The home side were always in control of this match but the final score doesn't do justice to a Wednesfield team who battled all the way. Exclusions in the first two heats cost them dearly but the Aces fought back and a 7-3 to Aris/Wadhams in heat 12 brought them to within six points. Leicester then steadied the ship and took control, a last heat 7-2 to Nowacki/Pike over Winwood and the excluded Pearce extending their lead to 13 points.

Leicester 94 (L Nowacki 19, D Pike 16+2, M Newey 16+1)

Wednesfield 81 (M Wadhams 15, L Aris 14+1)

In the combination match, Leicester retained the league title with a comprehensive victory over their nearest challengers. 7-3's from Hunt/Sensicall and Crouch/Jarvis in the first two heats seemed to take the wind out of the Aces, only veteran Mick Aris able to mount a serious challenge.

It's certain that a team containing riders like Haddock, Smith, Warren, Bentley and Peace will be something to contend with next season, whilst Leicester need to find a higher standard of racing for a team that today consisted of Hunt, Sensicall, Crouch, Jarvis, Mark Whitehead, Doughty and reserves Watts and Lucy Whitehead - a line up that would win many regional first team matches.
Combination

Leicester 80 ( M Whitehead 16, P Hunt 15+1, D Crouch 15+1)

Wednesfield 50 (M Aris 13, S Bentley 10)

@ Bury > Mon 28th August

Crouch wins Under-16 Honours

The Under-16 Championship was decided by a three rider run-off after Declan Crouch, Ashley Birks and Josh Brooks all tied on 19 points, each dropping just one point to one of the others.

Crouch drew the inside grid, held the first bend, and gradually pulled away as his challengers concentrated on the battle for silver, which eventually went to Birks.  It was the Leicester rider's second national title, after winning the Under-13s in 2004, and with a year in hand, he will still be eligible to defend his new title at Ipswich in 2007. 

The match had started in torrential rain, which returned periodically throughout the day, and huge credit must go to the host club Bury for keeping the racing surface in good order and ensuring that proceedings ran smoothly and without delay.

Under-16 Final Result

1st Declan Crouch (Leicester) 19, 2nd Ashley Birks (Sheffield) 19, 3rd Josh Brooke (Ipswich) 19

Lee Richardson (Ipswich) 16, Chris Timms (Birmingham) 14, Daniel Baker (Birmingham) 13, Thomas Haddock (Wednesfield) 13, Lee Smith (Sandwell) 13, Jazz Abbott (Hethersett) 13, Ashley Doughty (Leicester) 12, Paul Heard (Sandwell) 11, Joe Sargeant (Sheffield) 11, Chris Dyson (Bury) 8, Jake Hogan (Leicester) 7, Ryan Hoyland (Sheffield) 7, Jamie Brown (Sheffield) 3

Referee: Brian Eaton (Greater Manchester)

With 4 riders unbeaten Leicester took apart a poor Birmingham team who were minus Mark Winwood. Chris Timms deserved more for the visitors,  coming to grief on 3 occasions when battling for the major points. It was good to see Craig Marchant back to form after a lean time, and to welcome back Kev Burns after a spell out of the saddle through injury.

Leicester 120 (Craig Marchant 18+2, Norman Venson 16+4)

Birmingham 60 (Marcus Wadhams, Paul Timms, Andy James 10)

In the combination Chris Timms prevented any Leicester rider getting a maximum and had reasonable back up from Baker and Widdas. The home side could afford to replace heat leaders Watts and Jarvis after 3 rides with reserves though and still be comfortable winners.

