3.675kg for another section win and a perfect score for the weekend of only two points.

This outstanding achievement left him just ahead in the race for the world title ahead of a French competitor with three points in second.

In the team event, where Matt doubled his gold medal tally, England were clear winners with 20 points Ð 11 points clear of their nearest rivals the Czech Republic.

That was helped by an outstanding team having five anglers in the top six places.

The success for England did not end there as they also notched team gold in the 16 to 21 years age group while MattÕs team-mate Oliver

Scotthorne took individual bronze in the under 16s age group.

Fishing is clearly in the family genes with Matt's 11-year-old sister Hannah having taken team silver in the recent NFACadets national.

Matt and his family would particularly like to thank main sponsor Greg Forrester of
Worksop Angling Supplies.

They would also like to thank Dave Hall at Horseshoe Lake, Glenn Foulds and Glyn
Williams of Worksop and District AnglersÕ Association, Wales High School, Alex Mitchell and Richard Littlewood.