Horspath defeated Birmingham this weekend to retain the Cycle Speedway Knockout Cup on a heavy riding Leicester track.
The Oxfordshire club fielded an incredibly strong team which proved too much for their opponents, finishing the match just two points shy of the 100 point mark – with a 17-point victory margin.
Earlier in the day, a run-off between Poole and Leicester saw an incredible pass on Matt Mildon by Kev Burns, which put the host club into the first semi-final of the day against Birmingham. However, they would progress no further on the day, losing to Birmingham 97-81.
The second semi-final saw a repeat of 2021, with Horspath making the most of their experience against a youthful Ipswich side who held their own but ended their day 10 points adrift of Horspath’s 95 points.
Horspath got off to a flying start in the opening heat of the final with Ben Mould and Mark Boaler taking a 1-2 from Ricky Johnson and Scott Millward. Birmingham’s Paul Heard and Chris Timms took victories in the following two heats and, with Johnson taking a fine win in the fourth heat and a brilliant ride by Millward to claim third, Birmingham brought the match to a two-point difference by the fifth heat.
Mould and Boaler took their second 1-2 in heat six, but the pair went on to swap positions two heats later, moving the score to 47-33 and ending the fight for Birmingham.
The second half saw wins from the current British champion Heard, adding a further 11 points to his tally for the day, and Millward took a superb win in heat 13 from the first bend to keep the match alive.
Birmingham rounded off their day with a 1-2 in the final heat, with Millward again taking the win over Timms, but with four heats from the second nine drawn, the victory was always going to be Horspath’s.
FINAL
Horspath 98
Birmingham 81
SEMI FINAL 1
Birmingham 97
Leicester 81
SEMI FINAL 2
Horspath 95
Ipswich 85
