MATCH REPORT: Northern League Individuals at Stockport
Report by Alan Taylor
Almost four and a half hours of racing saw seven titles decided on Sunday afternoon as the Northern League Individual Championships were staged at Stockport.
The first event saw Sheffield’s Lincoln Ackroyd race to four wins for a 16 point maximum score to take the Under 10 title. Astley’s Elijah Rechembei finished in second place with his clubmate James Jackson third.
Under 10s
Lincoln Ackroyd (Sheffield) 16, Elijah Rechembei (A&T) 12, James Jackson (A&T) 8, Alexis Woodcock (Hull) 4
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The Under 16 final produced some close competitive racing with Hull’s Noah Lyon recording two wins and two seconds for a 14 point winning total, successfully retaining the title he won last year. A&Ts Frank White scored 12 points to take the runners up spot, just ahead of his Astley clubmate, Duncan Whalley, whose ten points earned him the bronze medal position.
Under 16s
Noah Lyon (Hull) 14, Frank White (A&T) 12, Duncan Whalley (A&T) 10, Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield) 4
Referee – Ed Morton
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The Under 13 final saw Astley’s Frank White outscore the nine rider field to retain the title he won last year scoring a four ride 16 point maximum total.
Hull’s Harry Gibson just dropped one point to White when they met in heat nine to take the runners up spot with a 15 point total whilst Astley’s Josh Pilkington lost out to both White and Gibson to take third place overall with 14 points.
Under 13s
Frank White (A&T) 16, Harry Gibson (Hull) 15, Josh Pilkington (A&T) 14, Bobby Dunphy (Bury) 13, Levi Edwards (A&T) 12, Lincoln Ackroyd (Sheffield) 11, Sophia Temple (Hull) 10, Alexis Woodcock (Hull) 9, Aaliyah Temple (Hull) 8
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With one no-show on the day the Women’s event was reduced to an all Sheffield three rider final and after four races there was nothing to split Laura Watson and Lizzie Rigley as they both recorded 14 points in some close competitive racing.
In the title deciding race off it was Laura who won the coin toss and chose to start from gate two, forcing Lizzie to start from gate four.
With never more than a bike length between them it was Laura, who at times had to ride defensively to fend off the challenges of Lizzie, who took the chequered flag and the title.
Women’s final
Laura Watson (Sheffield) 14, Lizzie Rigley (Sheffield) 14 (after run-off), Lacey Ackroyd (Sheffield) 6
Referee – Graham Lush
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In the Under 19 final it was Astley’s John White who confirmed his superiority at this level as he retained the title he won last year with a fine 16 point maximum score.
Hull’s Noah Lyon took the silver medal with 13 points having been beaten by White in each of the three races where they met whilst the younger of the White brothers, Frank, picked up the bronze medal with 10 points.
Under 19s
John White (A&T) 16, Noah Lyon (Hull) 13, Frank White (A&T) 10, Joe Brownell (Sheffield) 6, Owen Simcock (Bury) 5
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Terry Norman lifted the Vets title with a winning total of 13 points from his four races. He would have needed a race-off had Sheffield’s Dariusz Pilas not incurred a one point penalty for moving at the start of heat five, which he won, and where the four points would have seen him finish level on points with Norman.
That one point penalty meant Pilas finished level on points with Astley’s Steve Harris, both on 12, with a race-off for second and third places needed.
Pilas won the race-off after Harris retired from the race after a couple of laps whilst trailing Pilas.
Veterans final
Terry Norman (Stockport) 13, Dariusz Pilas (Sheffield) 12, Steve Harris (A&T) 12 (after race-off). Rich Gibson (Hull) 8, Mark Radford (Bury) 4
Referee – Rob Mawhood
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The final event of the afternoon was the Open/Senior final and after four withdrawals from the original entry list of 20 riders it meant that the expected qualifying races were not required.
After the first eight races Bury’s Kris Ramsden, Sheffield’s Pawel Idziorek and Astley’s John White emerged as front runners with all three having won their first two races and scoring 8 points each.
Hard on their heels were the Hull duo of Jack Lister and Lewis Foxley on 7 points each and Stockport’s Terry Norman on 6 points
John White won heat nine to maintain his position at the top of the leader board with Pawel Idziorek staying level with him after beating Kris Ramsden in heat twelve.
Meanwhile, Lewis Foxley winning heat ten saw him and Kris Ramsden stay just one point adrift on 11 points each.
Ramsden kept up the pressure by winning heat thirteen but it was White’s win in heat fifteen that saw him energe as the only unbeaten rider after Idziorek was beaten by Devon Campbell and Foxley to score just one point in that race.
Idziorek bounced back by winning heat seventeen to give him a total of seventeen points and securing second place overall.
After winning heat one, Hull’s Jack Lister stayed just adrift of the top three until four points for winning heat eighteen saw him in with a chance of a top three place with a total of 16 points as Kris Ramsden could only manage one point , also giving him a total of 16 points.
White dropped his first points in heat eighteen but the two points he scored for third place behind Lister and Niall Morton were enough to give him the title as no one in the remainig two races could match his total of eighteen points.
Lewis Foxley picked up three points, as Sheffield’s Aiden Owen won his second consecutive race in heat twenty, to become the third rider to finish with a total of 16 points.
With White and Idziorek taking first and second places overall it was left to Lister, Foxley and Ramsden to fight it out in a race off for the bronze medal position with Lister taking the win ahead of Foxley and Ramsden.
An excellent afternoon’s racing for Astley’s John White picking up both the Northern Under 19 and Senior titles.
Open Final
John White (A&T) 18, Pawel Idziorek (Sheffield) 17, Jack Lister (Hull) 16, Lewis Foxley (Hull) 16, Kris Ramsden (Bury) 16, Aiden Owen (Sheffield) 15, Mike Baldock (Bury) 13, Terry Norman (Stockport) 12, Ed Morton (Sheffield) 11, Steve Harris (A&T) 11, Niall Morton (Sheffield) 11, Devon Campbell (Stockport) 9, Noah Lyon (Hull) 9, Eryk Motala (Bury) 8, Frank White (A&T) 6
Referee – Mike Hack