Astley & Tyldesley hosted Northumbria Vikings in a Northern League
fixture at Gin Pit on Sunday. A&T welcomed new signings, brothers Paul
and Mark Graham for their A&T debuts, whilst the visitors had former
Tameside rider Mark Mulvey making his debut in their colours.
In the Division 1 match, track conditions were dry and dusty as the
forecasted heavy rain hadn't materialised. A&T drew first blood in heat
2 to take the lead after Ashie Patterson was excluded on the gate, but a
Jason Keith / Mark Mulvey 6-4 over Danny Swales / Mark Graham in the
next race put the visitors in front. A 7-3 to the Parr brothers in heat
4 over Ron Makin / Stefan Whitelegg extended Northumbria's lead, but A&T
hit back with a 7-3 from M. Graham / Swales after Michael Parr fell in
heat 7 and the gap was just 1 point at the interval. M. Parr / Mulvey
started off the 2nd half with a 6-4 heat win over Swales / George
Hughes, then the next two races proved to be crucial in the match. A
tangle on the first bend in heat 10 resulted in both A&T riders hitting
the floor. The race was stopped and a re-run with all four riders was
called, but the referee subsequently changed his mind, with Danny Hughes
excluded from the re-run. Paul Graham split the Keith / Patterson
pairing in the re-run, as the Vikings extended their lead to 6 points.
Terry Kirkup and Gavin Parr flew out of the traps in the next race to
take a 7-3 heat win over the M. Graham / Swales pairing, to put
Northumbria in a strong position with a 59-49 lead with four heats
remaining. A&T hit back with two late 6-4 heat wins, but Northumbria
held on to win 77-71, to take their first Division 1 win of the season.
For A&T, Paul Graham, Mark Graham, Danny Swales and Danny Hughes all won
races, with good support from Ron Makin. Jason Keith led Northumbria's
scoring, losing only to a fine Danny Hughes pass in heat 12. Only a
sheared crank halted Gavin Parr, as he scooted round to take 4th place
in heat 14, with strong scores from Michael Parr, Mark Mulvey and Terry
Kirkup. It was a good hard fought match, ridden in a good spirit
throughout.
Northern League Division 1 match result
Astley & Tyldesley 71
Northumbria 77
A&T: Paul Graham 15 (1), Danny Swales 14 (1), Danny Hughes 14, Ron Makin
9 (2), Mark Graham 9 (1), George Hughes 5, Roy Heslop 4, Stefan
Whitelegg 1.
Northumbria: Jason Keith 19, Michael Parr 16, Gavin Parr 15 (2), Mark
Mulvey 11 (1), Terry Kirkup 10, Daniel Wharrier 3, Ashie Patterson 2,
Keith Oldham 1.
Referee - Bill Phillips.
The forecasted rain belatedly arrived for the Division 2 match, which
improved track conditions. A&T made a storming start, with three 7-3
heat wins in the first five races, to open up a 10 points lead. Back
came Northumbria with a 7-3 of their own, after Roy Heslop fell in heat
7, followed by a 6-4 to make the interval score 42-38 in A&T's favour.
Two successive 7-3 heat wins to A&T in heats 10 and 11 effectively
sealed the match, as they moved in to a 12 points lead and went on to
win 81-68. This was A&T's first win of the season in Division 2.
For A&T, Ron Makin narrowly missed out on his first ever maximum for the
club, when beaten by Scott Latimer in the last race. Ron and fellow
veteran riders Roy Heslop and George Hughes teamed up well with their
young partners, as A&T's youngsters turned in some fantastic racing
against much older opponents. 11 years old Max Evans pulled off two
terrific wins from the back, Stefan Whitelegg started off with two race
wins, Ciaran Collins took a race win and Daniel Burns picked himself up
after a heavy fall. Jim Graham, Ashie Patterson and Daniel Wharrier all
won a race apiece for Northumbria, with Scott Latimer winning his last
two races.
Northern League Division 2 match result
Astley & Tyldesley 81 Northumbria 68
A&T: Ron Makin 18 (1), Roy Heslop 15 (2), George Hughes 14 (3), Ciaran
Collins 12 (1), Stefan Whitelegg 10, Max Evans 9, Daniel Burns 3, Matt
Snell dnr.
Northumbria: Scott Latimer 14 (1), Daniel Wharrier 14, Ashie Patterson 9
(2), Jim Graham 9, Keith Oldham 6 (1), Chrsitine Amos-Adams 6, Andy
Amos-Adams 6, Neil Magee 4 (1).
Referee - Bill Phillips.
Northumbria had no riders for the Division 3 match, as eleven A&T riders
took to the track. Max Evans raced to a 16 points maximum score, twice
beating Matt Snell in the process. Daniel Burns lost only to Evans and
Snell in heat 11. The other A&T riders enthusiastically gave it their
all, to knock up a big team score, as the sun came out for this match.
This win makes it four wins out of four on the track for A&T in Division
3 matches this season.
Northern League Division 3 match result
Astley & Tyldesley 115 Northumbria 0
A&T: Max Evans 16, Daniel Burns 14, Matt Snell 14, Rhys Burgess 13,
Jessica Burgess 11, Alex Semtyshin 10, Ben Dickinson 10, Emily Burgess
9, Daisy Osmand 9, Ashton Semtyshin 5, Charlie Burgess 4.
Referee - Mike Hack.