Combination

Leicester 65 ( Ashley Doughty 13+1, Gavin Watts 11, Carl Jarvis 10+1)

Birmingham 54 ( Chris Timms 15+1, Phil Widdas 11, Daniel Baker 11)

Poole v Leicester > 13 August 2006, Premier League

Poole gained revenge for their defeat at Slater Street in May with a great all-round team display as the two sides in second and third place in the Premier League table staged a top class racing spectacle for the holiday crowd to enjoy. There was no catching the high flying Lucasz Nowacki who underlined his liking for the Baiter Park circuit with a scintilating 20 point maximum thanks to his jet propelled starting technique. Chris Roberts and Mark Everingham gave the Sea View boys an early confidence boost with a great 7-3 in heat 2 over ex British Champion, Phil Howells and Norman Venson while Daniel Pudney featured in two 6 - 4 wins in heats 4 and 7 to give Poole a 49-40 interval advantage - a lead enhanced by a heat 8 exclusion for Mark Newey who sent Roberts sprawling on the first bend of heat 8.

After the break, Poole extended their lead with a Clanfield/Haywood 6-4 and when Pudney followed  up with Brad Hoppo for a 6 - 4 in heat  12 they looked to be coasting with a 66 - 53 advantage. Two heats later the margin was down to just 6 points as Leicester struck back with two heat wins including their only 7-3 of the day in the 13th race from Mark Newey and the immaculate Nowacki at the expense of Pete Young who suffered untimely wheelspin - his only below par ride in an otherwise excellent performance. Declan Crouch underlined his potential with a fine win in heat 14 ahead of Mark Everingham whose team partner Ben Donohue suffered a painful looking encounter with his cross bar after a bike failure at the start of the race!

The league points were still in the balance with 2 heats to go but a truely outstanding team ride from Pudney in the penultimate heat 17 allowed partner Mark Everingham to head home a matchwinning 7-3 as the margin between the teams stretched to ten points. Nowacki duly completed his maximum in the final race before both teams completed a lap of honour to the applause of an appreciative crowd. This was a good all round team match for Poole with Chris Roberts back to his very best form and a vintage display from Rob Haywood at reserve scoring 6+2 having been drafted in at short notice to replace the injured Adam Peck. Leicester were well served by Nowacki and the East Anglian duo of Howells and Dan Pike but hampered by a vehicle breakdown en route and were missing Nicky Whitehead and several first team bikes but they seemed to lack the firepower of the homeside who were good value for the two points.

Poole 94 - Dan Pudney 17+2, Chris Roberts 16+1, Pete Young 16, Mark Everingham 14+1, Brad Hoppo 11, Rich Clanfield 8+2, Rob Haywood 6+2, Ben Donohue 6+1.

Leicester 84 - Lucasz Nowacki 20, Daniel Pike 14+1, Phil Howells 14, Norman Venson 10+1, Mark Newey 9+2, Craig Marchant 8, Declan Crouch 6, Mark Whitehead 3

Combination League: Poole v Leicester

The expected close match in the Division 2 encounter failed to materialise as 4 Leicester riders failed to arrive due to the van breakdown and the top of the table East Midlanders lost only their second match of the season by a 16 point margin.

Poole 72: Richard Chappell 16, Jack Spear 12, Luke Armes 10+1, Matt Chappell 10+1, Jess Lamb 9+2, Kev Lowman 9+1, Alex McLeod 4, Phil Norwood 2.

Leicester 56: Carl Jarvis 14, Ashley Doughty 10+1, Ben Holloway 9, Robbie Venson 9, Michelle Whitehead 5+1, Lee Holloway 4+1, Amey Crouch 4. 

Leicester v Bury @ Slater St, Leic > Sun 26 March 2006

Leicester 96 (L Nowacki 17+1, M Whitehaed 13+4)

Bury 81 (T Norman 19+1, D Zareba 18+1)

New boys Bury pushed the Monarchs hard all the way with British Champion Terry Norman going through the card unbeaten. Had Ben Scranage not had "one of those days" the score could well have been closer, especially with Leicester suffering a number of falls and exclusions, Dan Pike in particular taking a nasty tumble.

Combination

Leicester 70 (P Hunt 14+2, C Jarvis 12, A Doughty 12)

Bury 57 (M Parish 13, T Doyle 12)

A tough match for both sides in increasingly wet and tricky conditions. There was some excellent racing from both sides, star man being Paul Hunt who featured in all three of Leicester's maximums, first with Dec Crouch in heat 4 and twice with Carl Jarvis in heats 7 and 8.