Location: Hessle Raceway, Hull
Event: 31st July 2011
Report: Andy Schofield

Stockport emerged as worthy double Northern KO Cup winners at the end of an excellent afternoon's racing at a sunny Hessle Raceway.

In the first senior qualifier Hull progressed to the final without dropping a point with new recruit Jack Mallinson looking impressive on his home team debut. Edinburgh just edged out Sheffield for second place with John Murphy shining in a veteran Edinburgh side while youngster Kyle Holland impressed for the Tykes.

In the second senior semi Stockport won the round and were joined in the final by Bury who comfortably beat the target set by Edinburgh as runners-up. Heckmondwike relied heavily on Darren Kent while Jake Read was unbeaten from a reserve slot for Stockport and Ben Scranage and Chris Parish only dropped a single point for Bury. The Bury side suffered a blow in the pre-match parade when Steven Ward shipped a chain and suffered injuries which curtailed most of his racing.

The senior final lived up to its pre-match billing and was a cut and thrust affair from heat one. Bury were missing the injured Steven Ward and had to be content with third place on this occasion, unable to produce a heat win despite lots of effort on their part. Stockport and Hull shared the lead throughout with a 6-4 in heat 5 to Dylan Radcliffe and Ben Higham against Hull's pairing proving crucial. They made sure of victory in the penultimate heat thanks to a drawn heat from Terry Norman and Jack Lush. Terry and Dylan Radcliffe were only beaten once for Stockport while Andy Angell raced to a fine maximum for Hull.

In the Junior Final Stockport raced to an expected victory against a much younger and less experienced Hull side. As expected most of the opposition came from Matt Beharrell but the highlight of the match for the home side came in heat 11 when Katie Greaves led from tape to finish line for a win that brought the afternoon's biggest response from a good sized crowd. Ali Lam, Jack Lush and Joe Pickford were unbeaten for the visitors with all the side contributing well. Stockport thoroughly deserved their win and this reflected on their excellent youth policy while Hull will undoubtedly improve in future years.

Results

Senior Semi-Finals

Hull 56: Corey Graham 16, Jack Mallinson 15+1, Andy Angell 13+3, Adam Stephenson 12+4

Edinburgh 34: John Murphy 12, Dave Baxter 10, Ian McKinley 7+1, Chic Mackie 5.

Sheffield 30: Kyle Holland 11, Rob Mawhood 10, James Unwin 5+1, Daniel Rushton 4.

Referee: Pete Ward

Stockport 49: Jake Read 14+2, Terry Norman 11, Ben Higham 8+3, Jack Lush 8+1, Dylan Radcliffe 8.

Bury 44: Ben Scranage 14+1, Chris Parish 13+2, Paul Dyson 8, Chris Dyson 7, Steven Ward 2.

Heckmondwike 27: Daren Kent 10, James Unwin 8, Kyle Holland 5+1, Rich Westcott 4.
Referee: Andy Moody

Senior Final

Stockport 46: Dylan Radcliffe 15, Terry Norman 14+1, Ben Higham 9+2, Jack Lush 8+1

Hull 43: Andy Angell 15+1, Matt Beharrell 11, Adam Stephenson 10+2, Corey Graham 6, Jack Mallinson 1

Bury 29: Chris Parish 9+1, Ben Scranage 7+1, Paul Dyson 7+1, Chris Dyson 6.
Referee: Mark Winwood

Junior Final

Hull 42: David Cooper 9, Matt Beharrell 7, Rob Stockton Garner 6, Andy Cooper 5+1, Nathan Everett 5, Sam Schofield 5, Katie Greaves 5.

Stockport 77: Joe Pickford 16, Ali Lam 14+2, Jack Lush 14+2, James Carter 13+2, Jake Read 12+2, Matt Lush 11+3, Georgina Healey 11+1

Referee: Mark Winwood