Report by Rob Mawhood, Photo by Caroline Burton

Sheffield Stars lifted their third piece of silverware for the 2024 season, which is proving to be the most successful in the Clubs history.  A comfortable victory at a Hot, dry and dusty Heckmondwike in Round 5 of the Yorkshire League means Sheffield are now uncatchble by second placed Hull.

Sheffield had several riders competing in Torun, Poland, but strength in depth is a factor of the 2024 team.

Hull were fielding a young team which gave Heckmondwike a scent of snatching second place on the day.

Pat Beacock won heat one, with Aiden Owen shielding Lacey Ackroyd round for a 5-5 drawn heat. Kielan Burton and Kieran Hale got the first of four maximum 7 point heat scores in heat 2, after Jack Lister fell when challenging for the lead. Jack then beat Ed Morton (in as a reserve replacement) and Aiden Owen in heat 5. Sheffield increased their lead in heat 8 when Aiden Owen was again shielding Lacey Ackroyd from the fighting qualities of Hull’s young duo of Spencer Glenton and Harry Gibson. After the twelve team races Sheffield led on 50 from Hull (35) and Heckmondwike (34). 

The individual races saw race wins for Harry Gibson, Aiden Owen and Kielan Burton (closing out with an unbeaten score). Second places for Dan Green and Pat Beacock meant that if Darren Kent could finish ahead of Jack Lister in the final race it would give Heckmondwike a tie for second place. 

Lister held his nerve to record his fourth straight win, to secure Hull that second place. 

Final Scores 

Heckmondwike 45, Sheffield 63, Hull 47

Scorers

Heckmondwike  – Pat Beacock 12+1, Dan Green 11+1, Darren Kent 16, Elliott Long 6, Phil Vanner 0.

Sheffield  – Aiden Owen 14+3, Lacey Ackroyd 12+1, Kielan Burton 16+4, Kieran Hale 18, Ed Morton 3.

Hull – Spencer Glenton 12, Harry Gibson 10+2, Jack Lister 17, Kacey Bennett 8, Elwood Harrison DNR. 

Referee – Stuart Hardaker (Heckmondwike)

The victorious Sheffield team

The third and final round of the Yorkshire League GP series saw wins for Lincoln Ackroyd (Sheffield) in the under 10’s, Spencer Glenton (Hull), under 13’s, Joe Brownell (Sheffield) under 18’s, Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield) Womens, Justin Naylor (Heckmondwike) 40-54, Darren Kent (Heckmondwike) Vets 55+ and Ed Morton (Sheffield) in the Open.

With just three rounds possible in 2024, previous seasons has seen six, a riders results from all three rounds counted for the overall standings.

Final standings 

Open  – Jack Lister (52), Kielan Burton (49), Aiden Owen (43), Ed Morton (40), Pawel Idziorek (38), Matt Parrott (14), Leon Wild (14), Kyle Holland (13), Niall Morton (12), Jack Brownell (11)

Womens  – Kacey Bennett (53), Lacey Ackroyd (40), Lizzie Rigley (20), Laura Watson (18)

Under 18 – Elliott Long (56), Joe Brownell (37), Liam Bennett (20), Charlie Mawhood (18), Noah Lyon (14)

Vet 40-54 – Justin Naylor (54), Lee Warhurst (48), Wil Banyard (40), Richard Gibson (18), Dariusz Pilas (18), Paul Dean (16).

Vet 55+ – Darren Kent (40), Phil Vanner (37), Pat Beacock (36), Adrian Brownell (17)

Under 13 – Harry Gibson (53), Joseph Green (44), Spencer Glenton (40), Oliver Banyard (38), Jayden Bennett (33), Elwood Harrison (33), Will Hollich (27), Sophia Temple (26), Aaliyah Temple (12).

Under 10 – Alexis Woodcock (53), Lincoln Ackroyd (40), James Vanner (38), Lucas Mawhood (20), Tommy Tenwick (16).

Sheffield gained gold and bronze medals from the European Championships.  Dariusz Pilas won individual bronze in the Vets Final and Gold with the Poland Vets team. Laura Watson and Lizzie Rigley won team gold with the victorious England team in the Womens Nations Cup.  The duo were 6th and 5th in the Womens Individual Final, both left ruing what might have been. Between them they beat the riders who finished ahead of them. Wil Banyard made his England debut for the Vets team, but was eliminated in the Vets semi-finals.  Kyle Holland and Pawel Idziorek both left the Open competition at the Quarter Finals stage. Oliver Banyard was the youngest rider competing and did extremely well to make the junior semi-finals.  An experience that he’ll not forget and will help his racing development.