FOUR members of Wirral Sea Anglers and the North West Association of Sea Angling Clubs' Personal Members Club are celebrating after taking part in the prestigious Daiwa Pairs series in County Kerry.

Bill Lindfield, of Greasby, Ian Stenhouse (Bebington), Richard Burrow (Ashton-under-Lyne) and Dave Campbell (Higher Bebington), crossed the Irish Sea to fish a week of matches on the Atlantic surf strands. And they won the first competition, the Four Man Team event, which brought them the £600 first prize. The Wirral team had a two point advantage over the Preston International team, with scoring as follows:-

Zone 'A': Bill Lindfield, 1 flounder, 32 points, 13th in Zone;

Zone 'B': Ian Stenhouse, 3 flounders, 90 points, 4th in Zone;

Zone 'C': Richard Burrow, 3 flounders, 84 points, 3rd in Zone;Dave Campbell, 2 flounders, 5th in Zone.

The result was particularly satisfying for Lindfield, a 42-year-old haulage contractor - he won the Irish Winter Beach Championship back in January. His dream of a fairytale hat-trick was not fulfilled, however, as later in the week, in partnership with Campbell - a 49-year-old garage owner - he could manage only 21st our of 66 teams in the Pairs event. Ian Stenhouse and Richard Burrow got into the prize list as 17th pair.

The 1997 Daiwa Pairs was won by Suffolk/Sussex duo Nick Haward and 'Shaky' Stevens.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.