Wednesfield Aces took a step closer to defending there Midland League title with a convincing win against there closest rivals Birmingham Monarchs. The match did not get off to the best start for the Aces as they was on the end of a 7-3 but hit straight back in heat 2 with a 7-3 of there own from the Paul Heard Tom Haddock pairing. The next 3 races were all 5-5 shared heats but then the Aces moved into the lead when Mark Griffiths and Brandon Whetton teamed up and won heat 6 with a 7-3 of there own. Next race resulted in a 5-5 but then the Aces extended there lead with 6-4 in heat 8 ( Paul Heard & Lee Kemp ) and a 7-3 in heat 9 ( Lee Aris & Brandon Whetton ). Half time score 50-40 to the Aces.
After the interval the Aces continued where they left off with a 7-3 through the Griffiths, Kemp pairing but in the next heat they hit a slight blip when Birmingham registered a 7-2 when Heard had a couple of spokes ripped out of his back wheel and had to bring his race to an end and Tom Haddock could only roll over the line in 3rd place behind the Monarchs pairing. Wednesfield got back to winning ways and started to stretch their lead with two 7-3s in the next 2 heats with the pairings of Matt Smith & Matt Haddock in heat 12 and Whetton & Griffiths in heat 13. Lee Aris took his 2nd win of the afternoon as he teamed up with Tom Haddock for a 6-4 in heat 14 the next race was a share of the points with a 5-5 but the Aces finished the match strongly with a 7-3 in heat 16 with Matt Haddock taking the chequered flag followed by his partner B. Whetton who only dropped one point all afternoon and finished on 19 points. Heat 17 went the same way as M. Smith and partner L. Kemp finished 1st & 2nd and the Aces wrapped up the match with a 6-4 as P. Heard took his 3rd win of the afternoon and his partner M. Griffiths securing 3rd place.
Final score
Wednesfield Aces 104
Birmingham Monarchs 75
Aces 104
Matt Smith 9+1
Matt Haddock 15+1
Paul Heard 15+1
Tom Haddock 8
Brandon Whetton 17+2
Mark Griffiths 15+2
Lee Aris 13+2
Lee Kemp 12+2
Birmingham 75
Nathan Groves 11
Ricki Johnson 14+1
Paul Timms 10
Steve Hodgkinson 6
Scott Millward 13
Mark Winwood 11+2
Phil Widdas 6+1
Jake Steel 3
After the interval the Aces continued where they left off with a 7-3 through the Griffiths, Kemp pairing but in the next heat they hit a slight blip when Birmingham registered a 7-2 when Heard had a couple of spokes ripped out of his back wheel and had to bring his race to an end and Tom Haddock could only roll over the line in 3rd place behind the Monarchs pairing. Wednesfield got back to winning ways and started to stretch their lead with two 7-3s in the next 2 heats with the pairings of Matt Smith & Matt Haddock in heat 12 and Whetton & Griffiths in heat 13. Lee Aris took his 2nd win of the afternoon as he teamed up with Tom Haddock for a 6-4 in heat 14 the next race was a share of the points with a 5-5 but the Aces finished the match strongly with a 7-3 in heat 16 with Matt Haddock taking the chequered flag followed by his partner B. Whetton who only dropped one point all afternoon and finished on 19 points. Heat 17 went the same way as M. Smith and partner L. Kemp finished 1st & 2nd and the Aces wrapped up the match with a 6-4 as P. Heard took his 3rd win of the afternoon and his partner M. Griffiths securing 3rd place.
Final score
Wednesfield Aces 104
Birmingham Monarchs 75
Aces 104
Matt Smith 9+1
Matt Haddock 15+1
Paul Heard 15+1
Tom Haddock 8
Brandon Whetton 17+2
Mark Griffiths 15+2
Lee Aris 13+2
Lee Kemp 12+2
Birmingham 75
Nathan Groves 11
Ricki Johnson 14+1
Paul Timms 10
Steve Hodgkinson 6
Scott Millward 13
Mark Winwood 11+2
Phil Widdas 6+1
Jake Steel 3
