MATCH REPORT: Northern 4’s & Junior League final round

Report by Mike Hack, Photos courtesy of Tom Morrissey and John Pilkington.

Astley & Tyldesley staged the final official meeting of the season, Round 6 of the Northern Fours and Junior League, at Gin Pit on Sunday. Riders enjoyed racing on a damp, firm, grippy track, on a mild, blustery afternoon, before rain fell during the closing stages of the Junior League match.

Astley & Tyldesley had already clinched the Fours League title, and they extended their lead with a comfortable win on the day, finishing 8 points ahead of Sheffield, with Bury pipping Hull for third place. A&T’s Pawel Idziorek and Sheffield’s Ed Morton both raced to 16 points maximums, both passing last week’s maximum man, Hull’s Lewis Foxley, on the pits bend. A&T pair Reece Pollitt and Steve Harris both dropped a point each, to Sheffield duo Ed Morton and Darius Pilas respectively. Idziorek recorded the fastest time of the day, 42.34 seconds, in heat 23.

Northern Fours League Round 6 result
Astley & Tyldesley 58 Sheffield 50 Bury 41 Hull 40 Heckmondwike 35 Stockport 0

A&T: Pawel Idziorek 16, Steve Harris 15, Reece Pollitt 15, Duncan Whalley 12.
Sheffield: Ed Morton 16, Kielan Burton 13, Kyle Holland 9, Darius Pilas 7, Laura Watson 5.
Bury: Harry Radford 14, Danny Taylor 12, Tom Dunphy 7, Eryk Motala 6, Mark Radford 2.
Hull: Jack Lister 14, Lewis Foxley 12, Richard Gibson 8, Liam Bennett 5, Ryan Tomkinson 1.
Heckmondwike: Mark Rushby 11, Darren Kent 8, Patrick Beacock 7, Justin Naylor 5, Philip Vanner 4.

Referee – Alan Taylor.

Northern Fours League – final table
Astley & Tyldesley 32 pts (308 race pts), Bury 23 (253), Sheffield 23 (248), Hull 18 (228.5), Stockport 18 (169), Heckmondwike 10 (180.5).

The Northern Junior League was a much closer contest, as three clubs started the day all in with a realistic chance of winning the overall series. Hull took a convincing win on the day, ahead of Heckmondwike. With the previous leaders Sheffield finishing 3rd on the day, it was Hull who took the overall series win, ahead of Sheffield, with Heckmondwike remaining in 3rd place.

There were six individual Grand Prix trophies up for grabs as well. 24 riders contested the combined u-10 and u-13 Ladder Individual, and it was the Bury pair of Bobby Dunphy and Jayden Hancock who won the u-10 and u-13 titles respectively. A&T’s Duncan Whalley and Sheffield’s Kielan Burton started the day as convincing leaders in the u-16 and u-19 series respectively, and they sealed their overall wins in their first race. It was a similar story in the Division 2 series, as Darren Kent, of Heckmondwike, clinched the overall victory with a win in his third race. Sheffield’s Laura Watson had already claimed the Women’s title, and with no entrants on the day, no Women’s category event took place.

Northern Junior League Round 6 result
Hull 130 Heckmondwike 101 Sheffield 96 Astley & Tyldesley 56 Bury 56 Stockport 0

U-10s: Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 16, Josh Pilkington (A&T) 15, Harry Gibson (Hull) 14, Elwood Harrison (Hull) 13, Lincoln Ackroyd (Sheffield) 12, Joseph Green (Heckmondwike) 11, James Vanner (Heckmondwike) 10, Charlie Hamilton (Hull) 9, Polly Gowans (Hull) 8, Charlie Taylor (Sheffield) 7, Amelia Harrison-Jones (A&T) 6, Alex Lawless (A&T) 5, Alexis Woodcock (Hull) 4.
U-13s: Jayden Hancock (Bury) 16, Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield) 15, Oliver Banyard (Sheffield) 14, Spencer Glendon (Hull) 13, Kacey Bennett (Hull) 12, Harvey McLaughlin (Hull) 11, Elliot Long (Heckmondwike) 10, Oscar Belt (A&T) 9, Will Hollich (Hull) 8, Harriet Belt (A&T) 7, Danny Cowley (Sheffield) 6.
U-16s: Liam Bennett (Hull) 15, Duncan Whalley (A&T) 14, Tom Dunphy (Bury) 14, Laythan Sharp (Sheffield) 11.
U-19s: Kielan Burton (Sheffield) 16, Ryan Tomkinson (Hull) 14.
Div. 2: Mark Rushby (Heckmondwike) 16, Darren Kent (Heckmondwike) 15, Will Banyard (Sheffield) 15, Patrick Beacock (Heckmondwike) 12, Mark Radford (Bury) 10, Justin Naylor (Heckmondwike) 10, Richard Gibson (Hull) 9, Philip Vanner (Heckmondwike) 9, Lee Warhurst (Heckmondwike) 8.

Referee – Chaz Whalley.

Northern Junior League – final table
Hull 24 (679), Sheffield 23 (672.5), Heckmondwike 22 (655.5), Astley & Tyldesley 14.5 (475), Bury 6.5 (350), Stockport 0 (0).