MATCH REPORT: One to forget for Bury in Division One

It always looked like a tough fixture for Bury Comets away at Stockport, with a number of regular first team riders absent, and so it proved.

The home side’s impressive win against Edinburgh last weekend saw them enter this one full of confidence, taking three 7-3s maximum heat wins in the first four heats. Some strong gating gave Stockport control of the first bend and, on a well prepared and pacy track, it was always difficult from the back.

Kris Ramsden really impressed for the Comets, offering the only real resistance to the free scoring side in blue and yellow. There was no shortage of effort from the rest of the Bury side, but certainly not the points that they were looking for; one to forget, or to provide extra motivation for training for the Comets.

Stockport 112
Ben Higham 19+4 (from 6 rides), Jake Read 18+2 (6), Louis Wright 18 (6), Michael Preston 16+2 (5), Terry Norman 15+3 (5), Devon Campbell 14+1 (5), Jack Lush 12+1 (4).

Bury 67
Kris Ramsden 22 (6), Neil Howarth 11 (6), Will Ownes 10 (5), Eryk Motala 7 (6), Asim Hussain 6 (4), Adam Turnbull 6 (4), Kaysar Mohammadi 5 (4), Steve Mann 2 (2).

Next up was the newly instigated Northern and Scotland League match race, with Bury’s top scorer challenging current holder, Stockport’s Jake Read. ‘Ready’ won the all important toss to take grid 2, Ramsden fighting hard throughout, forcing the top Stockport man into a couple of errors, but he held on for what in the end was a convincing win.

Jake Read retains the title until at least Stockport’s next match against Northumbria in late April.

The Division Two match was always likely to be a competitive one, with the two sides currently locked in battle at the top of the table.

The Comets began with a 20 penalty point advantage, as the home side fielded Ben Higham, but with Stockport’s youngsters on top form, it was going to take a controlled performance to ensure the victory.

To their great credit, the Bury side hardly put a wheel wrong, taking a stranglehold on the match, with some outstanding team riding. Kaysar Mohammadi and Adam Turnbull led the way, with some excellent starts and first bend control.

Eryk Motala, Asim Hussain, Harry Radford, Steve Mann and Josh Neath all worked really hard in each of their own races to close out the victory. This was a true all round team performance. For Stockport Louis Wright rode unbeaten, with Michael Preston also impressive, especially when riding without a partner.

Stockport 76
Louis Wright 18+2 (5), Ben Higham 18+1 (5), Michael Preston 18 (5), Devon Campbell 16+3 (5), Lance McCabe 5 (5).

Bury 89
Kaysar Mohammadi 16+1 (5), Adam Turnbull 12+1 (5), Eryk Motala 11 (5), Harry Radford 10+1 (5), Steve Mann 9+1 (4), Asim Hussain 9+1 (5), Josh Neath 2+1 (1).

Division Three featured four riders, with Stockport’s Jarvis Yates taking on Bury’s three competitors in the grand prix format event. Each race followed a similar pattern and by the second lap had settled into the same overall result.

Despite this, the racing was competitive, with Josh Neath always fighting hard with Harry Radford and Kaci Neath showing her experience against Stockport’s Yates.

Stockport 4
Jarvis Yates 4 (4)

Bury 36
Harry Radford 16 (4), Josh Neath 12 (4), Kaci Neath 8 (4).

On Saturday over at Astley & Tyldesley, it was again the juniors who took centre stage, for the first round of this season’s British Youth and Junior League.

In the two younger categories, A&T were dominant, with Sheffield’s Joe Brownell also impressive in winning the U10s. In the three older sections, the Comets took over. At U12s level, Harry Radford dropped just one point in qualifying for the A Final, which he duly won on the fast A&T track.

The success continued as Louis Turner rode unbeaten to the 25 grand prix points in the U14s, whilst Dawar Mohammadi took third place. Brother Kaysar impressively won the very competitive U18s section, with Adam Turnbull taking the B Final and Asim Hussian combative throughout as he continues to gain in experience.

The final team scores saw Astley finish on a massive 128, followed by Bury on 64, Sheffield 60 and Stockport 36. Well done to all involved. The next regional round is at Goshen on 22 April, starting at 1pm.

The Easter weekend is traditionally a break from cycle speedway team action, and so the Comets will not be back in Northern League action until the trip to Northumbria on 23 April.

Before that there is that BY&JL fixture and an Easter tradition that has become an important one for Bury… Good Friday morning will see club members, friends and family set out on the 26th annual charity bike ride, which over the years must have raised in the region of £10000 for good causes.

This year’s charity is a local one, Jigsaw, who provide sport, leisure and social activities for disabled people, young and old, within the Bury area. The ride leaves from Goshen at 10am on Friday, all are welcome.