MATCH REPORT: South-East & Eastern complete clean sweep
The South East & Eastern teams completed a clean sweep of the 2019 Battle of Britain series with emphatic wins over the North & Scotland teams at Gin Pit. Heavy rain made for extremely unpleasant conditions, but the Gin Pit circuit drained superbly, with no standing surface water at any part of the day.
The visitors won the opening two heats in the Junior match, to take an early 6 points lead. The next five races were all shared, and after heat 9, the scores were North & Scotland 41 South East & Eastern 49. The visitors stepped up a gear, winning five second half races by a maximum 7-3 score, to run out convincing 113-87 winners. Lewis Brinkhoff raced unbeaten for the SE&E team, with their top six riders all scoring heavily. Kielan Burton, Matt Snell and Louis Wright all won one race each for the N&S team. The South East & Eastern team were presented with the Junior Battle of Britain Cup by Cycle Speedway Commission Chair, Mike Hack.
Battle of Britain Junior match result
North & Scotland 87 South East & Eastern 113
North & Scotland: Kielan Burton 17 (1), Matt Snell 15 (2), Adam Turnbull 12 (2), Devon Campbell 11 (1), Louis Wright 10 (1), Kaysar Mohammadi 9 (1), Lewis Foxley 9 (1), Charlie Burgess 4.
South East & Eastern: James Porter 21, Lewis Brinkhoff 18 (2), Adam Cooper 18, Charlie Lyth 17 (2), Ben Clarke 16 (2), Tyler Brinkhoff 16 (2), Owen Wells 5, Ethan Mitchell 2.
Referee – Neil Howarth.
It was a much changed senior team for the North & Scotland, who fielded just three regular riders. The team battled hard, but with four juniors in the side, had no answer to the visitors’ power, as they swept to a convincing 119-78 win. The North & Scotland team claimed inside grids from heat 8 onwards. Lewis Brinkhoff and Ben Clarke both raced unbeaten for the SE&E team, with solid support throughout the team. Dave Hemsley won heat 3 and Reece Pollitt heats 7 and 12 for the N&S team. Kielan Burton made it two impressive matches for the N&S teams on the day. Fastest time of the day was 42.72 seconds, by Lewis Brinkhoff in heat 4. The South East & Eastern team were presented with the Senior Battle of Britain Cup by Cycle Speedway Commission Chair, Mike Hack.
Battle of Britain Senior match result
North & Scotland 78 South East & Eastern 119
North & Scotland: Reece Pollitt 19, Kielan Burton 12, Dave Hemsley 10, Nathan Everett-Atkinson 10, Steve Harris 9 (1), Kaysar Mohammadi 8 (1), Lewis Foxley 6, Charlie Burgess 4 (1).
South East & Eastern: Richard Fellgett 22 (1), Ashley Hill 21 (1), Lewis Brinkhoff 18 (2), Ben Clarke 15 (1), Matt Hill 13 (1), Lewis Osborne 12 (2), Dan Knights 11 (2), Tyler Brinkhoff 7.
Referee – Chaz Whalley.