Report: Cycle Speedway Home International

Event: 13th June 2009, Edinburgh

Images: Andy Whitehouse

England continued their dominance of the Home International series with a convincing victory at Redbraes Park, Edinburgh on 13th June 2009.

Above: The Scottish rider holds the inside line as England cocks an inside leg

With what could be considered an inexperienced side, Steve Harris apart, all thoughts of the fixture being the proverbial banana skin for England failed to materialise as they eventually provided 12 of the 18 heat winners to win by a comfortable 21 points from 2nd placed Scotland, with Ireland pipping Wales to 3rd spot.

Above: Four nations four-abreast at the start

Wales off grid 1 for the first set of heats got off to a great start with Karl Winwood taking the chequered flag relegating Andy Angell to 2nd place in what would be his only defeat of the day. Unfortunately for Wales this would be their only win of a tough afternoon.

Above: England leading the charge with gritted teeth

With England leading by 4 points from Wales after the first set of heats whilst off grid 4 the writing was on the wall for the other home nations. By the end of the 2nd set off 4 England had extended their lead to 12 points over the now 2nd placed Scotland who were now proving to be best of the rest.

Above: Ireland tacos a Scottish wheel

After the break a strong 2nd half showing by Ireland which included their only heat victory by Tom Doyle in race 15 ensured they finished above the under strength Welsh side.

Above: England powers out of the corner. Behind, carnage reigns

A run of 4 heat winners at the start of that 2nd half for England made sure Team Manager Pete Barnes could relax and feel justified in his team selection.

Above: The England rider picks his line

Although the end result was never really in doubt the meeting itself had some fantastic racing with incident in every heat to keep the spectators entertained. For all England's dominance no one managed to hit a maximum with Andy Angell, Steve Harris and Chris Timms all finishing one short on 15 points.

Above: England celebrate in the time honoured fashion

Best up for Scotland was birthday boy Nathan Groves, who celebrated his 18th birthday by securing 13 points which included wins over Steve Harris and Chris Timms.

Above: The winning team

Adam Stephenson reached the 10 point mark for Ireland as did Karl Winwood for Wales.

Above: After some fierce on-track battles, the four nations are reconciled for photographs

Arron Summers of the Edinburgh Monarchs Motorcycle Speedway Team made the medal presentations to the delighted England Captain Steve Harris who, it could be argued, was the star of the day.

Results

England 64: Andy Angell 15, Steve Harris 15, Chris timms 15, Ryan Hoyland 10, Jamie Brown 9

Scotland 43: Nathan Groves 13, Jake Slight 9, Pete Young 8, Craig Newsome 7, Mikey Hewittson 6

Ireland 36: Adam Stevenson 10, Tom Doyle 8, Craig Norton 8, Barry Copping 6, Gary Colby 4

Wales 33: Karl Winwood 10, Ben Mould 7, Mark Winwood 6, Neil Power 5, Dave Murphy 5