Chris Ford snatched victory from team-mate Mark Bellringer on weight after finishing level on points in the Leigh Wakefield Series of Six, fished at Boyd Valley Lake.

The Bristol Water ace made up a two-point deficit to finish joint-first with 55 points. Both claimed the same number of wins, so it was down to weight to separate the two with Ford, pictured right, taking the honours by 32-2-0 with 168-8-0 to Bellringer's 136-6-0.

Third place was filled by Kevin Murch with 54 points. Murch moved into second place after finishing first in round five but dropped a valuable point after finishing second to Ford in the final round.

In the penultimate round, Murch beat Bellringer to the top spot by just 11oz. Murch tempted a 21-8-0 mixed bag from the margins of peg three with sweetcorn, while Bellringer used worm and a hair-rigged pellet to take a similar 20-13-0 from peg nine.

JR Pinkett came a close third with a silvers and carp catch totalling 20-6-0 at peg 11. And that beat new champ, Ford into fourth place by a clear 8-0-0.

In the final round, Ford made a bad start despite drawing to fish the hot favourite peg 12.

He fished a pellet waggler towards the island for the duration and, with an hour to go, was trailing Murch by a good 10lb.

He said: "The carp suddenly started feeding and during the last hour I added a good 20-0-0 of fish to my carp net.

"Yet, even though I had won the last round, I had no idea that I had clinched the series until it was announced that weight would decide the winner."

Second place points went to Murch with a superb 54-8-0 of carp to 8-0-0 taken from the margins of peg six with sweetcorn and luncheon meat.

Match organiser Leigh Wakefield, who finished third with a 15-carp catch totalling 26-14-0 from peg 10, was followed home by a disappointed Bellringer with 24-11-0.

Results, round five: 1, Kevin Murch 21-8-0, peg 3; 2, Mark Bellringer 20-13-0, peg 9; 3, JR Pinkett 20-6-0, peg 11; 4, Chris Ford 12-2-0, peg 2. Round six: 1, Chris Ford 63-11-0, peg 12; 2, Kevin Murch 54-8-0, peg 4; 3, Leigh Wakefield 26-14-0, peg 10; 4, Mark Bellringer 24-11-0, peg 8.

League: 1, Chris Ford 55pts (weight 161-8-0); 2, Mark Bellringer 55 (wt 136-6-0); 3. Kevin Murch 54; 4, JR Pinkett 49; 5, Leigh Wakefield 41. Best fish of the series: Kevin Murch with a 10-15-0 common carp.