MATCH REPORT: Two wins for Comets over Stars

This Northern League One encounter between the Bury Comets and Sheffield Stars had both teams missing riders due to holidays. The Comets back up were that much stronger than Sheffield’s as Bury eased to an emphatic 112-67 victory, a win made all the more sweeter with Edinburgh’s loss at Hull. The result on Humberside had a double effect. Bury climbed above Edinburgh into third place, with Sheffield dropping back to the bottom of the table as Hull start to make a push for a play-off position.

Sheffield named three under 13’s in their team, with only Kielan Burton remaining from the Stars octet that beat Hull in their last fixture. With the World Cup final due to be played at 4pm (and when England were still in the tournament) both teams agreed to an 11am start time. The start time stayed intact even after the Three Lions elimination.

Adam Watson won heat 1 as the opening race ended tied 5-5. Bury then swamped Sheffield with six 7-3 heat wins, Adam stopping a magnificent seven by winning heat 8. Adam got his third win in heat 11, while under tremendous pressure from Kris Ramsden (who had passed Adam in heat 5).

Heat 12 saw Kielan Burton hold out Neil Howarth for a second place behind Kaysor Mohammedi, Neil having been caught out on the first bend and having to use all of his guile to get past Laura Watson. Sheffield’s first race advantage came in heat 13, when Louis Turner was excluded for movement at the tapes. James Elston won the re-run and the league points were secure for Bury with five races still to go.

The Stars second race advantage came courtesy of a 6-4 from Adam/Kielan in heat 15, Kris chasing home Adam again while the unlucky James was a faller on lap 2. The Comets wrapped up the meeting with two more 7-3 heat scores (making it eleven in total).

Eryk Motala was unbeaten for Bury from his two rides, with Adam Watson’s four race wins wrecking the maximum hopes of the rest of the Comets. Sheffield were better value than the score suggests with James Morris and Laura Watson perhaps deserving of more points. Laura in particular made some good starts, making the Bury riders work hard for their points.

Bury Comets 112
James Elston 18+2, Louis Turner 10+1, Kris Ramsden 20+2, Will Owens 18+5, Kaysar Mohammedi 18+1, Neil Howarth 19+2, Eryk Motala 7+1, Harry Radford 2.

Sheffield Stars 67
Adam Watson 21, James Morris 5, Rob Mawhood 8+1, Steven Webber 8, Kielan Burton 10, Laura Watson 11, Logan Perkins 4.

Referee – Stuart Howarth

Bury also dominated the League Two match, providing the race winner in 14 of the 15 races, as they eased to an 87-63 victory. The Comets big three of Louis Turner, Eryk Motala and Kaysor Mohammedi were all unbeaten, Bury taking four races with the maximum 7-3 heat win.

The loss put a big dent in the Stars championship title hopes, they have now lost three times in 2018. They are still level on points with Fife Revolution, the unbeaten Scottish outfit have three matches in hand. Sheffield’s only race winner was Rob Mawhood in heat 9, but as with the first match James Morris, Laura Watson and Kielan Burton were also in the thick of the action.

Bury Comets 87
Kaysar Mohammedi 16, Steve Mann 9, Louis Turner 20, Dawar Mohammedi 8, Eryk Motala 18+2, Harry Radford 14+2, Tom Dunphy 2.​

Sheffield Stars 63
Logan Perkins 8+1, James Morris 11+2, Laura Watson 13, Edward Balfour 3, Keilan Burton 13, Steven Webber 7+2, Rob Mawhood 8.

Referee – Matthew Turnbull

Sheffield won the League Three match (for under 13’s) by 45-35, a victory that takes the Stars into second place in the league table. Logan Perkins won three of his four races, losing out to Harry Radford in the final heat. James Morris had two races wins for Sheffield, with Harry Radford first home on three occasions. Harry’s final score restricted when he came in last in heat 3 after his handle bar grip came loose/off on turn one as he pressured Logan from the start.

Bury Comets 35
Harry Radford 13, Tom Dunphy 10, Sam Dunphy 8, Bobby Dunphy 4.

Sheffield Stars 45
Logan Perkins 15, James Morris 14, Edward Balfour 10, Erin Balfour 6.

Referee – Matthew Turnbull