Astley & Tyldesley wrapped up the 2003 outdoor season with a 75-72 victory over local rivals Tameside in a closely fought encounter at Gin Pit on Sunday.

Points were shared in the first three races before Tameside took a 7-3 through the Wylie/Eaton pairing over Smith/Longworth. Heat 7 was a disaster for A & T as firstly Mee was excluded after tangling with Taylor, and then Pearce slipped his pedals at the gate in the re-run, for a Taylor/Norman 7-2 to put Tameside 9 points ahead. A & T immediately hit back with a storming ride by Finnigan that saw him dive under Eaton and bring partner Longworth through for the win, with Eaton excluded later in the race for leaving the track. Wylie was excluded for chopping across Mee in heat 9, and a Radcliffe/Mee 6-3 over Taylor in the re-run saw A & T reduce Tameside's lead to 1 point. A & T took the lead for the first time in heat 10 with a Binkowski/Pearce 7-3 over White/Granelli, but Tameside immediately hit back with a Norman/Taylor 6-4 over Finnigan/Smith to make the score 54-53 to A & T. A Radcliffe/Binkowski 7-3 over Eaton/Granelli was followed by a Pearce/Smith 6-4 over Wylie after White fell whilst second to extend A & T's lead to 7 points with two heats remaining. Tameside again hit back with a Taylor/Eaton 7-3 over Longworth/Radcliffe to force a last race decider. Binkowski raced away from grid 1 with Norman in hot pursuit. A & T's Polish star held off four laps of terrific pressure from Norman to win in the fastest time of the day, with White beating Finnigan for 3rd place and a 5-5 shared heat.

So, Astley & Tyldesley put in a great second half performance to turn a nine points deficit into a three points win. Przemek Binkowski was once again unbeaten, with valuable support from Garry Pearce and Frank Finnigan, plus two vital wins from Jeff Radcliffe. For Tameside, Terry Norman lost twice to Binkowski, with veteran Alan Taylor using all his experience for an excellent score.

Northern League match result:

Astley & Tyldesley Miners' Welfare / CTA Direct 75 Tameside 72.

Astley & Tyldesley scorers:

Przemek Binkowski 19 (plus 1 bonus), Garry Pearce 15 (1), Frank Finnigan 13 (2), Jeff Radcliffe 11, Rob Longworth 8, Chris Smith 5, Warren Mee 4 (1).

Tameside scorers:

Terry Norman 17 (1), Alan Taylor 15 (1), Chris Eaton 12 (2), Mark Wylie 12 (1), Danny White 9 (2), Joe Granelli 7.

Referee - Bill Phillips.