England Under-21 55: Scotland 34:
Second Test
Brough Park, Newcastle
Sunday 18th July 1999
England gained revenge for their drubbing at Shielfield the night before to beat Scotland in the second test and level the series. The surprise was that a Scottish side packed with small track specialists overcame the English (mostly big track riders) on the big Berwick track yet the result was reversed on the much tighter Brough Park track. The real difference was gating, whereas at Berwick the Scots were much sharper out of the gate, at Newcastle they seemed rather sluggish at the start.
Scotland suffered mechanical problems at the start of the meeting, conceding a 5-0 in heat 2 after Stewart McDonald was two minuted and Blair Scott pulled out after appearing to get a puncture. Taking advantage of the inside gates, the Young England riders followed this up with two 5-1 heat advantages to pull out a 15 point lead after four heats and were never challenged after that. Even injuries to David Howe and Lee Dicken made no real impact on the lead.
The weather was dry and warm. The track appeared bumpy although the falls were more to do with reckless riding than track conditions.
The England team were strengthened with the inclusion of Grant MacDonald at number 4. In particular this allowed Paul Lee to drop to reserve where he turned in a match-winning performance. Scotland remained as before with James Grieves still out. The replacement of Grieves by Campbell gave the English a clear advantage of four points on Green Sheet Averages.
England won the toss and opted for position A using gates 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Lee Dicken, Scott Lamb, Danny Bird, David Meldrum [65.5]
Scott Lamb made the start from Lee Dicken and Danny Bird. Lee Dicken chased and passed Lamb on the inside of the home straight.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Paul Lee, Simon Cartwright [64.7]
McDonald had more troubles with his bike before the start and left the track returning on another bike only to find that he had been two minuted. With no replacement possible Blair Scott faced the two Sheffield riders alone. He missed the start but swept past Cartwright on the back straight only to stop early on with what appeared to be a puncture.
(5-0) (9-2)
Heat 3: Simon Stead, Grant MacDonald, Kevin Little, Barry Campbell [65.6]
Stead gated from Little only for MacDonald to force his way past to join Stead.
(5-1) (14-3)
Heat 4: David Howe, Paul Lee, Ross Brady, Blair Scott [65.5]
Howe and Lee made the start. Ross Brady swept past Lee only for Lee to come back.
(5-1) (19-4)
Heat 5: Scott Lamb, Grant MacDonald, David Meldrum [66.2]
Scott Lamb won the first race for Scotland after Simon Stead smashed into the second bend fence.
(2-4) (21-8)
Heat 6: Ross Brady, Lee Dicken, Danny Bird [65.8]
Ross Brady led from the tapes to beat Lee Dicken. Stewart McDonald fell on the second bend and retired.
(3-3) (24-11)
Heat 7: Simon Cartwright, Kevin Little, Barry Campbell [Awarded]
Simon Cartwright made the start from Little with Howe third. Howe tried rather too hard to pass and hit the second bend fence very hard on his last lap. He was taken to hospital with injuries to his lower back. The race was stopped and awarded.
(3-3) (27-14)
Heat 8: Paul Lee, Scott Lamb, David Meldrum, Danny Bird [65.9]
Scott Lamb came in for Blair Scott as a tactical substitute. He was unable to do anything about Paul Lee who stayed on a paid maximum.
(3-3) (30-17)
Heat 9: Simon Stead, Stewart McDonald, Grant MacDonald, Ross Brady [66.8]
This looked like a 4-2 to the Scots with Stewart McDonald doggedly holding off Simon Stead and Ross Brady in third place ahead of Grant MacDonald. Then on the last bend MacDonald swept under Brady while McDonald took the wrong line allowing Stead to burst through.
(4-2) (34-19)
Heat 10: Kevin Little, Lee Dicken, Barry Campbell [Awarded]
Danny Bird gated and was backed up by Lee Dicken. Kevin Little took three laps before he could get inside Lee Dicken. He then started to pressurize Bird who looked rather unsteady. Little appeared to be passing Bird when the Isle of Wight youngster lost it completely on the last bend and collected Lee Dicken. Dicken was taken away in the ambulance and had a suspected broken arm. The race was awarded to Little with Dicken given second place.
(2-4) (36-23)
Heat 11: Scott Lamb, Paul Lee, Simon Cartwright, Ross Brady [66.7]
Paul Lee replaced David Howe as a reserve replacement. Scott Lamb made the start followed by tactical substitute Ross Brady. Lee and Cartwright both picked up drive on the back straight to pass on either side of Brady. Lamb held on to inflict the first defeat on Paul Lee.
(3-3) (39-26)
Heat 12: Paul Lee, Simon Stead, Kevin Little, Stewart McDonald [65.7]
This produced another 5-1 for Lee and Stead from Little with McDonald toiling at the back with a sick motor.
(5-1) (44-27)
Heat 13: Paul Lee, Scott Lamb, Ross Brady, Simon Cartwright [65.3]
Simon Cartwright and Paul Lee replaced the injured duo of Dicken and Howe. Lee maintained his form with yet another win from Lamb and Brady.
(3-3) (47-30)
Heat 14: Grant MacDonald, Simon Cartwright, Barry Campbell, Blair Scott [67.3]
Grant MacDonald made the start from Simon Cartwright. Blair Scott surged past Cartwright on the back straight but later got into trouble and dropped back leaving Campbell to take up the chase.
(5-1) (52-31)
Heat 15: Paul Lee, Kevin Little, Scott Lamb, Grant MacDonald [67.3]
Paul Lee completed a nineteen-point haul with a last heat win ahead of Little. Scott Lamb beat off a challenge from Grant MacDonald.
(3-3) (55-34)
|
England Under-21 |
|
|
|
|||||
|
Lee Dicken |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
|
Danny Bird |
1 |
1* |
0 |
X |
|
|
2+1 |
|
|
Simon Stead |
3 |
F |
3 |
2* |
8+1 |
|||
|
Grant MacDonald |
2* |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
8+1 |
|
|
David Howe |
3 |
F |
|
|
3 |
|||
|
Simon Cartwright |
2* |
3 |
1* |
0 |
2* |
|
8+3 |
|
|
Paul Lee |
3 |
2* |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
19+1 |
|
Scotland |
|
|
|
|||||
|
Scott Lamb |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1* |
|
13+1 |
|
David Meldrum |
0 |
1 |
1* |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
|
Kevin Little |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
|
9 |
|
|
Barry Campbell |
0 |
1* |
1 |
1 |
|
|
3+1 |
|
|
Ross Brady |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1* |
|
5+1 |
|
|
Stewart McDonald |
M |
F |
2 |
0 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
Blair Scott |
R |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
|||
Only Scott Lamb of the Scotland heat leaders looked to be on form. Kevin Little was not gating and his only win came from the back in heat 10. Ross Brady wasn’t gating either and also lost position once or twice.
The remainder of the Scotland team contributed few points starting with the heat 2 fiasco with mechanical troubles contributing.
The key rider for England was Paul Lee who could do no wrong. He received great support from his Sheffield teammates Simon Stead and Simon Cartwright plus Grant MacDonald. Lee Dicken and David Howe both suffered injuries and failed to finish their programmed rides.
Man of the match: Paul Lee
Next meeting: Third Test, Armadale on Friday 17th September 1999
John Lowe