BRITISH UNDER-13 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

 

SPECIAL REPORT - posted 14 May 2013

 

The British under-13 team championship took place at the recently refurbished Exeter track. With eight teams making various length journeys to the track, it was on no one's agenda to go down without a fight. With the track perfectly set up and the weather behaving itself, all riders and supporters were looking forward to a great day of racing.

 

Exeter Cruise Through to Final

 

Exeter booked their place in the final with a fine display in the first qualifying round with under-13 British champion Will Tidball going through the card unbeaten. He was firmly backed up by younger brother Owen Tidball who only dropped a point and team mates Thomas Croal and Ben Stanbury.

 

All was to play for however when it came to the race for second place. With just two places up for grabs in the grand final, it was always going to be an intense set of races. Sheffield and Kesgrave were locked in a great battle throughout all 16 heats. Sheffield matched their rival's team score before the final round of racing with both teams tied on 28 points, however it was the Stars who still had a set of precious gate ones to look forward to.

 

Kesgrave, on the other hand, were all smiles as Tyler Brinkhoff scored a point over Billie Owen. A big turning point came though when Jay Berry was excluded, allowing Sheffield a free heat to score whatever they could. Ed Morton raced to take three points which left the female powerhouse of Ellie Sullivan with less pressure than originally expected. Like lightening from the start, Sullivan grabbed all four points to give Sheffield another match to look forward to later on in the day.

 

Will Tidball went on to win the final heat with Exeter finishing on 55 points, to Sheffield's 40. Kesgrave rounded their day off with 34 points and Underwood can be pleased with their 30 points as they continue to rebuild under the training of Tony Bennett.

 

Ipswich Impress in Second Semi

 

Semi final two time and this was not quite as tight as the first event with favourites Ipswich progressing with 55 points alongside Poole. Ipswich, like Exeter, made the most of all their heats and got off to a great start with two wins and two second places coming from their round of gate fours and with more strength in depth than the Aces, all five riders achieved heat wins throughout the programme.

 

George Newman was the only rider from Poole to take a four-point position which came in heat two but it was the consistently from the young Dorset side which put them in the second qualifying hot spot.

 

At half time Ipswich had a healthy lead of six points over nearest rivals Poole whilst Astley & Tyldesley were battling hardto get themselves back in to the running. Wednesfield made a slow start to the event and unfortunately trailed 11 points behind Poole.  Ipswich continued to extend their lead in the third round of racing and realistically matched their expectations with four wins from the inside grid. A&T could only match Poole's score from the round so were still playing catch up come the final stage.

 

Wednesfield continued to show commitment to the sport and although at this stage were far behind, they certainly deserved a lot of respect and praise for making the long journey down to Devon, a credit to our sport.

 

With the final stage of racing approaching, all was still to play for. Poole had just a four points lead over Astley and Tyldesley so needed consistent solid points to ensure another encounter at 3pm.  And so they did, as they'd done so consistently throughout the first 12 heats, they notched up another 11 points to safely see themselves eight points clear of their rivals. Ipswich were keen favourites for the

final, progressing through with 55 points, matched by Exeter.

 

Exeter Edge out Ipswich in Closely Fought Final

 

And so on to the final, where we had two races in one. Sheffield started with the upper hand of gate ones in the first round and found themselves one point behind Exeter after four heats. Will Tidball and the underdog Thomas Croal took eight points between them for the green and white army whilst Ellie Sullivan and James Bunting claimed the other two wins.

 

Ipswich were surprisingly at the back of the pack but with their gate fours over and done with, it was time for the fun to begin. Pierce Bacon came onto the scene from reserve in heat five and showed the crowd exactly what strength in depth the blue's had, taking four points over Exeter's Owen Tidball. However, Exeter soon bit back with two more heat wins as well as Poole's second win of the day, this time coming from Keiron Hoare.

 

The Aces had a healthy five point lead but still had their round of gate fours in the pipeline. Ipswich started to build up the tension around the ground with wins from Bacon and Sam Warner and this was where the heat started to rise. With just two points in it, no one could possibly put their money on what was around the corner. The same situation also stood for the bronze position too with both Poole and Sheffield neck and neck with 21 and 22 points respectively.

 

With five races left to go you could have thrown a blanket over Exeter and Ipswich and things were looking Ipswich's way in heat 12 when Harrison Bacon was leading Owen Tidball. Unfortunately though for the visitors, Bacon fell infront of Tidball resulting in a tough exclusion. Tidball went on to win the race to put the home team seven points up going into the final stage. Exeter had grid fours whilst Ipswich occupied three.

 

With two rides still to be taken by reserve Pierce Bacon, no one from Devon was counting their chickens yet, and they were right to stay calm when the Bacon brothers struck at the right time to achieve three heat wins to Exeter's six points. Instantly the Aces' lead of seven points was crushed to just one. Poole and Sheffield were again tied on 30 points going into heat 16.

 

All was to play for, no positions certain yet and what a thrilling final heat we were all in for. Poole's heat winner Keiron Hoare on one, lady superstar Ellie Sullivan on two, Ipswich's last hope Alex Harvey on three, and unbeaten so far on grid four was Will Tidball. As the tapes rose, much to the home crowd's delight, Tidball flew around

the pack to get himself straight into the lead whilst Sullivan also gated around her rival too.

 

Exeter were untouchable right to the finish line and Hoare could find no way past Sullivan. Whilst Sheffield were able to celebrate their bronze position, Ipswich were left to wonder what might have been, but to take nothing away from Exeter, the young Aces against the odds, reclaimed the shield to keep it in Devon.
 

 

Final

Exeter 48

Will Tidball 16, Thomas Croal 13, Owen Tidball 12, Ben Stanbury 7

Ipswich 44

Pierce Bacon 16, Sam, Warner 10, Harrison Bacon 9, Jack Chaplin 7, Alex Harvey 2

Sheffield 33

James Bunting 11, Ellie Sullivan 10, Ed Morton 8, Billie Owen 3, Niamh Mortton 1

Poole 32

Kieran Hoare 10. George Newman 9, Macie Schmidt 7, Callum Smith 6

 

Semi Final A

Exeter 55, Sheffield 40, Kesgrave 34, Underwood 29

Semi Final B

Ipswich 55, Poole 43, Astley 35, Wednesfield 26