Scotland 58: England Under-21 32
First Test
Shielfield Park, Berwick
Saturday 17th July 1999
Scotland overcame two early setbacks to crush a disappointing England Under-21 side at Berwick. First, James Grieves was forced to withdraw after aggravating his injured ribs against Newport on Friday. This was accommodated by switching Ross Brady from number four to a key heat leader rôle at number 5 and Barry Campbell coming in at number 4. Secondly, reserve Stewart McDonald blew his engine to bits coming out for his first ride and had to use borrowed equipment throughout.
While the Scots had a more experienced side due to the presence of Scott Lamb and Kevin Little, it is also true that the Scottish teenagers Blair Scott and Ross Brady looked as good as, if not better than, anyone in the England side. The big winning margin was surprising since the teams looked well balanced on paper especially after the withdrawal of Grieves. The Young England side was hampered by an injury to Simon Stead in his first ride.
Unusually for Berwick, it was warm, dry with a hint of sunshine. The track looked very bumpy in places but produced above average racing for Shielfield Park.
England didn’t field quite their strongest team with World Under-21 finalists Lee Richardson and Scott Nicholls absent. Grant MacDonald was also missing but down to appear in the Newcastle Test on Sunday. The Peterborough ‘Mafia’ were well represented in the England side with David Howe, Simon Stead, Paul Lee and Oliver Allen all selected (not to mention Ross Brady for the Scots).
The Scotland team picked itself, with the seven fit Scots in senior speedway constituting the lineup. Wesley Waite, currently recovering from a long-term injury was on standby. No other riders were available due to the injuries to David McAllan and James Grieves. The Linlithgow connection was apparent in the Scottish squad with Blair Scott, Barry Campbell, Stewart McDonald, and Ross Brady all starting out there.
England won the toss and opted for position B using gates 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Scott Lamb, David Howe, David Meldrum [Awarded]
Scott Lamb from gate 2 beat David Howe from gate 1 to the first bend and won without difficulty. Danny Bird edged out David Meldrum to the first bend and held third for three laps until he fell on the fourth bend causing Meldrum to lay down. The race was stopped and awarded.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Oliver Allen, Stewart McDonald, Blair Scott, Simon Cartwright [68.0]
With McDonald’s bike blowing up before the start, Kevin Little wheeled his bike out. Oliver Allen caught the Scots napping with a superb start to win ahead of McDonald and Scott.
(3-3) (7-5)
Heat 3: Kevin Little, Paul Lee, Barry Campbell [Awarded]
Kevin Little made the gate with Simon Stead all over him and Paul Lee in close attendance. Stead had several attempts to pass and eventually lunged at Little on the second bend. Kevin held his line and Simon clipped his rear wheel and crashed spectacularly. The race was stopped and awarded. Stead was transported away in the ambulance but amazingly was soon up.
(4-2) (11-7)
Heat 4: Lee Dicken, Ross Brady, Blair Scott, Simon Cartwright [68.2]
Ross Brady made the gate with Dicken and Scott battling out for second place. Then on the exit from the second bend Dicken suddenly picked up some drive and surged into the lead to win.
(3-3) (14-10)
Heat 5: David Howe, Kevin Little, Barry Campbell [66.6]
David Howe made a start and held off Kevin Little. Danny Bird looking very wild held third place ahead of Campbell but stopped on the third bend to gift Campbell a point.
(3-3) (17-13)
Heat 6: Scott Lamb, David Meldrum, Lee Dicken, Oliver Allen [67.3]
Scott Lamb and David Meldrum made the start. Lee Dicken briefly got past Meldrum but was repassed as the Scots made the breakthrough.
(5-1) (22-14)
Heat 7: Ross Brady, Paul Lee, Lee Dicken [67.2]
England brought in Lee Dicken in place of the shaken Simon Stead. Ross Brady gated to win without problems from Lee and Dicken. Stewart McDonald riding Ross Brady’s spare bike fell while last.
(3-3) (25-17)
Heat 8: Blair Scott, David Howe, David Meldrum [68.0]
Unfazed by the introduction of David Howe as a tactical substitute for Cartwright, the Scot s made the gate with Scott leading and Meldrum resisting Howe at every turn. Danny Bird suffered a failure on the line.
