It was another disappointing afternoon of cycle speedway racing for Astley & Tyldesley at Gin Pit on Sunday. A & T's bad run gets worse, as they fell to a heavy home defeat against Northern League leaders Stoke, 114-60. Only Darek Kurkowski and Chris Finnigan (pictured), with two race wins apiece, offered any effective opposition. On a grippy, damp track, Lewis Bates tore through the opposition to record a 20 points maximum for Stoke. Once again A & T couldn't field a full 8 rider team - a quite disgraceful state of affairs, considering the many members in the club. It really needs all the squad to dig in deep and turn things round now, otherwise what promised to be the club's best campaign with the strongest squad assembled in A & T's history could well turn out to be the opposite.

Northern League match result:

Astley & Tyldesley 60 Stoke 114

A & T: Darek Kurkowski 17, Chris Finnigan 13, Mike Hack 9, Roy Heslop 8, Joel Partington 7, Philip Atherton 6.

Stoke: Lewis Bates 20, Cameron Bates 17 (2), Simon Munden 16 (2), Leighton Bates 15 (3), Richard Harrison 15 (2), Adam Ellis 14 (2), Lance Bates 9 (1), Will Fern 8 (2).

Referee - Gary Nuttall (Astley & Tyldesley).

A & T blooded some new youngsters in the Combination match and they acquited themselves well, despite A & T going down to a 70-50 defeat. The one pleasing aspect of a disappointing day was that A & T were able to field a team of six riders without conceding any penalty points. Full credit to youngsters Joel Partington and Philip Atherton, who gave it their all, whilst brothers Matthew and Adam Turnbull both did well on their debuts. Roy Heslop (pictured) lost just once in his last race to Adam Ellis, whilst Mike Hack lost only to the Bates brothers. Credit to Stoke who blooded several new riders in their line-up as well.

Northern Combination League match result:

Astley & Tyldesley 'B' 50 Stoke 'B' 70

A & T: Roy Heslop 15, Mike Hack 14, Joel Partington 9, Philip Atherton 4, Matthew Turnbull 4, Adam Turnbull 4.

Stoke: Ben Franklin 13 (1), Adam Ellis 11, Paul Askey 10 (2), Will Fern 10, Johnny Bradburn 9 (3), Damien Leach 9 (2), Cameron Bates 4, Leighton Bates 4.