British Under 10 Club Championship

Event: 20th June 2009, Exeter

Report: Dave Hunting

Good weather was once again the order of the day for the British Under 10 Club Championship at Exeter, where 4 teams from the South West, 3 Teams from the South East, 2 teams from the Midlands, and 1 team from the North competed to become the British Under 10 Club champions for 2009.

The first semi contained the pre match favourites, namely Exeter, who were riding on their home track, together with a very strong looking Kesgrave team, an unfortunately weakened Great Blakenham team who had lost the services of Kane Grimmer due to a family bereavement, plus Poole and Birmingham. After the first four heats, it was Exeter who had scored a full house of 16 points, with Kesgrave on 12, and Great Blakenham on 11, these three clubs having pulled away from both Poole and Birmingham. At the halfway stage Exeter had still remained unbeaten, having scored a very impressive 32 points, with Kesgrave on 24, and Great Blakenham on 21. At the three quarter stage, Exeter still led on 44 points, with Kesgrave, who had closed the gap on 38, and Great Blakenham on 33. At the end of the final heat it was Exeter who had secured a win on 55 points, with Kesgrave just behind on 52, these two making it to the final, whilst Great Blakenham on 43, Poole on 33, and Birmingham on 17 were eliminated. Riders to catch the eye were four of the Exeter team, namely Jack Herbert, Will Tidball, James Robinson & George Newman who were all unbeaten, together with Kesgrave's Pierce Bacon, who was also unbeaten. Close behind these riders was Colby Hack of Great Blakenham, who dropped just the one point.

In the second semi were the current under 10 club champions Ipswich, together with East Newport, Wednesfield, Horspath and Sheffield, and on paper this looked a very open semi final indeed. After the first four heats it was Ipswich who were leading on 13 points, closely followed by East Newport on 12, with both Horspath and Wednesfield on 9 points each. At the halfway stage East Newport had drawn level with Ipswich, both teams being on 24 points, with Wednesfield on 20, Horspath on 18, and Sheffield on 14. At the three quarter way stage, East Newport had taken the lead on 39 points, with Ipswich on 33, followed by Horspath & Wednesfield on 29 points each. After the last heat it was East Newport who were the victors on 53 points, with Ipswich on 45, both these teams progressing to the final. Horspath finished on 39, one point ahead of Wednesfield who finished on 38, with Sheffield on 25. Riders to catch the eye in this semi were James Harriman of Wednesfield who was unbeaten on 16 points, Sean Bennett unbeaten on 8, with George Horsley of Horspath and Ethan Lewis of East Newport dropping just one point apiece.

And so we had the runners and riders for the Grand Final of the British Under 10 Club Championship, these being in order of racing Exeter, Kesgrave, Ipswich and East Newport. After the first four heats it was Exeter who had taken the lead on 15 points, with East Newport on 11, Kesgrave on 10, and Ipswich on 4. At the halfway stage Exeter were on 28 points, with Kesgrave having upped the tempo on 24, East Newport on 20, and Ipswich on just 8 points. The racing was hotting up, with the two leading teams pulling away from the pack, and at the three quarter way stage Exeter were still holding on to their four point lead on 42 points, Kesgrave on 38, East Newport on 27, and Ipswich on 13. The final four heats saw Exeter on four gate ones, whilst Kesgrave had four gate fours, this being decisive on the final score with Exeter finishing on 55 points, becoming the 2009 Under 10 Club Champions, with Kesgrave the runners up on 47, East Newport on 36, and Ipswich on 22 points. A great days racing which was witnessed by an impressive audience who kept the catering staff on their toes. Riders to note in the final were Will Tidball and James Robinson from Exeter, who both went through the days racing unbeaten, and Pierce Bacon of Kesgrave, who dropped just the one point all day.

Final Scores

Exeter(25); Kesgrave(20); East Newport(18); Ipswich(16); Horspath(14); Great Blakenham(14); Wednesfield(12); Poole(12); Sheffield(10); Birmingham(10).

A Semi Final Result

Exeter 55: Jack Herbert 12; Will Tidball 12; James Robinson 12; George Newman 12; Owen Tidball 7.

Kesgrave 52: Oliver Knight 13; Pierce Bacon 12; Kori Offord 10; George Wiggins 9; Oliver Vobe 8.

Great Blakenham 43: Colby Hack 11; Lewis Brinkhoff 10; Lilly Gedge 9; Tyler Brinkhoff 7; Finlay Hack 6.

Poole 33: Harry Smith 10; Harry Hiscocks 9; Hayden Rowles 7; Rhys Powell 7.

Birmingham 17: Rhys Winwood 5; Billy Winwood 4; Ryan Winwood 4; Lewis Harris 4.

B Semi Final Result

East Newport 53: Ethan Lewis 15; Callum Goward 13; Taylor Carley 10; Sean Bennett 8; Adam Wakefield 7.

Ipswich 45: Libby Knights 12; Alex Harvey 12; Brandon Gilbert-Rolfe 9; Ben Harvey 7; Nick Cooper 5.

Horspath 39: George Horsley 15; Alfie Wakefield 9; Callum Cooper 8; Adam Wakefield 7.

Wednesfield 38: James Harriman 16; Dominic White 8; Alex Aris 7; Sharna Cox 7.

Sheffield 25: Noel Morton 10; Ed Morton 7; Niamh Morton 3; Josh Gamage 3; Rich Gooch 2.

Grand Final Result

Exeter 55: Will Tidball 16; Jack Herbert 14; George Newman 12; James Robinson 12; Owen Tidball 1.

Kesgrave 47: Pierce Bacon 15; Oliver Knight 12; George Wiggins 10; Kori Offord 7; Oliver Vobe 3.

East Newport 36: Ethan Lewis 9; Taylor Carey 8; Callum Goward 7; Sean Bennett 7; Tudor Coombes 5.

Ipswich 22: Alex Harvey 7; Libby Knights 6; Nick Cooper 4; Brandon Gilbert-Rolfe 4; Ben Harvey 1.

Overall Club Championships Standings