MATCH REPORT: East Park unable to match Birmingham’s big guns
A sunny Sunday afternoon saw East Park Wolves Cycle Speedway Club take on their near neigbours Birmingham Monarchs in a Midland League local fixture.
East Park were showing off their new racing tops for this season. These were purchased with help from a big donation from West Midland Police, whose logo will be arresting other riders attention on all Midland tracks this season!
Starting at 1pm, it was youngsters first in an 8 heat match for those up and coming riders, all under the age of 14. If you ever thought about your kids having a go, then this is where it all starts. Five in each side from young Sophie age 5, all keen to rip up the track and see a chequered flag waving them in for another win!!
The final score was East Park Wolves 37 – 43 Birmingham. Top scorers were Marc Philips (12) Ryan Williams (10) for Birmingham, with Liam Cartwright (15) and Josh Whetton (12) for Wolves.
The main event at 2pm saw the two eight man teams do battle over 18 races. East Park held a narrow 1 point lead up to heat 8, but as Birmingham Monarchs settled in to East Park’s large track they started to pull ahead and ended up as winners by a 15 point margin.
The win to the visitors was due to a brilliant three prong attack from Mark Winwood, Chris Timms and Ricki Johnson, all scoring 18 points each from a possible 20 point maximum.
Birmingham’s Ewan Hancox (right) challenges East Park’s Zak White (left).
East Park could not match this. They rode hard with their young team, giving their all, which lead to plenty of exciting racing. The youngest rider turned out to be the top scorer, Jake White. He will be a name to watch in the future, with 14+1 points from 20.
Looking at the result overall it shows Birmingham scored 3 maximum heat wins, along with East Park managing 3 exclusions in 3 races, which dented their chances of taking the win.
The final score finished East Park Wolves 81 Birmingham 96.
The Midland League division 2 match rounded off the entertainment. This meeting is run to bring on riders for 1st team duties. East Park took the lead with a maximum 7 points to 3 in heat 1, and finished with the same score in the final race, courtesy of Josh Hill, Sam Bishop and the ‘old’ new comer Dave White.
The good start and good finish was great for the Wolves, but the home side lost out by 69 points to 80. Birmingham were lead by Ewan Hancock, unbeaten by any of the Wolverhampton boys. The best rider for East Park Wolves in this match with 16 points was Josh Hill.
Due to the fact Birmingham used some first team riders in the division 2 event, they were handicapped with a 25 point deduction. Therefore Wolves won the match 69 – 55.