On the last lap Meldrum made a slip on the second bend allowing Howe to surge through. Blair Scott held on for another memorable win.(4-2) (28-20)
Heat 9: Kevin Little, Barry Campbell, Lee Dicken, Oliver Allen [68.4]
This heat was rerun after Little fell at the first bend and the start was judged ‘unsatisfactory’. Little made no mistake in the second attempt and was backed up by Campbell ahead of Dicken and Allen. Campbell resisted a charge by Dicken coming out the second bend causing Dicken to drop back and balk Allen and the heat was effectively over.
(5-1) (34-20)
Heat 10: Scott Lamb, David Meldrum, Simon Stead, Paul Lee [68.3]
Paul Lee suffered problems at the start and had to go on Simon Cartwright’s bike but Simon Stead was back. It turned out another 5-1 for the impressive Berwick pairing over the less than impressive Sheffield partnership.
(5-1) (39-21)
Heat 11: Ross Brady, David Howe, Danny Bird, Stewart McDonald [66.7]
Ross Brady had another impressive win over former teammate David Howe in a fast time. Danny Bird finally finished a race taking third ahead of McDonald struggling on a borrowed bike.
(3-3) (42-24)
Heat 12: Blair Scott, Kevin Little, Oliver Allen, Simon Stead [68.1]
Blair Scott made a stunning start sweeping around from gate 4. Kevin Little backed him up for yet another 5-1 ahead of Allen and Stead.
(5-1) (47-25)
Heat 13: Scott Lamb, David Howe, Ross Brady, Oliver Allen [67.7]
This heat had to be rerun after Oliver Allen, a reserve replacement for Dicken, hit the first bend fence. All four were invited back. Scott Lamb won after a great battle with David Howe. Ross Brady missed the start but passed Allen without difficulty to take third place.
(4-2) (51-27)
Heat 14: Paul Lee, Stewart McDonald, Barry Campbell, Simon Cartwright [68.4]
Stewart McDonald back on Kevin Little’s bike made the start ahead of Lee and Campbell. Lee chased and passed McDonald for a good win.
(3-3) (54-30)
Heat 15: Scott Lamb, David Howe, Kevin Little, Paul Lee [67.5]
Scott Lamb completed his full maximum with another win over Howe with Little third.
(4-2) (58-32)
|
Scotland |
|
|
|
||||
|
Scott Lamb |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
15 |
|
|
David Meldrum |
1 |
2* |
1 |
2* |
|
|
6+2 |
|
Kevin Little |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2* |
1 |
|
11+1 |
|
Barry Campbell |
1 |
1* |
2* |
1* |
|
|
5+3 |
|
Ross Brady |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
9 |
|
|
Stewart McDonald |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
4 |
|
Blair Scott |
1* |
1* |
3 |
3 |
|
|
8+2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
England Under-21 |
|
|
|
||||
|
David Howe |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
13 |
|
Danny Bird |
X |
R |
R |
1* |
|
|
1+1 |
|
Simon Stead |
X |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Paul Lee |
2 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
|
7 |
|
Lee Dicken |
3 |
1 |
1* |
1 |
|
|
6+1 |
|
Oliver Allen |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
O |
|
4 |
|
Simon Cartwright |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
Scott Lamb proved himself to be the ultimate Shielfield expert with a full maximum. Kevin Little also demonstrated his expertise beaten only by David Howe. Stand-in heat leader Ross Brady in his first international, little over two years since he first raced a speedway bike was very impressive once more.
David Meldrum and Barry Campbell were both paid for eight points after good solid performances. Stewart McDonald had two good second places on Kevin Little machinery but came last in two races on Ross Brady’s number 2 bike. These were the only occasions that a Scots rider failed to score over the 15 heats. The star of the show was Blair Scott who was awarded the Berwick Salmon Queen Trophy (I am not making this up!) by local MP Allan Beith as the rider who ‘made most difference’ to the outcome.
David Howe was the best of the outclassed England side although he only won one heat. Simon Stead was certainly affected by his nasty fall in heat 3. Lee Dicken started well but faded. Paul Lee was the only one of the England lower orders to get going although Allen had a good win in the reserves race.
Overall, England only won 4 heats, one each for Howe, Lee, Dicken and Allen and failed to score in 13 heats.
Man of the match: Blair Scott
Most exciting rider: Ross Brady
Next meeting: Second Test, Brough Park on Sunday 18th July 1999
John Lowe