A WORLD title goes part way to making up for missing out on an Olympic gold medal, according to Matthew Langridge.

The Northwich Rowing Club star stroked Great Britain’s men’s four to first place in Poznan this morning, holding off the challenge of Australia.

He was second in the men’s eight in Beijing last summer.

"Getting silver last year at the Olympic Games left a bitter taste in my mouth, so to win today is amazing,” he said afterwards.

The British quartet saved their best form for the final, surging into the lead at the halfway point before extending their advantage further.

Their rivals had no answer in the closing sprint.

Langridge, 26, was joined in the British boat by Knutsford’s Ric Egington, Alex Gregory and Alex Partridge.

"The race went just the way we talked about it,” said Partridge.

“At the 1,000m we worked hard to get into a strong position and to cross the line first was a great feeling. I want to keep my first place now and will keep fighting no matter which boat I am in.”

The British quartet continue a proud tradition of men’s racing following on from Team GB’s victory in the four in China last year.

The line-up has changed completely since then, when Australia were again left to settle for second.

“That wasn’t the plan,” admitted the Aussies’ Cameron McKenzie McHarg.

“But It’s great to be racing such a world class crew as the British and I look forward to more battles in the run up to London 2012.

“We’ve got consistency and I believe we can still do one better. That’s our aim.”

Great Britain crossed the line in 5:47.28 with the Australians almost two seconds further back.

Slovenia won the bronze medal.

“I think we’ve done better than expected,” said GB Rowing Performance Director David Tanner.

“Our guys all really scaled up today. For me, the men’s four were not just the GB performance of the day but the boat of the World Championships.”