MATCH REPORT: Poole and Exeter dominate at BYJL Regional Rd 4
A large and enthusiastic crowd gathered at Harbourside Park for round of the 2017 BYJL which attracted an impressive total of 85 competitors.
The U8s saw Poole’s Rylee Dunford score 16 from his heats on his home track, which included a win over GP leader, Jack Tidball (Exeter). Jack got his revenge in the A final after a great tussle. Ella Lamb, at just 2 years of age, delighted the crowd with her 7 points!
The pits were bulging for the U10s as an impressive 25 riders lined up for action. The A final saw GP leader JJ Wildman shoot from the tapes with Kenzie Bennett and Oli Saunders in hot pursuit. On lap 3, Bennett saw his chance and made his decisive move with Saunders slipping through to take runners up spot.
Exeter’s U12 girl power duo of Rosie Tidball and Shannon Tucker increased their GP lead in this age category with Josh Nottle the best of the boys finishing in 3rd place.
There was a Welsh winner in the U14s with Dan Wright in a class above the rest of the field; Exeter’s Ben Stanbury outpacing Eistyn Lewis for 2nd place.
A victory for Macie Schmidt in the Girls event is hardly a surprising headline but she was given a couple of tough races by Poole clubmate Maddie Saunders who, at 3 years her junior, looks set to challenge strongly for top honours in next year’s U16 major girls events. Macie took a 4th straight A final win to notch up 100 GP points.
U18 GP leader going into the event was Fraser Garnett even though he had not recorded an A final win in the previous 3 rounds. He rectified this position on his home circuit and drew one of the biggest cheers of the day as he headed home Will Jeffrey and Callum Smith to increase his grip on the competition.
At the end of proceedings, it was once again Poole and Exeter who emerged as the region’s top two clubs to go forward to the national rounds.