MATCH REPORT: England claim World Junior Team Cup

England’s juniors were crowned World Junior Team Cup champions on Saturday in an entertaining and hard fought final against Australia and Poland at Salisbury.

Taking it in turns to race in pairs against each other, the 4 rider plus one reserve teams battled it out on a warm evening in North Adelaide. After England shared their opening heats against Australia and Poland, an exclusion a piece hindered the Australian and Polish progress in heat 3.

England shared another heat in their next block of two races, with in-form Jack Norman taking the win for Australia, but the English drew first blood against Poland, with Brandon Whetton and Will Jeffery securing a 6-4.

The Poles answered back with a 7-2 against Australia in the following heat after Australian Matty Snowden was excluded. The result saw Poland one point off England, with Australia a 5 adrift.

Three shared heats followed as no quarter was given, until England inflicted a 7-3 on Australia courtesy of all-rounder Brandon Whetton and impressive passer, Will Jeffery. Haydn Rowley and Ed Morton followed suit against Poland with a 6-4, as England began to edge away, despite Poland scoring a 6-4 against Australia.

England conceded their first race in heat 13, after DJ Thompson and Brodie Wolshlager took a 6-4 against Ewan Hancox and Haydn Rowley. Whetton and Jeffery immediately steadied the ship with their own 6-4 against Poland to reduce the damage.

England’s Will Jeffery battles with Matty Snowden (L) and Brodie Wohlschlager (R). Photos by Phil Clarke.

Now 10 points on their nearest rivals, England were in cruise control, only doing what was needed to see out the match and take a memorable win down under. Poland finished strong with a 7-3 against Australia, but it wasn’t enough and saw them finish 3 points adrift from the world champions.

Brandon Whetton was beaten only once in his first race against Jack Norman, while team mate Will Jeffery made some outstanding passes. Ed Morton rode with speed and intelligence, while pacy Haydn Rowley and all-action Ewan Hancox chipped in with important heats throughout the match on their way to a thoroughly deserved title.

 

AUSTRALIA 62
Aussie Jones 5+1, Jack Norman 21+1, Matty Snowden 9, Darnell Thompson 14, Brodie Wohlschlager 11

ENGLAND 74
Ed Morton 17+1, Haydn Rowley 15+2, Brandon Whetton 22+1, Will Jeffery 14+2, Ewan Hancox 6+1

POLAND 71
Jakub Kosciecha 17, Szymon Tywczyński 13+1, Maciej Stefanski 19, Patryk Katarzyński 16+2, Damian Pelacyzk 6+2