Sunday 8 August 2004
BUXTON HITMEN 56
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 38
Conference League
| James Wright | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 18 |
| Lee Derbyshire R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Paul Burnett | 1 | 2 | 1* | 1* | 3 | - | - | 8(2) |
| Benji Compton | 1* | 2 | 2 | 2* | 2* | - | - | 9(3) |
| Jonathan Bethell | 1 | X | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Charles Wright | 2* | 2 | 2* | F | 3 | - | - | 9(2) |
| Carl Belfield | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | F | - | - | 8 |
| Tom Hill (No.8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
SWINDON
| Malcolm Holloway | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | R | - | - | 13 |
| Jordan Frampton | X | X | F | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| James Purchase | T | 3 | 0 | 1* | - | - | - | 4(1) |
| Danny Warwick | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 7 |
| Chris Johnson | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| Daniel Harding | 1 | 0 | 0 | F | 2 | - | - | 3 |
| Nathan Irwin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 2 |
| Ht 1: (Re-Run) J. Wright, Holloway, Burnett, Frampton (f, ex), 54.4 | (4-2) |
| Ht 2: Belfield, C. Wright, Harding, Irwin, 59.5 | (9-3) |
| Ht 3: (Re-Run) Warwick, Burnett, Compton, Harding, Purchase (ex, tapes), 59.0 | (12-6) |
| Ht 4: Belfield, Johnson, Bethell, Irwin, 58.5 | (16-8) |
| Ht 5: (Re-Run) Holloway (TR), Compton, Burnett, Frampton (f, ex), 56.1 | (19-14) |
| Ht 6: J. Wright, Johnson, Belfield, Harding, 55.5 | (23-16) |
| Ht 7: (Re-Run thrice) Purchase, C. Wright, Warwick, Bethell (f, ex), 60.1 | (25-20) |
| Ht 8: (Re-Run) J. Wright, Irwin, Belfield, Frampton (fell), 57.2 | (29-22) |
| Ht 9: Johnson, Compton, Burnett, Harding (fell), 59.6 | (32-25) |
| Ht 10: J. Wright, C. Wright, Warwick, Purchase, 57.3 | (37-26) |
| Ht 11: Holloway, Bethell, Frampton, C. Wright (fell), 58.7 | (39-30) |
| Ht 12: Burnett, Harding, Purchase, Belfield (fell), 63.0 | (42-33) |
| Ht 13: J. Wright, Holloway, Bethell, Johnson, 56.0 | (46-35) |
| Ht 14: C. Wright, Compton, Warwick (TR), Irwin, 59.7 | (51-37) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) J. Wright (r), Compton (b), Johnson (g), Holloway (y; ret), 57.9 | (56-38) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 1: R/R Burnett
Ht 3: Harding replaced Purchase in the re-run
Ht 5: TR Holloway (Double points)
Ht 6: R/R Belfield
Ht 8: R/R J. Wright
Ht 10: R/R C. Wright
Ht 14: TR Warwick (Double points)
MINI-MATCH
CREWE S.J. ADAMS KINGS 17
MIDDLESBROUGH SCOTT BROS. BEARS 19
CREWE
| Paul Burnett | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| David Baker | 1* | 2 | R | - | - | - | - | 3(1) |
| Tom Hill | 2 | 1* | 2 | - | - | - | - | 5(1) |
| John Hough | 1* | 0 | 1* | - | - | - | - | 2(2) |
MIDDLESBROUGH
| Nathan Irwin | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| Andrew Blackburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Carl Belfield | 3 | 1* | 3 | - | - | - | - | 7(1) |
| Phil Downes | X | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| Ht 1: Irwin, Burnett, Baker, Blackburn, 58.4 | (3-3) |
| Ht 2: (Awarded) Belfield, Hill, Hough, Downes (f, ex), No Time | (6-6) |
| Ht 3: Downes, Baker, Hill, Blackburn, 60.2 | (9-9) |
| Ht 4: Burnett, Irwin, Belfield, Hough, 59.0 | (12-12) |
| Ht 5: Belfield, Burnett, Downes, Baker (ret), 60.3 | (14-16) |
| Ht 6: Irwin, Hill, Hough, Blackburn, 59.5 | (17-19) |
On a balmy day in the beautiful Peak District, Sprockets’ skipper Malcolm Holloway made the gate in heat one, only for James Wright to cut inside him on bends three and four. The race was, however, stopped when Jordan Frampton hit the deck on bend one of lap two, having well and truly been filled-in by flying shale. In the re-run, Wright made the start and never looked back as he took the flag to record his first of six straight wins.
