MATCH REPORT: Hull recover to take win

Hull were given a shock in their first Northern League match of the season when visitors Stockport came out of the blocks fast to establish a convincing lead by the interval. The first heat saw Jake Read / Lewis Wright take a 7-2 after Andy Angell picked up an exclusion but Hull narrowed the gap with a David Hemsley / Dave Cooper 6-4 in heat three. There was more bad news for the home side as Jake Read / Michael Preston took a 7-2 in the next heat following an exclusion for Adam Stephenson only for Hull to hit back with a 7-3 for Andy Angell / Matt Eglen in the following race. An eight point interval lead was set up for the visitors with a Louis Wright / Jake Read 7-3 in heat eight.

The home side started the second half in much better form with Andy Angell / Adam Stephenson taking a maximum heat win followed by David Hemsley / Dave Cooper recording a 7-2 with Jake Read falling while chasing. All of a sudden Hull had a lead that they were destined to hold on to, but the next race saw sparks fly as Ben Higham received an exclusion and Nathen Everett was lapped with a puncture to give Adam Stephenson a win over Ewan Ferreira. Hull extended their lead with two 6-4’s and a 6-3 to give them an 11 point lead going into the nominated races and confirmed the 93 points to 80 win with two drawn heats, and a 7-3 for Andy Angell / David Hemsley in the final race.

David Hemsley scored an excellent paid maximum on his league debut for Hull with Andy Angell winning his final five rides and Adam Stephenson racing unbeaten in the second half. Jake Read, Louis Wright and Michael Preston all shone for Stockport on a fine day with some exciting racing for a good size crowd.

Hull: D.Hemsley 23+1, A.Angell 18+2, A.Stephenson 15+1, N.Everett 13+1, D.Cooper 8+1, J.Lister 8, M.Eglen 5, F.Aufrett 2, D.Teal 1.

Stockport: L.Wright 17+1, M.Preston 16+3, J.Read 13+2, D.Mason 11+1, B.Higham 11, E.Ferreira 10.

In Division Two Hull’s seven riders lined up against a Stockport side with four riders including the ineligible Ben Higham. The home side had enough in reserve to hold onto some of their 30 points and ended up victors by 84 points to 66. Stockport soon opened up a lead on the day with three wins to lead by eight points after three races before Dan Teal / Dave Cooper reduced the arrears in heat five with a maximum heat win. A run of drawn heats was broken by a Louis Wright / Ben Higham 7-3 for Stockport in heat nine before Dave Cooper teamed up with Frank Aufrett for the home sides only other heat win. Dan Teal was in good form for Hull with Dave Cooper winning his two starts while Ben Higham was unbeaten for Stockport and Louis Wright only faded at the end of a hard days racing. Frank Aufrett and Andy Knowles both made encouraging division two debuts for Hull.

Hull: D.Teal 12, M.Eglen 11, F.Aufrett 9, A.Knowles 7+3, D.Cooper 7+1, W.Alvey 4, J.Lister 4.

Stockport: B.Higham 22+2, D.Mason 18+1, L.Wright 18, E.Ferreira 8.

The Division Three match was a walk over for Hull by 76 points to nil with Sam Stansfield and Jake Goff only dropping points to each other and Noah Lyon looking the pick of some impressive under tens.

Hull: S.Stansfield 15, J.Goff 15, N.Lyon 14, K.Bennett 10, T.Mills 9, R.Durkin 9, M.Hodson 4.