Astley & Tyldesley made the long trip to Edinburgh for a Northern Combination League match on Sunday. Edinburgh fielded an experienced line-up for this level and they made that count, banging in two 7-3 heat wins in the opening three races to take command of the match. Reece Pollitt took a good win from the back in heat 4 to steady the ship for A & T, but Edinburgh moved into a 16 points lead after heat 7.

A & T rallied in the second half, as Reece Pollitt won two more races and Adam Phillips bounced back to win his last three races. However, Edinburgh held on to run out 86-64 winners and inflict A & T's first defeat of the season in this league. All of A & T's riders gave it their all and can feel well satisfied with their efforts against a very determined team. For a very solid Edinburgh team, both Michael Lee and super veteran John Murphy raced unbeaten.

A & T have moved up a level by entering this league this season, to enable our riders to develop by racing against better opposition in a team environment. The team learnt a lesson from Edinburgh in how to team ride and be physical enough to win a match and hopefully will benefit from this experience..

Northern Combination League match result

Edinburgh 86 Astley & Tyldesley 64

Edinburgh: Michael Lee 16, Mark Lee 14 (1), Chris Lee 13 (1), Callum Slight 12, Marcin Czarkowski 11 (2), John Murphy 9 (3), Dougie Morgan 7 (1), Paul Kelly 4 (2).

A & T: Reece Pollitt 17, Adam Phillips 17, Beccy Heslop 11, Roy Heslop 8 (1), Ron Makin 5 (1), Max Evans 3, Daniel Burns 3.

Referee - Alan Hewitson.