MATCH REPORT: Northern 4’s & Grand Prix Round 1
The North & Scotland League got underway at The Hessle Raceway with the first round of The Northern Fours & Grand Prix which brought sunny intervals following on from a rainy week. In the Northern Fours Bury were buoyed by the winter signing of Reece Pollitt and from the start it looked a battle between them and the home side who included David Cooper who was likely to make his only appearance of the season. After the first set of races Hull had dropped just one point with Bury one point behind but by the half way point the Comets had turned this into a one point advantage with Sheffield leading the dash for third place. This lead increased by one point going into the final set of races where Bury made absolutely sure with four race wins with the home side eight points back and Sheffield holding off Astley & Tyldesley and Heckmondwike. Stockport were unfortunately unable to raise a team for the first round. Bury’s Harry Radford dropped just one point from four starts with Reece Pollitt unbeaten from three races while Lewis Foxley top scored for Hull with Nathan Everett dropping just one point from his three rides and Ed Morton impressed for Sheffield.
Hull 51: Lewis Foxley 14, David Cooper 12, Jack Lister 12, Nathan Everett 11, Liam Bennett 2
Sheffield 42: Kielen Burton 11, Laura Watson 9, Emily Burgess 8, Will Banyard 2
Astley & Tydesley 37: Steve Harris 12, Charlie Burgess 9, John White 8, Duncan Whalley 6, Owen Simcock 2.
Bury 59: Harry Radford 15, Reece Pollitt 12, Kris Ramsden 11, Mike Baldock 11, Danny Taylor 10.
Heckmondwike 31: Dan Green 9, Patrick Beacock 8, Justin Naylor 7, Dave O’Callaghan 7.
Referee: Darren Kent
Sixteen riders opened the days racing in the under 10 / 13’s event on a sticky track that was drying quickly on the bends. Astley’s Frank White turned on the style to win the under 13’s from Bury’s Jayden Hancock who impressed throughout the meeting with Oliver Banyard of Sheffield in third place and the home sides Spencer Glenton finishing fourth. Bobby Dunphy of Bury was a dominant winner of the under 10’s with Hull riders Ellwood Harrison, Jayden Bennett and Polly Gowans filling the top four places
Under 10’s: Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 16, Ellwood Harrison (Hull) 15, Jayden Bennett (Hull) 14, Polly Gowans (Hull) 13, Tom Smith (Astley & Tyldesley) 12, Elijah Rechembei (Astley & Tyldesley) 11, Alexis Woodcock (Hull) 10.
Under 13’s: Frank White (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Jayden Hancock (Bury) 15, Oliver Banyard (Sheffield) 14, Spencer Glenton (Hull) 13, Harry Gibson (Hull) 12, Levi Edwards (Astley & Tyldesley) 11, Harvey McClachlan (Hull) 10, Charlie Hamilton (Hull) 9, Joseph Green (Heckmondwike) 8.
Rereree: Andy Schofield
The days racing finished with separate events for women / under 16 / under 19 & division two riders. Sheffield’s Emily Burgess and Laura Watson shred the honours with 14 points each in the women’s event with Astley & Tyldesley’s Duncan Whalley and Bury’s Tom Dunphy tieing on 11 points in the under 16 meeting after Duncan picked up a race exclusion. The under 19’s provided four identical races with John White of Astley & Tyldesley unbeaten from Sheffield’s Kielan Burton. The Division Two match was taken by an unbeaten display from Sheffield’s Will Banyard with Heckmondwike’s Darren Kent and Dan Green tied in second place.
Women: Emily Burgess (Sheffield) 14, Laura Watson (Sheffield) 14, Kacey Bennett (Hull) 8, Emia Metcalfe (Heckmondwike) 4.
Under 16’s: Duncan Whalley (Astley & Tyldesley) 11, Tom Dunphy (Bury) 11, Noah Lyon (Hull) 9, Liam Bennett (Hull) 8.
Under 19’s: John White (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Kielan Burton (Sheffield) 13, Ryan Tomkinson (Hull) 8, Owen Simcock (Astley & Tyldesley) 4.
Division Two: Will Banyard (Sheffield) 16, Darren Kent (Heckmondwike) 14, Dan Green (Heckmondwike) 14, Pat Beacock (Heckmondwike) 10, John Gowans (Hull) 8, Justin Naylor (Heckmondwike) 8, Dave O’Callaghan (Heckmondwike) 5, Rich Pawson (Hull) 2.
Referee: Nathan Everett
Hull began their defence of the Team Grand Prix title in good style with 139 points from Astley & Tyldesley on 81 points, Sheffield with 70 points, Heckmondwike 63 points and Bury 42 points. The second round of the series takes place at Sheffield (Cookson) next Sunday March 26th.