Ferguson clinches silver medal for Northern Ireland

Ferguson, who is from Newtownabbey, was part of a six-man Northern Ireland squad which collected a team bronze at the event staged in Devon.

Northern Ireland were up against 14 other teams from Commonwealth member states including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales and England.

The NI team was made up of Team Captain / Manager Alan McDade, Newtownabbey (Woodford) and five competing members: Kenny Ferguson (Woodford), Dominic McAtamney, (Woodford), Campbell Baird, Carrickfergus (Woodford), Brian Kerr,(Woodford) and Darren Wallace, Carrickfergus (Woodford). Harry McAteer Jr, Belfast (Straid) was the reserve competing angler.

It was the second time the Northern Ireland Fly Fishing Team had competed in this Championship, having travelled to Tasmania in 2012, returning home with Team Bronze and Individual Silver Medals.

Newton Abbot was the host town for the Championship with the five fishing venues all close by. The venues consisted of one river (River Dart), three lakes from the boat (Wimbleball, Fernworthy and Kennick) and one lake from the bank (Siblyback).

The team was split into five groups of 15 anglers from the other countries with three-hour fishing sessions on each of the five venues over three days.

The Championships were opened with a parade and Remembrance service held in Newton Abbot Town Centre followed by a reception in Forde House.

At the closing ceremony and awards dinner the results were revealed and the bronze went to Northern Ireland, just pipping the Australian team by five points. England finished second, while Scotland took gold.

In the individual championship, Ferguson, who had and outstanding competition, finished in second overall and collected a well-deserved silver. Anglers from Australia won both bronze and gold medals.

Montreal is set to host the 2016 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships.