The Isle of Wight Warriors regained the Vince Mapley Memorial Trophy with a hard-fought victory over a dogged Cradley Heathens at Smallbrook Stadium last night (Tuesday).
Despite the heat and a bit of dust, there was plenty to keep the enthusiastic crowd happy with some exciting and close races.
It was the home side who took control after a shared opening heat, slamming in two 5-1s for a 13-5 lead, the pick of these being Tayla Street’s pass of both Heathens on turn 2, to team up with Warriors’ Captain for the win, fending off the challenges in style.
After going 10 points clear, the visitors hit back with two 1-5s of their own to make it 22-20.
On a hot night, riders were struggling at the starts and several tapes and time exclusions saw some riders put back 15m.
Heat 9 was restarted 3 times, with tapes, 2 minutes and a fall for Charlie Southwick before being concluded, with Heathens’ Charlie Wood suffering machine problems and Harry Sadler penalised for delaying the start.
Ryan Ingram and the impressive Mickie Simpson hit a 5-1 in heat 11, to give the home side a 36-29 cushion, before two 4-2 with the Australian lady, Street, involved in both, much to the delight of the home crowd.
The last 2 heats were shared 3-a-piece with Aaran Butcher for the home side producing the pass of the night with a brilliant outside swoop to snatch the win and visitors’ number 1 and ex-Warriors rider Darryl Ritchings taking his 5th win out of 6 to round off the match.
Warriors team manager Henning Loof said:
“That was a good meeting, and it was nice to start off with a win. I really enjoyed it and the team rode exceptionally well, particularly Aaran who really came good tonight”.
ISLE OF WIGHT WARRIORS 50 – CRADLEY HEATHENS 39
Isle of Wight: Ryan Ingram 11+1, Mickie Simpson 9+3, Arran Butcher 11, Charlie Southwick 8+1, Danno Verge 5+1, Tayla Street 6+1.
Cradley: Darryl Ritchings 17, Nathan Hargrave 4+1, Harry Sadler 8+2, Alex Spooner 9+1, Charlie Wood 1, Seth Norman R/R.
In the British JAP championship, there was a new winner with Dan Owen, taking the crown after a frantic last race when he held off 2nd placed Dean Felton for a tight finish.
Next Tuesday the Warriors stage a very special meeting in honour of former club team manager Steve Piper, who said passed away just over a year ago. The 3 teams Isle of Wight, Weymouth and Cradley were all very close to Steve’s heart.
With Ben Morley leading the Warriors, it promises some more top racing. 19:00 start.
