Simon Stead who was outstanding at Armadale last Friday, won the British Under-21 Final at Wolverhampton. He scored a 15-point maximum to beat his old pal from the Peterborough youth team, David Howe, by three points. Howe, who won the title last year at Armadale, was excluded in the key encounter with Stead but won his other four heats. Paul Lee and Oliver Allen who were also part of the Peterborough Thundercats Conference team in 1996 and 1997, also finished on 12 points.

Ross Brady, the other member of the Peterborough 'class of 1997' just failed to qualify for the Continental Rounds of the World Under-21 Championship. He finished seventh on 8 points one point shy. Chris Harris on 10 points and Lee Smethills on 9 took the final qualification slots.

Blair Scott came joint eighth on 7 points aongside Andrew Appleton and Rob Grant. Next was Aidan Collins who recovered from his injury suffered on Saturday with 5 points.

Full scores are given below:

Simon Stead	Sheffield	3	3	3	3	3	15
David Howe	Peterborough	3	X	3	3	3	12
Paul Lee	Coventry	2	3	3	2	2	12
Oliver Allen	Swindon	2	3	2	2	3	12
Chris Harris	Trelawny	3	2	2	3	F	10
Lee Smethills	Workington	1	2	1	2	3	9
Ross Brady	Edinburgh	2	1	2	1	2	8
Rob Grant	Newcastle	0	2	3	2	0	7
Andrew Appleton	Oxford	2	3	0	1	1	7
Blair Scott	Edinburgh	3	1	1	0	1	7
Aiden Collins	Glasgow	1	1	1	1	1	5
Mark Steel	Swindon	F	0	X	3	1	4
Glenn Phillips	Isle of Wight	1	1	2	0	0	4
Mark Norris	Reading	0	2	1	1	F	4
Nick Simmons	Newport	1	0	0	0	2	3
Adam Allott	Sheffield	X	0	0	0	1	1

The win will ensure Simon Stead a place in the British Championship semi-final at Newport next Sunday. It also vindicates those wo argued that he could be an even better prospect than David Howe who has been tipped by many as a future World Champion.