The Falcons made the long trip to Greater Manchester on Sunday (31st Aug) for a double header of away fixtures in the Northern League.

First up at 12 noon the Falcons faced Bury CSC at the Goshen Sports centre.  Bury, who have struggled of late with the number of riders available, were able to track a strong team which included Edinburgh based Mikey Hewitson.

The Falcons fell behind by 6 points after Heat 4 but redeemed themselves almost immediately taking the lead by two points after Heat 7.  An advantage of 11 points was built up after Heat 15 which Bury pulled back to one point going into the last Heat.

With a share of the points being required to run out victors the Falcons pairing of Newsome and Smith fell behind to the Bury pair of Howarth and Dyson after the first bend only for Smith to power up the inside down the back straight and take the lead.  With Newsome putting Howarth under all kinds of pressure at the back the victory by one point was assured.

On to Astley & Tyldesley at 4pm.  With three Polish internationalists in the Astley Team this fixture was always going to be tough.  However, the home side were never ahead by more than six points and were only one ahead going into the last heat (the Falcons 2nd last heat decider of the day).  However, with a 1st and 2nd place required for victory things were over by the apex of the first bend as Darek Kurkowski raced off into the distance for the home side leaving the Falcons pairing of Newsome and Smith to pick up the minor places.

Bury 88 Edinburgh 89
Bury: Ben Scranage 17, Tom Doyle 10, Neil Howarth 15, Leo Grindlay 15, Mikey Hewitson 11, Chris Dyson 11, Scott Jarman 6, Kelly Burke 3.

Edinburgh: Jake Slight 11, Alan Smith 17, lee Lawrence 12, Neil McPherson 14, Craig Newsome 16, Gav Kennedy 10, Tommy Lee 5, Dave Baxter 4.

Astley & Tyldesley 90 Edinburgh 87
A & T: Remi Burchardt 20, Dariusz Pilas 20, Darek Kurkowski 16, Joe Allen 11, Mick Knowles 8 (1), Luke Jamson 7, Ben Dickenson 6, Ben Keen 2.

Edinburgh: Alan Smith 14 (3), Gavin Kennedy 13 (2), Jake Slight 13 (1), Craig Newsome 13 (1), Lee Lawrence 12, Tommy Lee 10 (2), Neil McPherson 9 (2), Dave Baxter 3.

Next home fixture at Redbraes:
7th September 2008 - Round 2 of the Edinburgh Fours, 1pm start