Buxton ‘Hitmen’ 43 Mildenhall ‘Fen Tigers’ 47

A closely fought contest in the Derbyshire Dales tsaw the Fen Tigers pick up three away National Trophy points in a meeting they were never behind in.

After sharing the first two heats the Fen Tigers asserted in heat three, Josh Bates and Jon Armstrong combining for a 5-1 over Adam McKinna and Tom Woolley giving the Fen Tigers a four point advantage. Sharp gates from Captain Dan Halsey and Stefan Nielsen followed in heats four and five as the visitors extended their lead to six. An unlucky exclusion for Liam Rumsey in heat six saw the Hitmen start to edge back into the contest and by heat ten there were only two points separating the sides! Another swift start from Number 1 Nielsen left Buxton guest Branford trailing in heat eleven and a third place from Aaron Baseby saw the Fen Tigers stretch their lead to four points.

With drawn heats in twelve and thirteen the meeting looked to be swaying back in Buxton’s favour in heat fourteen when Jon Armstrong touched the tapes and was excluded. However, a fine ride from the Mildenhall reserve pairing saw the heat drawn and the Fen Tigers went into heat fifteen with an important four point advantage. Although Nielsen again flew from the gate unfortunately his partner the impressive Bates couldn’t make any impression on the Buxton pairing and the tenth drawn heat of the meeting resulted in a final score of Buxton 43 Mildenhall 47.

Club Chairman Kevin Jolly was pleased overall with the victory – “Although we probably made heavy work of it today, all the lads contributed and I have to be satisfied with the victory. Stefan was very impressive as was Dan (Halsey) and Josh (Bates) who both continued from where they left off last week. There is certainly room for improvement though and we will be working on that with the team over the next few weeks. Jon (Armstrong) was under power today and is looking out for a new engine, and I know he is very grateful for the help he has been getting from people. We will take the positives and move on to the next meeting against Kent ”.

Although taking the victory, the failure to take the fourth away point today has all but handed the National Trophy to the Isle of Wight and the Fen Tigers will now concentrate on the League and Cup after hopefully securing second place in the Trophy with a victory over Kent next Sunday.

Mildenhall Scorers – Stefan Nielsen 13 (5 rides), Aaron Baseby 3+1 (4), Josh Bates 10 (5), Jon Armstrong 4+3 (4), Danny Halsey 9+1 (4), Liam Rumsey 5 (5) and Nathan Stoneman 3+1 (4).

Mildenhall Speedway will be holding a training day on Saturday 22nd June from 10.30 – 15.30. Places remain available, full details are available on the club website or call 07767460907 to book.