After some excellent wins this season in the Northern League, it was a below strength Astley & Tyldesley side that took to the track at Heckmondwike on Sunday.

And A & T paid the price by being beaten by a Heckmondwike side, that recorded their first win of the season. A & T kept the scores close in the first half, trailing by two points at the interval, but the home side took three maximum heat wins in the second half, to give a final score of Heckmondwike 81 Astley & Tyldesley 68. Tomasz Wlodarczyk lost once and  Remi Burchardt won three races before incurring a gate exclusion, but only Ben Dickenson provided strong support.

Heckmondwike had former British Champion Colin Wheeler making his debut for them and he was beaten only twice, with solid scores from the rest of their team. James Carter and Wlodarczyk managed to spoil each other's maximum chances.
 
Heckmondwike 81 Astley & Tyldesley 68
Heckmondwike: James Carter 17 (2), Colin Wheeler 16 (2), Dave Murphy 15 (1), Darren Kent 14, Andy Bradshaw 12 (3), Richard Westcott 7 (1).
A & T: Tomasz Wlodarczyk 19, Remi Burchardt 14 (1), Ben Dickenson 14, Andy Knowles 8 (2), Roy Heslop 7 (1), Laura Watson 6.