MATCH REPORT: Elston and Preston claim Manchester titles

Astley & Tyldesley staged the Manchester League u-13 and u-19 Individual Finals on Wednesday evening, to wrap up the midweek racing season. The track was in good condition, with plenty of keen racing under the Gin Pit floodlights.

Stockport’s Michael Preston and A&T’s Max Evans both started off with three wins apiece and came head to head in heat 13. Preston’s storming gate from grid 4 was aided by Evans spinning on gate 2 and the Stockport rider held off four laps of pressure from Evans to take the decisive race win.

Both riders won their last outing to take the top two places. Third place went to Stockport’s Devon Campbell, who lost only to Preston and Evans in his opening two rides.

Manchester League U-13 Individual Final result
Michael Preston (Stockport) 20, Max Evans (A&T) 19, Devon Campbell (Stockport) 18, Louis Wright (Stockport) 17, Louis Turner (Bury) 15, Kaysar Mohammedi (Bury) 14, Emily Burgess (A&T) 13, Daniel Miller (Bury) 12, Josh Neath (Bury) 11, Lewis Habib (Bury) 11, Tom Whitwam (Sheffield) 10, Dawar Mohammedi (Bury) 9.
Referee – Bill Phillips (Astley & Tyldesley).

Defending champion Jake Read, of Stockport, trailed in last after falling in heat 1 and that threw the u-19 championship wide open. Bury’s James Elston was the early pace setter and a win from grid 1 in the last race would have given him the title.

However, A&T’s Reece Pollitt pulled off a fast gate from grid 2 to take the win, with Elston passing A&T’s Ciaran Collins after two laps to take 2nd place. This meant that there would be a run-off for 1st place.

Elston won the toss and took the lead off grid 2. Pollitt put in a fast burst around the outside on the back straight third time round, which Elston just held off on the pits bend, to take the race win and the u-19 title, to add to the u-16 title he won a fortnight earlier. Read recovered after the first race to take third place overall.

Manchester League U-19 Individual Final result
James Elston (Bury) 13, Reece Pollitt (A&T) 13, Jake Read (Stockport) 11, Ciaran Collins (A&T) 8, Kaysar Mohammedi (Bury) 5.
Referee – Bill Phillips (Astley & Tyldesley).

During the interval, Astley & Tyldesley riders were presented with their trophies for winning the Manchester League Division 2.

Cover photo shows the A&T Division 2 team. Photo courtesy of Corrie Burgess.