Heat two was the first 5-1 to the Hitmen, with Carl Belfield taking victory. Behind, Daniel Harding put up a great fight, but was beaten right on the line by Charles Wright, as the homesters opened up a six-point gap at 9-3.
Heat three and the Sprockets stemmed the tide, with Danny Warwick taking the chequered flag in fine style. For a moment, it looked as though it might have been better news for the Sprockets as Harding (in for James Purchase, who had been excluded for a tapes infringement) was holding second place, but both home lads went underneath the tall racer on bend one of lap two.
A fourth heat 4-2 to the Hitmen opened up an eight-point gap, meaning a tactical ride for Wellie. There was yet another re-run though, when Frampton, who had been occupying third spot, came down once more. Paul Burnett was following closely behind and although he did his utmost, unfortunately couldn’t avoid hitting the stricken Sprocket. Both riders thankfully got to their feet and in the re-start there was no contest for Holloway, who stormed the race to pull back three-points for the Sprockets.
Successive 4-2s were recorded in heats six, seven and eight - two for the Hitmen and one for the Sprockets. Heats six and eight were both won by Buxton’s star man James Wright; the former from Chris Johnson and the latter ahead of a good ride from Nathan Irwin. Meanwhile, Swindon’s James Purchase found victory in between, in what could be described as one of the longest heats ever to complete, featuring no less than three re-runs! At the first attempt, an unsatisfactory start was deemed to be the cause of the stoppage. In the re-run, Jonathan Bethell was lucky not to be excluded as he didn’t turn at the first bend and knocked into Warwick, whose bike by this time had become somewhat the worse for wear. Bethell was excluded from the second re-run, however, as he and Purchase were vying for the lead; Bethell getting out of shape and falling on the third bend of lap two. The third and final re-start of this very long race saw Purchase take the win with aplomb. Meanwhile, Warwick held second for a while, but was obviously in some discomfort after his tumbles and got passed by Charles Wright on bend four of the first lap.
The quick gating Harding was out in heat nine and he and Johno were on to a ‘fiver’, before the Australian, who was second at the time, fell on bend three of lap one. The resultant 3-3 left the scores at 32-25 in favour of Buxton.
A tapes-to-flag 5-1 in heat ten for Buxton moved the scores on to 37-26. Heat eleven was Swindon’s turn to take the chequered flag, with Wellie recording his second victory of the afternoon. Bethell came home in second position, but it was good to witness Frampton complete his first four laps for a deserved point.
Heat twelve was the last shared race, before Buxton stepped up a gear and got themselves in pole position for the bonus point with a 4-2 in heat thirteen, a 5-2 in heat fourteen, and finally a 5-1 to round things off, making the final result 56-38.
The second-half provided much in the way of entertainment, as Crewe faced Middlesbrough in a six-heat mini-match. Popular Sprocket Nathan Irwin was called-up to complete the Bears quartet and after making a great start, he sped away for an excellent first race victory from home track expert Paul Burnett and his Kings colleague David Baker. Two further evenly split races followed, before Irwin returned to the fray in heat four. This saw Burnett turn the tables to win, but with Irwin and team-mate Carl Belfield filling the minor scoring positions, the sides remained deadlocked at 12-12. Middlesbrough then took the lead through a fifth heat 4-2, with Irwin subsequently wrapping up victory for the Bears, courtesy of a tidy inside line success over Tom Hill and John Hough.
MEETING REPORT BY LEE POOLE & LUCY AUBREY