MATCH REPORT: Tidball and Goulden weekend’s first champions

Rosie Tidball and Nathan Goulden powered their way to their Under 10s Girls and Boys titles respectively, with faultless maximum scores. Here’s how it  happened…

Astley & Tyldesley opened this year’s British Finals Weekend with the promotion of the u-10 Individual Finals. There was heavy rain overnight, but the track dried out in the sun and breezy conditions, to provide a perfect racing strip by the time the Girls Final started at 2 pm.

Rosie Tidball won heat 1 from the outside grid, whilst Emily Burgess held off a spirited challenge from Daisy Steward to take heat 2. Sophia Sinclair-Black won heat 3, with Burgess taking her second win in the next race. Steward secured an important win over Sinclair-Black in heat 5, with Tidball taking her second win in the next race. At the half way stage, it was clear that these riders were the four main contenders for the rostrum places. Steward won heat 7, with Jasmine Oddie taking the chequered flag next time out. Heat 9 was a vital race, as three main contenders faced each other. Tidball led from the gate, with Burgess in hot pursuit. Disaster for Emily, as she slipped her pedals and Sinclair-Black came through to 2nd place behind Tidball. Sinclair-Black kept up the pressure by winning heat 10 and Burgess recovered from her earlier disappointment to win heat 11. The last race brought the unbeaten Tidball against Steward, who had dropped just one point. Rosie made the start from grid 1 and held off a strong challenge from Daisy to take the win and the title, with a 16 points maximum score. This meant that three riders tied for second place on 14 points apiece, so a run-off was held. Emily Burgess made a storming start across Sophia Sinclair-Black from gate 2, to win the run-off in the fastest time of the match, 39.24 seconds, with Daisy Steward following round from grid 3, to finish second in the run-off.
Rosie Tidball gated first in all her four races, to control each race and take the title with a 16 points maximum. Emily Burgess recorded the two fastest times of the match, but was unfortunate to be drawn on the outside in the crucial heat 9. Daisy Steward impressed with her tenacious riding, with Sophia Sinclair-Black keeping in contention throughout the match. All nine competitors gave their all and contributed to an entertaining event.

British u-10 Girls Individual Final result (sponsored by CWTS Ltd.)

Rosie Tidball (Exeter) 16, Emily Burgess (Astley & Tyldesley) 14, Daisy Steward (Kesgrave) 14, Sophia Sinclair-Black (Leicester) 14, Jasmine Oddie (Poole) 12, Amanda Rigley (Leicester) 11, Shannon Harper (Swindon) 10, Sian Raynor (Leicester) 9, Angel Etheridge (Bury) 8.
Referee – Bill Phillips (Astley & Tyldesley).

16 riders lined up for the Boys Final, with most of the key races decided early on in the match. Oliver Wright beat his Kesgrave team mate Oliver Reynolds in heat 3, after a particularly hard fought first bend. Poole’s Nathan Goulden won the first of his two grid 1’s in the next race, finishing ahead of Harry Stanbury and Charlie Wade There was drama in heat 5, as Goulden and Wright clashed on the pits bend on the 1st lap, both riders falling heavily. There was a lengthy delay, whilst Goulden received treatment for a foot injury, with heat 6 being run before the re-run of heat 5, to enable him to recover. In the re-run of heat 5, Goulden held his inside grid and held off Wright to take a decisive win, with Ben Dickinson in third place. Goulden and Wright won their next two races, whilst Dickinson and Wade won their next race each, before meeting in heat 15 which was won by Wade. The leading scorers after heat 16 were: Nathan Goulden 16, Oliver Wright 15, Charlie Wade 14, Ben Dickinson 13, Oliver Reynolds 13.

Wright beat Wade to win heat 18, to finish on 19 points and secure a rostrum place, with the Hull rider on 17. Goulden won heat 19, despite being pushed all the way by 7 years old John White, to complete a 20 points maximum and the title. Dickinson took a fine win off grid 4 to win heat 20, finishing on 17 points and securing a third place run-off with Wade, as Reynolds fell on the last bend in a last ditch attempt to pass. In the run-off, Wade made a strong start from grid 4 and sped away to take the win and 3rd place overall.

Nathan Goulden gave an exhibition of fast gating to win every race from the start, in taking the title with a 20 points maximum. He was fortunate to be drawn on the inside of his main rivals in heats 4 and 5, but they still had to be beaten and this he did. Oliver Wright impressed in dropping just the one point, to finish runner-up. Charlie Wade and Ben Dickinson were always in contention for a rostrum place and it took a run-off to separate them. This was a most competitive final, with the u-10s showing standards of skill, speed and physical contact which was unthinkable just a few years ago.

British u-10 Boys Individual Final result (sponsored by Hypnotherapy4you)

Nathan Goulden (Poole) 20, Oliver Wright (Kesgrave) 19, Charlie Wade (Hull) 17, Ben Dickinson (Astley & Tyldesley) 17, Harry Stanbury (Exeter) 15, Archie Freeman (Northumbria) 14, Joe Quarmby (Astley & Tyldesley) 14, Oliver Reynolds (Kesgrave) 14, Daniel Miller (Bury) 12, Rory Hayward (Leicester) 12, John White (Astley & Tyldesley) 10, Charlie Dickinson (Astley & Tyldesley) 10, Charlie Burgess (Astley & Tyldesley) 8, Charlie Braybrook (Exeter) 7, Thom Deakin (Bury) 6, Duncan Whalley (Bury) 5.
Referee – Graham Lush (Stockport).

There’s a full day’s racing tomorrow (Sunday) at Gin Pit, in staging three British Individual Championship matches. There’s the Women’s qualifier at 12 noon, followed by the Open Repechage matches at 2 pm and 4 pm.

Thank you to Mike Hack for the report, Sheffield’s report will be published tomorrow.