Poole's Harbourside Park saw a feast of cycle speedway last Saturday(7th) with the Women's Club Championships and the Open Club Championship. With Horspath, Ipswich and Sheffield losing out in the semis it was down to four of the giants of the sport,2009 winners Birmingham,runners up Wednesfield,hosts Poole and Leicester to battle it out for the title. Leicester flew off the grid in heats one and two securing four points from each with wins from Dan Pike and Craig Marchant and it looked like the Leicester men were going to compliment the Leicester womens team who had taken the womens title earlier in the day but after loosing out by one point in the 2009 competition Wednesfield's Lee Aris took a storming win in heat three showing he had ideas the title was heading back to Ashmore Park.With team mate Mark Griffiths taking the win in heat four and Birmingham having Nathan Groves excluded for crossing the inside line to gain a place,Wednesfield and Leicester were drawing equal after four rides each.Hosts Poole were having a torrid start to preceding only picking up five points.Gavin Wheeler got Poole back to winning ways in heat five with a strong ride but the battle for second place was where the action was,with Paul Heard slipping on the first lap it took a superb pass from Scott Doherty over Leicester's Jason Ashford to take three points but it was pedal to pedal action between the two right to the line giving the pair the biggest cheer of the day.Young Tom Reed gave Poole their second heat win of the day in heat six holding off Chris Jewkes with a ride well beyond his years.Birmingham's Ben Mould took the win in heat eight just holding Dan Pike into second spot,with consistent riding from both Wednesfield and Poole the interval saw two points separate the top two teams with Birmingham holding onto third place four points adrift and Poole bringing up the rear with fourteen points. A tactical substitution in heat nine gave Birmingham their third heat win in a row with Marcus Wadhams storming away from the grid and again another great scrap for second place this time between Scott Doherty and Craig Marchant but with Doherty slipping on lap three Leicesters Marchant took the three points.A nasty looking fall in heat eleven saw Poole's Tom Colling left lying on the first bend with an injured knee but after receiving medical attention the rider remounted for the re run to take a fine win on the line just holding off Leicester's Jason Ashford into second.A crucial win in heat thirteen by Scott Doherty from Leicester's Adam Peck put the Wednesfield side one point ahead of Leicester and with an exclusion for Birmingham's Nathan Groves for putting Tom Colling on the floor it left the chase for the title between Wednesfield and Leicester.Lee Aris wrapped the day up in heat fifteen taking the win from Tom Reed and ensuring the title was heading up to Ashmore park for the first time.  

Wednesfield 44
Scott Doherty 12, Lee Aris 12, Chris Jewkes 11, Mark Griffiths 8, Roger Cox 1

Leicester 40
Craig Marchant 13, Adam Peck 10, Jason Ashford 9, Dan Pike 8, Kevin Burns dnr

Birmingham 38
Ben Mould 11, Chris Timms 7, Paul Heard 7, Marcus Wadhams 7, Nathan Groves 6

Poole 34
Gavin Wheeler 12, Tom Reed 10, Tom Collins 8, Pete Young 2, Aaron Morgan 2

PICTURES ON www.amwphotography.co.uk