Astley & Tyldesley got off to the perfect start, with a convincing 96-72 win over Bury, in their first ever British Premier League match. A & T took advantage of exclusions to Bury riders in each of the opening three races, to open up an 11 points lead. Bury pulled it back to 6, but A & T rallied and went in at the break with the 11 points lead restored. The home team's tactics were to keep it tight and retain the lead, before finishing with a late salvo, to win by an emphatic 24 points margin.

A & T's Polish trio were all in great form, with Tomasz Wlodarczyk and Remi Burchardt both unbeaten by an opponent, and pulling off great passes on former European Champion Damian Zareba. Darek Kurkowski was unlucky to drop his only point in the first race, to Ben Scranage. The rest of the side provided good solid back-up, in what was an excellent team display. Lee Phillips impressed on his return to the club, whilst Steve Ward's score was down due to two exclusions. Bury fought hard all the way, in a match that had a real local derby atmosphere to it, but their riders were no match for A & T's Polish trio. Bury team manager Pete Ward received a yellow card for dissent to the referee.

Premier League match result

Astley & Tyldesley 96: Remi Burchardt 20, Tomasz Wlodarczyk 19 (plus 1 bonus), Darek Kurkowski 19, Lee Phillips 13, Gavin Kennedy 9 (2), Steve Ward 8 (1), Ewan Tulloch 6 (1), Mike Hack 2.

Bury 72: Damian Zareba 13, Neil Howarth 12 (2), Ben Scranage 10, Chris Eaton 10, Chris Parish 9 (1), Tom Doyle 8 (1), John Whiting 6, Ashley Simpson 4 (2).

Referee - Stan Allison (Wisbech, Cambridge).

A & T made it a double by winning the Combination League match, by 70-59. Joe Allen top scored for A & T with 14 points, whilst Lee Phillips raced unbeaten. Adam Phillips and Laura Allen put in improved performances, and they reaped the benefits of their commitment at training. Kristian Ramsden and Leo Brindley were impressive for Bury. Bury take a bonus point for fielding a completely different team.

Combination League match result

Astley & Tyldesley 70: Joe Allen 14, Lee Phillips 13 (3), Mike Hack 12 (1), Roy Heslop 12 (1), Adam Phillips 10 (1), Laura Allen 9 (3).

Bury 59: Kristian Ramsden 19, Leo Brindley 15 (1), Michael Collins 12, Liam Burke 5 (1), Kelly Burke 4, Michael Parish 4.