MATCH REPORT: North & Scotland Individual Championships
Astley & Tyldesley hosted a great day of cycle speedway racing with the North & Scotland Regional Individual Championships on Sunday. There were plenty of keenly contested races and several run-offs to determine the rostrum places. The home riders were in great form and came away with thirteen trophies from the seven matches.
Four riders dominated the u-10’s event, and it took two run-offs to decide the overall placings. Sheffield’s Edward Balfour and A&T’s Frank White both tied on 19 points. In the run-off, Edward went off the inside grid and held off Frank to win the title. In the third place run-off, A&T’s Aiden Green
started off the outside grid and pulled off a terrific pass on Hull’s Noah Lyon to take the third place trophy.
North & Scotland u-10 Individual Championship result
Edward Balfour (Sheffield) 19, Frank White (A&T) 19, Aiden Green (A&T) 18, Noah Lyon (Hull) 18, Kacey Bennett (Hull) 16, Oscar Belt (A&T) 14, Freddie Cox (A&T) 13, Sam Dunphy (Bury) 13, Stephen Warn (A&T) 12, Harriet Belt (A&T) 12, Levi Edwards (A&T) 10, Erin Balfour (Sheffield) 10, Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 8, Jessica Hammett (Sheffield) 7, Ada Cox (A&T) 6, Aliesha Green (A&T) 5.
Referee – Chaz Whalley.
Astley & Tyldesley riders took the top five places in the u-13 competition. John White raced to a 20 points maximum, with Tom Morrissey runner-up,
losing only to John in heat 10. Charlie Burgess completed the rostrum places, with Chloe Warn and Duncan Whalley just one point shy of a place.
Stockport’s Ewan Ferreira’s hopes of a place disappeared with a gate exclusion in heat 8.
North & Scotland u-13 Individual Championship result
John White (A&T) 20, Tom Morrissey (A&T) 19, Charlie Burgess (A&T) 17, Chloe Warn (A&T) 16, Duncan Whalley (A&T) 16, Tom Dunphy (Bury) 15, Ewan Ferreira (Stockport) 14, Lewis Skitterall (A&T) 13, Owen Simcock (A&T) 12, Tyler Mills (Hull) 11.
Referee – Ben Higham.
The u-16 championship was keenly contested and once again, two run-offs were needed to determine the top three positions. Sheffield’s Kielan Burton and Bury’s Harry Radford were both unbeaten with one round of races left. A&T’s John White won a crucial heat 10, ahead of Kielan and Harry, to force a 1st place run-off. A&T’s Emily Burgess won her last race to force a 3rd place run-off. In the 3rd place run-off, Emily raced away from the inside grid, to finish in 3rd place overall, ahead of Harry. John went off the inside grid in the 1st place run-off and held off a strong challenge from Kielan to win the race and make it a double triumph on the day.
North & Scotland u-16 Individual Championship result
John White (A&T) 15, Kielan Burton (Sheffield) 15, Emily Burgess (A&T) 14, Harry Radford (Bury) 14, James Morris (Sheffield) 12, Charlie Burgess (A&T) 11, Chloe Warn (A&T) 10, Harry Hulme (Stockport) 9.
Referee – Chaz Whalley.
Just four riders contested the u-19 event, but racing at this level is always cut and thrust and today was no exception. Stockport’s Louis Wright opened
up with a vital win off grid 4, when he swooped past on the last bend to take the win, after Edinburgh’s Lewis Foxley and Bury’s Eryk Motala clashed on the back straight. Lewis’ chances disappeared with a gate exclusion next time out. Louis was firmly in the driving seat and he completed a fine 16 points maximum to win the title, with Eryk runner-up and Lewis third.
North & Scotland u-19 Individual Championship result
Louis Wright (Stockport) 16, Eryk Motala (Bury) 10, Lewis Foxley (Edinburgh) 8, Will Alvey (Hull) 5.
Referee – Ben Higham.
By contrast, the Veterans individual was a very cagey, tactical event, with just two points separating the three riders at the end. A&T’s Steve Harris
set off with two wins and he secured the second place necessary in his last race to win the title. Last year’s winner, Paul Graham, was runner-up,
ahead of a competitive Jason Keith.
North & Scotland o-40 Individual Championship result
Steve Harris (A&T) 13, Paul Graham (A&T) 12, Jason Keith (Edinburgh) 11.
Referee – Ben Higham.
A&T made it a clean sweep in the Women’s Championship. Emily Burgess raced to a 16 points maximum, with Jessica Hindley second in each race and Chloe Warn third each time out, to complete the rostrum places.
North & Scotland Women’s Individual Championship result
Emily Burgess (A&T) 16, Jessica Hindley (A&T) 12, Chloe Warn (A&T) 8, Kacey Bennett (Hull) 4.
Referee – Graham Lush.
The climax to a great day’s racing came with the Senior Individual Championship. A&T’s Reece Pollitt set the pace with two wins, but he suffered a gate exclusion in heat 8. The Hull pair of Andy Angell and Nathan Everett were in fine form and led the field, on 15 and 14 points respectively, with one round of races left. Pollitt pulled off a great win over Angell from grid 4 in heat 16, for the riders to finish on 16 and 18 points respectively. A&T’s Steve Harris won the next race, in the fastest time of the day, 42.04 seconds, to move on to 16 points and force a 3rd place run-off. Everett needed to win the last heat to force a run-off for 1st place. He faced a tough task, starting off grid 4 against Stockport’s Jake Read and Louis Wright. However, he moved into 2nd place and then pulled off a great pass on Read to take the race win and finish on 18 points. In the 3rd place run-off, Pollitt went off the inside grid and held off a strong challenge from Harris, to take 3rd place overall and rue a gate exclusion. In the 1st place run-off, Everett started off the inside grid. He took the lead and pulled away after Angell slipped on the pits bend, to take a surprise, but thoroughly deserved win.
A hard first bend featuring, (l-r), Steve Harris (Astley & Tyldesley), Nathan Everett (Hull), Jason Keith (Edinburgh). Photo courtesy of Len Priestley (A&T Official Club Photographer).
North & Scotland Senior Individual Championship result
Nathan Everett (Hull) 18, Andy Angell (Hull) 18, Reece Pollitt (A&T) 16, Steve Harris (A&T) 16, Kris Ramsden (Bury) 15, Jason Keith (Edinburgh) 15,
Jake Read (Stockport) 14, Ben Higham (Stockport) 13, Lewis Foxley (Edinburgh) 13, David Cooper (Hull) 12, Emily Burgess (A&T) 10, Louis Wright (Stockport) 8.
Referee – Graham Lush.