MATCH REPORT: Hethersett Hawks visit Hellingly

Hethersett Hawks / Myhill Decorators took a squad of 11 riders to the South Coast to face Hellingly Lions this weekend.

A strong first team had high hopes of keeping up their winning start to the league season but came unstuck on the tricky Sussex circuit on which the home side are so expert.

An exclusion for Leigh Cossey in heat 7 saw Hellingly stretch an early lead to 11 points and it was uphill for the Hawks after that.

The second half saw an improvement and resulted in their only heat win by Josh Herring and Harley Hamill in heat 13.

HELLINGLY 88
Neil Hollebon 18 (5) Jesse Moore 18+1 (5) Martyn Hollebon 18+2 (6) Steven Archer 14+1 (6) Ed Ridley 13+2 (5) Jim Cox 7 (5)

HETHERSETT 71
Dan Chambers 14+1 (5) Josh Herring 12+1 (4) Lee Smith 10+1 (4) Leigh Cossey 9 (5) Harley Hamill 9+1 (5) Owen Wells 8 (5) Dan Butler 6 (3) Glyn Morgan 3 (1)

The Division 2 fixture was a much closer affair. Both teams tracked an experienced rider at reserve and the Hawks struck early bringing in Harley Hamill to join Dan Butler for a 7-3 win.

The Hawks rode cleverly to retain a one-point advantage at the interval but immediately struck gold straight after the break with another 7-3 from their two Daniels – Longlands and Butler.

Reserve Ed Ridley came in the following race to reverse the 7-3 and he was back in again to put Hellingly one-point up with two races to go.

Hamill came in to join experienced Glyn Morgan in the penultimate race to put the Hawks three points up and Dan Butler sped home in the final heat to secure a narrow win.

HELLINGLY B 78
Jim Cox 22 (6) Steve Archer 15+2 (6) George Morley 11 (5) Ed Ridley 9+1 (3) Isaac Salomas-Westwood 9 (4) Jamie Morley 7+2 (4) Ethan Page 5+1 (4)

HETHERSETT B 81
Dan Butler 22+1 (6) Owen Wells 16 (6) Glyn Morgan 13+4 (5) Daniel Longlsnds 12 (5) Harley Hamill 9+2 (3) Lee Hulcoop 6 (4) Katie Adams 3 (3)

Morgan and Wells were both in action at Ipswich the previous day in the South East Grand Prix / Youth & Junior League.

Morgan came third in the Veterans A Final while Wells finished third in the Junior B Final.

With the new Battle of Britain inter-regional competition opening next weekend, the Hawks are next in action on Sunday May 7th at home to Kesgrave.