MATCH REPORT: Whirlwinds win but Mower quits

Great Blakenham made the short journey to local rivals Ipswich, looking to upset the reigning champions for the second time this season and claim an unlikely double having lowered their colours earlier this campaign. However, the Whirlwinds were in no mood to let lightning strike twice and with a full set of riders to call upon, set about restoring order to this season’s SE1.

Great Blakenham could call upon the likes of Osborne and Peck to lead their attack, while it was good to see Chris Osborne in the team and would provide able support to the other two heat leaders. For the home side they called upon Brooke, Roberts and youngsters Harvey and Bacon, with former British women’s champion Lauren Jacobs, who was to post an impressive score.

The first nine heats were very close run heats, with the lead changing hands, as Blakenham were to give Ipswich a few headaches to deal with, and at the break were only two points down. The second half unfortunately started to fall away from the away side, as Ipswich pinpointed a weakness in their opponents and were to amass four maximum score lines to move into an commanding position, and as so often, the champions seem to save their best riding for the second set of nine, as they have done so many times in the past.

This didn’t stop the very impressive Lewis Osborne from posting a maximum twenty four points and remaining unbeaten all night, while young Leon Dix gave a good account of himself and his scorecard didn’t really reflect the effort he put in, but will be better for the experience. Chris Osborne, who still showed he hasn’t loss his gating, will only get stronger with more matches under his belt and will be a handful for any team.

Ipswich Whirlwinds will just happy to have got back to winning ways and get another match under their belts, as they look to close the gap on those above with matches in hand. The only down side of last night performance, was that of the news that Leon Mower (pictured left) has decided to call time on his racing activities, hopefully just for the time being, and will be sorely missed not just for the Whirlwinds, but the Ipswich Elite team where he has been an ever present ever since the Eagles first entered the league.

Ipswich Whirlwinds 97
Ben Harvey 17+3, Josh Brooke 17+2, Piecre Bacon 16+2, Lauren Jacobs 15+2,
Lewis Roberts 15+1, Harrison Bacon 11+1, Phil Clarke 6+2

Great Blakenham 83
Lewis Osborne 24, Adam Peck 20+1, Chris Osborne 12, Steve Johnson 10+1,
Leon Dix 7, Gavin Whitehouse 6, Terry Ashford 4

Referee – Bill Brooke (Suffolk)

Heat Scores
HT 1. 5-5
HT 2. 11-9
HT 3. 16-14
HT 4. 20-20
HT 5. 23-27
HT 6. 28-32
HT 7. 34-36
HT 8. 41-39
HT 9. 46-44
HT 10. 49-51
HT 11. 54-56
HT 12.61-59
HT 13. 66-64
HT 14.73-67
HT 15. 80-70
HT 16. 87-73
HT 17. 92-78
HT 18. 97-83