Astley & Tyldesley took on Bury in a local derby encounter in the Northern League, at Gin Pit on Thursday evening. Rain throughout the day left the track rather heavy, but plenty of good racing was dished up under the Astley floodlights.

Nine of the fifteen races resulted in shared 5-5 points, but the visitors took the remaining six heats to run out comfortable 85-64 winners. Polish star Przemek Binkowski recorded another 20 points maximum score for A & T, and registered the four fastest times of the night. Team mate Frank Finnigan put in some excellent team riding, linking up really well with young Rob Longworth, who had a good match. However, despite plenty of effort from the rest of the team, the lack of a third Grade A rider told for A & T, as a much more experienced Bury team took advantage of the races where Binkowski and Finnigan didn't feature. No one was unbeaten for Bury, but the whole team rode well as a unit and controlled the match throughout.

Northern League match result:

Astley & Tyldesley Miners' Welfare / CTA Direct 64 Bury / Pedalsport 85

Astley & Tyldesley scorers:

Przemek Binkowski 20, Frank Finnigan 11 (plus 3 bonus), Rob Longworth 11, Jeff Radcliffe 7, Becky Heslop 7, Rob Machin 5, Chris Smith 2, Mike Hack 1.

Bury scorers:

Ben Scranage 15 (1), Paul Dyson 14, Fred Rothwell 14, Mark Rushby 13 (1), Scott Jarman 12 (2), Tom Doyle 11 (3), Neil Howarth 6 (3).

Referee - Bill Phillips.