MATCH REPORT: South & South Wales BYJL Regional Round 7

October 12, 2018 Steve Copping

The unsettled weather threatened to spoil finals day of the SSW Youth & Junior Finals day at Harbourside but morning rain gradually gave way to drier conditions as a sharp Northerly failed to dampen the enthusiasm of a healthy crowd who came in support of the 87 talented young competitors.

Jack Tidball continued his domination of the U8’s by completing a whole season without dropping a point to take the series award with Teddy Curtis and Tyler Davies joining him on the rostrum. With 20 competitors overall, the future looks bright for this reception category.

A battle royale has ensued all season between Scottie Rowles and Natalie Goulden in the Under 10’s, as it has at national level, and once again it was Scott who came out on top in the series by 157 points to 155. However, after 3 re-starts and heavy falls for each rider as they clashed, it was Natalie who

took the trophy for the A Final in hotly contested event which featured 18 riders. Tyler Seabright finished 3rd in the series.

The pits were once again bursting at the seams as the Under 12’s lined up with 21 riders on parade with all the region’s clubs represented. Kenzie Bennett made no mistake from gate 1 in the final and was the stand-out rider through the previous 6 rounds which saw him take top prize for the series.

JJ Wildman and Ollie Saunders joined him on the rostrum while Joe Hurren was a whisker away. Daisy Sherwood, Shannon Tucker and Lexie Curtis showed up very well in their final heats and will add considerably to the Girls competition when they move up to the next age group. As with the U8’s, the U14 competition has been dominated by one rider, Nathan Goulden who followed his success in the National BYJL with a 100% record in the regional GP series justifying the description “different class”. A run-off was necessary to decide the other rostrum positions for the series, and it was Poole’s Josh Nottle who held off a strong challenge from Jack Horton to take the runners up place on the rostrum.

Fraser Garnett held a 17 point GP lead in the U.18’s prior to finals day with clubmate Bin Tinsdale his nearest challenger. Another A final success saw Fraser extend his lead further while Ben finished as runner up ahead of Horspath’s Jack Ellis. The absence of Macie Schmidt from two rounds of the Girls competition following her broken collarbone injury at Southampton opened the door to other riders to step up a notch in the quest for rostrum places and it was Poole’s Maddie Saunders who made the most of the opportunity with an A final victory and a clear GP overall GP win finishing on 166, 29 ahead of Rosie Tidball who was runner up while rapidly improved Exeter rider Miah Laing took the remaining rostrum place.

Despite problems with numbers competing in senior team racing in the region, BYJL participation levels continue at a healthy number reflecting the changed demographic within the sport as a whole, as further evidenced by the number of girl riders which was over 25% of the total.

Much of the credit for the smooth operation of the SSW BYJL organisation these past years goes to Neil Garnett who completed his final duties in his role as administrator – a tough act to follow!

Under 8’s

A Final – Jack Tidball, Sam Fones, Ollie Powell, Teddy Curtis.

B Final – Jamie Randell, Evan Jones, Tyler Davies, Morgan Westgate.

C Final – Ollie Trayford, Harley Tucker, Harvey Johnson-Fanner, Jake Collins.

D Final – Grace Truscot, Ethan Blisset, Adam Jones, Matthew Medrycki.

GP Series –

1st Jack Tidball 2nd Teddy Curtis 3rd Tyler Davies

Under 10’s

A Final – Natalie Goulden, Scott Rowles, Tyler Seabright, Max Parry.

B Final – Charlie Powell, George Whale, Tia Brain, Kieran Legg.

C Final – Bobby Baker, Emma Johnson, Alfie Collins, Imogen James.

D Final – Sam Trayford, Harry Marsh, Rylie Wilde, Kenzie Clarke.