MATCH REPORT: Stockport and Bury take honours in Northern Knock-Out Cup Final
The annual Northern Fours meeting was held at Cramlington on Sunday.
First to ride were the juniors with four teams taking part. It was an absorbing contest with the scores tight and the result not decided until the final heat.
Sheffield, Stockport and Bury fought tooth and nail throughout, with Northumbria very much also rans.
Bury came out on top with a solid team performance. Top scorers for the Comets were Adam Taylor and James Elston.
Stockport had the two highest scorers with 15 points from Devon Campbell and Michael Preston. A run off was needed to decide second place and it was Preston who beat Sheffield’s top man Adam Watson to secure second. Niall Morton also showed good form for the Stars.
Scores:
1st Bury Danny Taylor 12, James Elston 12, Adam Taylor 10(3), Adam Turnbull 8(3), Kaysor Mohammedi 7(2). 49
2nd Stockport Devon Campbell 15, Michael Preston 15, Louis Wright 9, Daniel Mason. 45 after run off
3rd Sheffield Adam Watson 14, Niall Morton 13, Sam Haines 10, Niamh Morton 8. 45
4th Northumbria Jordan Smith 6, Lee Redshaw 5, Dan Thompson 5, Bradley Stansfield 4. 20
Referee Kyle Holland (Astley).
The Senior final was reduced to a six team meeting of twenty four heats following the late withdrawal of the Edinburgh team.
Forecasted showers did not arrive but there was plenty of close action and incident on a dusty track. Generaly, the riders coped very well and there were only a couple of fallers.
Stockport and Astley and Tyldesley made most of the running and it was only with a couple of races to go that Stockport pulled ahead to to win by three points and in so doing repeated their win of 2016.
Top man of the afternoon was Ben Higham who rode to an untroubled maximum. Hull’s Andy Angell, Reece Pollitt of Astley each dropped a point.
A special mention goes to Stockport’s Terry Norman, the second oldest rider on view, who eased to 14 points.
Bury took third place, one point ahead of Sheffield with Hull a further point behind in fourth. Last place was again the home team, John Wilson taking their only win over the two meetings.
Scores:
1st Stockport Ben Higham 16, Terry Norman 14, Jake Read 10, Michael Preston 4(2), Devon Campbell 4(2). 48
2nd Astley Reece Pollitt 15, Mick Knowles 11, Max Evans 10, Kyle Holland 9. 45
3rd Bury Danny Taylor 13, Neil Howarth 10, James Elston 6(2), Kris Ramsden 6, Adam Turnbull 4(2). 39
4th Sheffield Adam Watson 13, Niall Morton 9, Luke Morton 9, Laura Watson 7. 38
5th Hull Andy Angell 15, Nathan Everett 10, Josh Bellis 8, Kai Borman 4. 37
6th Northumbria John Wilson 9(3), Dan Redshaw 7, Jason Keith 6, Shane Gray 4(3), Andy Knowles 3(3). 29
Referee Andy Schofield (Hull).