MATCH REPORT: Hawks still unbeaten in SE1

Hethersett Hawks/Swinton & Co extended their unbeaten start to the season in South East League Division 1 – the only team still unbeaten – with a close fought derby win over Norwich Stars at Harford Park.

Drafting in a fourth restricted rider meant conceding 12 points to the Stars but the Hawks got off to the best possible start with a pass by Dan Butler to join Dan Chambers for a 7-3 win. Chambers had to fight his way from the back in heat 4 to salvage only a 4-6 loss and two 7-3 wins just before the interval by Lee Grange / Josh Herring and Olly Buxton / Leigh Cossey saw the deficit wiped out.

It was not plain sailing after that as Norwich kept fighting and an exclusion in heat 13 brought the overall lead down to just three points. Herring, making his first outing of the season, teamed up with Butler for a vital 7-3 win with three races remaing and a 6-4 win by Grange and Cossey sealed the victory.

Norwich (78+12) 90
Gary Colby 19, Chris Cullum 14+1, Paddy Wenn 14, Alex Dyball 12+1, Jamie Medler 10+1, Rohan Ewbank 9+2, + 12 penalty points

Hethersett 101
D.Chambers 23, L.Grange 20, J.Herring 19, L.Cossey 18, O.Buxton 11, D.Butler 9, O.Wells 1

There was double joy for the Hawks as the B team also won thanks to Nigel Longlands making the number up at the last minute giving Hethersett a full team for the first time this season. Olly Buxton and Dan Butler were unbeaten while the Owen Wells / Katie Adams pair worked well together. There was another promising outing for Daniel Longlands.

Norwich B 61
Ciarin Wenn 11+3, Rohan Ewbank 10, Jamie Medler 10, Alex Dyball 10, Scott Colby 8+1, Shaun Dyball 7+2, Liam Flemming 5

Hethersett B 69
D.Butler 16, O.Buxton 16, O.Wells 12, K.Adams 10, D.Longlands 8, N.Longlands 7

This Sunday Hethersett members will be involved in a special demonstration event at Eaton Park (2 p.m.) while on Monday at 2 p.m. the Hawks stage their annual Breckland Autos Charity Cup at the Memorial Playing Field.