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Last Updated: Nov 28th, 2010 - 10:22:29 |
On Sunday, the rain stopped in time for the Buxton Hitmen to complete two victories over the Weymouth Wildcats as the teams contested both National League and National Trophy fixtures on the same day.
The Hitmen were only short of the services of Nick Morris and Jason Garrity passed himself fit to ride after his crash the week before while the Wildcats lost the services of Number One Byron Bekker after a crash on Friday and drafted Luke Priest in as a guest for Bekker. They also arrived without ex-Hitman Karl Mason but still had a top five to trouble the home team.
The Hitmen made the best possible start as Cook flew from the gate and Garrity rounded Danny Halsey on the second turn to join his team-mate at the front. That 5-1 was repeated in Heat 2 as Garrity and Dallaway had a comfortable win over the Wildcats reserves to put Buxton 10-2 ahead. Weymouth registered their first points over the home riders as James Cockle won the following race but Rob Branford was all over him until the young Buxton racer had to take avoiding action as Cockle locked up in front of him and lost ground.
Cockle was back out again in Heat 4 and made it two wins out of two before the home side took control of the meeting. Jon Bethell led the next race from the start but Branford was squeezed out on a very tight third turn but he battled back to pass Priest and then forced his way under Danny Halsey for second. Cockle led Heat 6 but, under pressure from Cook, ran wide on the fourth turn and slipped from first to third as both Hitmen went through for a second successive maximum 5-1 as Buxton now had a commanding 26-10 lead. Two more maximum returns in the next two races blew the opposition away as the gap opened to 24 points.
Cockle won his third race of the afternoon in Heat 9 but it was only a brief respite as Cook and Branford took advantage of a spin by Halsey to take a 5-1 in the next. Heat advantages to Buxton in the next two races was followed by a shared heat before the Weymouth pair in Heat 14 gated and were on a 5-1 until Branford had other ideas. First he picked off Gary Cottham and then caught and passed Tom Brown to lead with partner Lewis Dallaway also taking Cottham for third. In the final race, Cook completed his personal maximum as, along with Branford, they picked off a 5-1 to give Buxton all three league points with the final score being 65-25 to the Hitmen.
Scorers
Buxton – C Cook 15, N Morris r/r, J Bethell 7+2, R Branford 13+3, A Allott 8+1, L Dallaway 8+2, J Garrity 14+3.
Weymouth – L Priest 3+1, D Halsey 2, T Brown 3, K Mason r/r, J Cockle 11, R Andrews 3, G Cottham 3.
After a break for track grading, the teams came face-to-face for the Trophy points and after their poor performance in the league match, more was expected from the Wildcats but they started in the same fashion as Cook and Garrity opened up with another 5-1. Dallaway assisted Weymouth by sliding off when in second behind his partner in Heat 2. Halsey led the following race but fell on the third turn and was excluded. In the re-run, Branford clamped Brown down on the run to the first turn and this allowed Bethell to pass the Wildcats racer.
Cottham won Heat 4 for Weymouth as a scrap between Garrity and Cockle allowed him to get away. After swapping places several times, the young Buxton racer managed to edge ahead of Cockle and the 4-2 saw the Wildcats close the gap as the Hitmen led 15-9. Branford won a shared Heat 5 and Cook took Heat 6 with Cockle benefitting for Dallaway running wide to take second as the Wildcats put on a better show. Three shared races points-wise saw the visitors still in touch as Buxton led 31-23 after nine races.
Cook, looking imperious, won Heat 10 with Branford stalking Cockle and passing him on turn two of the final lap to edge the home side 36-24 ahead. Priest came for a double-points tactical ride in the next race and nipped under Dallaway off the last turn of the opening lap to lead. Behind them Halsey held third until Allott cut back under him on the last turn to take third place as they crossed the finish line. The 6-3 to the Wildcats was followed by a 3-2 to the visitors as Brown and Bethell were excluded for falls with Buxton leading 41-33 with three races left.
Cook won Heat 13 with Priest holding off Allott for four laps and that 4-2 was followed by another as Branford won from Brown with Dallaway passing Cottham for third. All that was left was for Cook and Branford to complete the Trophy meeting unbeaten and they did so in Heat 15 with Branford letting Cook pass him on the final lap to complete his full maximum while Branford picked up a paid maximum as the Hitmen took the points with a 54-38 win.
Scorers
Buxton – C Cook 15, N Morris r/r, J Bethell 2+1, R Branford 16+2, A Allott 8+1, L Dallaway 4, J Garrity 9+1.
Weymouth – L Priest 9+1, D Halsey 5, T Brown 5, K Mason r/r, J Cockle 5+1, R Andrews 6+1, G Cottham 8+2.
Buxton, currently top of the National Trophy table, look to keep their challenge on course when the face the Newport Hornets in the competition on Sunday. The meeting starts at 3pm and it will be a close meeting between two evenly matched teams.
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