THERE was success for Essex anglers competing in Kent at the weekend.

South Benfleet matchman Dion Macfayden beat 103 other anglers to take spot at the Deal 1919 Christmas beach open.

And Macfayden was also part of the Essex Thames match team which won the four-man team prize, fishing alongside son Marley and Rochford father and son Russell and Lewis Clark.

Macfayden triumphed with 28 whiting for 5.4kg to put himself in pole position to win the Penn Premier League.

The south Essex angler currently leads the British event with 80 points with two weeks remaining.

Russell Clark finished seventh overall, Lewis Clark 12th and 12-year-old Marley 32nd.

And with Macfayden coming first, it meant the team weighed in 15kg of fish to take top spot out of the 20 teams competing.

For the first three hours of the match most of the fish were 30 yards out, but the final two hours saw anglers having to resort to long distance casting.

Macfayden’s success comes after he earned valuable Penn Premier League points at the two-day Otterspool Open in Liverpool.

He secured a seventh place on the first day and a second on the second at the competition which was fished on the River Mersey.

South Benfleet angler Ian Reynolds won the biggest fish prize at Otterspool with a 55cm cod.