MATCH REPORT: Manchester League Round 1

April 27, 2024 Steve Copping

Astley & Tyldesley staged Round 1 of the Manchester League Grand Prix series, at Gin Pit, on a cold, but dry, Wednesday evening.

There was a decent turn out, for a very competitive Division 1 match. Sheffield duo Pawel Idziorek and Ed Morton were joint top scorers, on the night, with Ed losing only to Bury’s Kris Ramsden in heat 1, whilst Ed beat Pawel in heat 11. Bury’s Reece Pollitt lost to Ed and Pawel in heat 11, before posting the fastest time of the night, 43.40 seconds, in heat 14, marginally faster than Pawel’s two best times. Bury’s Mike Baldock lost once each to Reece and Pawel, in heats 8 and 13 respectively. Defending Division 1 Champions, Bury, took the team win.

Manchester League Division 1 result (top 5 scorers only count to team totals)

Bury 57 Sheffield 30 Astley & Tyldesley 27 Stockport 24

Div. 1: Ed Morton (Sheffield) 15, Pawel Idziorek (Sheffield) 15, Reece Pollitt (Bury) 14, Mike Baldock (Bury) 14, Kris Ramsden (Bury) 13, Terry Norman (Stockport) 13, Steve Harris (A&T) 12, Ben Higham (Stockport) 11, Eryk Motala (Bury) 9, Josh Pilkington (A&T) 8, Mark Radford (Bury) 7, Oscar Belt (A&T) 7, Owen Simcock (Bury) 6.
Referee – Lee Phillips.

Veterans GP: Terry Norman (Stockport) 16, Steve Harris (A&T) 16, Mark Radford (Bury) 14.

There was a poor turnout of just 8 riders for the four categories in the Division 2 (Youth & Junior) match. A&T pair Alex Lawless and Josh Pilkington were top scorers in the u-10 and u-13 matches respectively, whilst Bury’s Owen Simcock was the lone u-19 rider. Defending Division 2 Champions, Astley & Tyldesley, took the team win.

Manchester League Division 2 result (top 5 scorers only count to team totals)

Astley & Tyldesley 65 Bury 25 Stockport 0

U-10: Alex Lawless (A&T) 15, Elijah Rechembei (A&T) 13.
U-13: Josh Pilkington (A&T) 15, Oscar Belt (A&T) 14, Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 9, Levi Edwards (A&T) 8, Nahom Tumizghy (A&T) 3.
U-19: Owen Simcock (Bury) 16.

Referee – Lee Phillips.

The 2nd Round of the series is at Bury on Wednesday 15th May, 7 pm start.