Hammers Defeated at West Row
The Thurrock Hammers suffered a heavy, 63-27 defeat at the hands of The Mildenhall Fen Tigers this afternoon, in a meeting which raised an incredible £3,400 for injured rider Sam Norris.
The Suffolk club delivered a dominant performance throughout, with Home skipper Danny Ayres producing a faultless 15 point maximum, back by guest & former Fen Tiger, Ryan Kinsley (14+1), Jason Edwards (12+2) and Charlie Brooks at reserve (10+2).
For the Hammers, former Arena Essex Raceway star Rob Ledwith scored 12 paid 13, to earn him the Devines Accountants Hammer of the meeting. The remainder of the team unfortunately struggled to match the gating & overtaking of the Fenmen
The opening heat was shared with Ledwith and Jordan Palin packing the minor places behind Ayres, before the home dominance began. The reserves race produced a 5-1 for the home team, which was quickly followed by a second maximum heat advantage, as Richard Andrews attempted to pass Marson forcing the Fen Tiger wide which left Stoneman with no room resulting in the Hammers Captain hitting the deck.
Kinsley led from tapes to flag in heat 4, with former Fen Tiger Danny Halsey in second, whilst Connor King retired at the back.
Ledwith and Palin gated on a 5-1 in heat 5, before the Belle Vue Colts number 1 was caught & passed by both Fen Tigers on the 3rd & 4th bend of lap one, resulting in a shared heat.
Ayres produced another masterclass in the 6th, with Halsey giving chase and Marson in third.
Stoneman again came to grief in heat 7, trying a big blast around the outside of bend 4 on the 1st lap, and with Andrews in third, the Fen Tigers delivered another maximum heat advantage.
Ledwith led from tapes to flag in the following heat, with Connor King picking up third to produce the first Hammers heat advantage of the meeting. The Fen Tigers hit back immediately however with Kinsley and Edwards slamming in another 5-1 in the 9th.
Stoneman gated in the 10th with Ayres chasing him down and passing up the inside bend 3 lap 3 which unsettled the Hammers Skipper, and he again came to grief, leading to his withdrawal from the meeting after numerous falls over the last week.
Heat 11 saw the race of the day, with Ledwith leading from gate 4, and Kinsley chasing him down hard before passing the Hammer on the run to the finish line to take the win.
Edwards and Kelly slammed another 5-1 in the 12th, before. Halsey leading by a distance in the 13th lost control on tbe second bend of the last lap, resulting in a further 5-1 to the Fen Tigers.
Edwards gated for the win in the penultimate race, with Brooks passing King, before Ayres rounded off the day chased down & passed by Halsey to complete his maximum.
In the 6th Heat Junior meeting, William O’Keefe delivered a last heat victory to earn the Thurrock Junior Hammers an 18 point draw with the Mildenhall Tiger Cubs
After the meeting, the Hammers Team Manager Mark Sexton commented:
“Congratulations to the Fen Tigers on a truly dominant performance but even they would probably acknowledge that the Fenmen had the rub of the green today which it is hard to begrudge given the extraordinarily trying circumstances of the last fortnight.
Every Hammer gave it their all but Rob Ledwith was a deserved recipient of the DeVines Rider of the Night following a superb exhibition – truly rolling back the years!
The real winner, however, was the speedway community who, once again, showed how they will always rally round a stricken rider and we were honoured to play our part in today’s meeting that raised thousands of pounds for Sam Norris.”
Our thanks again to The Mildenhall Fen Tigers, our Associate Sponsors SP2A Speedway, Devines Accountants and Environmental Consultancy Ltd, the Hammers & Speedway fans who purchased our Rider Support Packages, and our 11 riders today, who did the Hammers proud.
Finally thanks to @lakesidelive for their fantastic heat updates.
#WeAreThurrocksHammers
Heat Results
Heat 01: Ayres, Ledwith, Palin, Marson 3-3 51.6
Heat 02: Brooks, Kelly, King, Davies 5-1 (8-4) 52.7
Heat 03: Edwards, Marson, Andrews, Stoneman – Fell, Remounted 5-1 (13-5) 52.5.
Heat 04: Kinsley, Halsey, Kelly, King – Retired 4-2 (17-7) 50.8
Heat 05: Ledwith, Brooks, Edwards, Palin 3-3 (20-10) 51.1
Heat 06: Ayres, Halsey, Marson, Davies 4-2 (24-12) 51.4
Heat 07: Kinsley, Brooks, Andrews, Stoneman – Fell 5-1 (29-13) 51.8
Heat 08: Ledwith, Marson, King, Kelly 2-4 (31-17) 53.2
Heat 09: Kinsley, Edwards, Ledwith, Halsey 5-1 (36-18) 52.3
Heat 10: Ayres, Marson, Stoneman – Fell, Remounted, Andrews – Fell 5-1 (41-19)
Heat 11: Kinsley, Ledwith, Brooks, Palin 4-2 (45-21) 52.3
Heat 12: Edwards, Kelly, Andrews, Davies 5-1 (50-22) 53.5
Heat 13: Awarded: Ayres, Kinsley, Palin, Halsey – Fell 5-1 (55-23)
Heat 14: Edwards, Brooks, King, Davies – Retired 5-1 (60-24) 53.8
Heat 15: Ayres, Halsey, Ledwith, Kinsley 3-3 (63-27) 54.6
With Courtesy of @Speedwayupdates.
Mildenhall Fen Tigers = 63
1. Danny Ayres – 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 15 MAXIMUM
2. Matt Marson – 0, 2′, 1, 2, 2′ = 7+2
3. R/R for Henry Atkins – (MM – 2′, CB – 2, RK – 3, JE – 3 = 10)
4. Jason Edwards – 3, 1′, 2′, 3, 3 = 12+2
5. Ryan Kinsley (Guest) – 3, 3, 3, 3, 2′, F = 14+1
6. Charlie Brooks – 3, 2, 2′, 1, 2′ = 10+2
7. Elliot Kelly – 2′, 1, 0, 2′ = 5+2
Thurrock Hammers = 27
1. Jordan Palin – 1′, 0, 0, 1 = 2+1
2. Rob Ledwith – 2, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1′ = 12+1
3. Richard Andrews – 1, 1, F, 1 = 3
4. Nathan Stoneman – 0, 0, 1, (SD – 0) = 1 (Withdrawn)
5. Danny Halsey – 2, 2, 0, 0, 2 = 6
6. Sheldon Davies – 0, 0, (RL – 1), 0, 0 = 0
7. Connor King – 1, R, 1, 1 = 3