Final League matches of the 2022 season!
HETHERSETT HAWKS / YELLOW BRICK MORTGAGES brought the curtain down on their 2022 League campaign with three entertaining matches against Kesgrave on a pleasant autumn afternoon at the Memorial Playing Field. The Division 2 match against Kesgrave B was a title decider with the Hawks needing to win by more than five points to be champions. Ben Collins was drafted in for his second match of the season and he teamed up with Harley Hamill to share the points in heat one and Glyn Morgan rode superbly in heat three to keep the scores level. The strong youngsters of the visitors were proving to be very sharp from the starts and only three good wins from Mason Martin kept the Hawks in touch, six down at the interval.
A couple of exclusions for the visitors opened the door towards the end and the Hawks needed a 7-3 win in the final heat to achieve a draw. Mason and Harley threw everything in on the first corner but Kesgrave stood firm and became worthy champions with results elsewhere meaning the Hawks finished third.
HETHERSETT 75 KESGRAVE B 83
(Mason Martin 21 Harley Hamill 17+1 Paul Delaiche 11 Dave Martin 9 Glyn Morgan 8+2 Ben Collins 7+1 Aiesha Musa 2)
The Hawks’ youth team faced the two Kesgrave sides who were both clear at the top of the table and the prowess of the visitors in both quality and depth is second to none as they recently won the British Youth & Junior League again. The Hawks have shown much improvement this season but Kesgrave have set the bar high so the home riders know they have to work hard in the coming years. Highlights against the Panthers were a great pass by Luca El-Labany in heat 3 and Aiesha Musa finally beating her nemesis Connor Jarrett – a rivalry that goes back to Connor’s days at Norwich.
Against the Pumas Lola Martin finally got reward for her efforts with a win in heat 9 and in the nominated riders’ race Austin Brailey battled to a fine second place, this after Amelia Dodson was unlucky to slip while leading.
HETHERSETT U16 46 KESGRAVE PANTHERS U16 84
(Aiesha Musa 11 Luca El-Labany 11 Lola Martin 9 Austin Brailey 5 Will Clarke 4 Amelia Dodson 3 Oscar Copeland 3)
HETHERSETT U16 52 KESGRAVE PANTHERS U16 78
(Lola Martin 10+1 Aiesha Musa 9+1 Luca El-Labany 9+1 Austin Brailey 7 Will Clarke 6+2 Amelia Dodson 6 Oscar Copeland 5)
The previous day 10 Hawks travelled to Great Blakenham for round 7 of the South-East Grand Prix and all performed well. In the Under-8s Nyla El-Laabany finished third in the A Final with Alfie Gunn fourth in the B Final. Luca El-Labany was again an Under-10 winner but best performance came from Austin Brailey who snatched third place on the line. Ronnie Harding and Oscar Copeland dominated the B Final while Arlo Davies came from the back to finish third in the C Final. To round the day off Aiesha Musa and Amelia Dodson finished second and third in the Girls category with Paul Delaiche winning the Senior B Final.
Norfolk Grand Prix action at Hethersett the previous Wednesday was rather surreal with only 11 Hethersett riders present but some good racing ensued before the finals were staged with Charlene Johnson and Anna Clarke making debuts in the Female 12+ category. Results –
Senior – 1 Mason Martin 2 Harley Hamill 3 Paul Delaiche 4 Dave Martin
Female 12+ – 1 Aiesha Musa 2 Amelia Dodson 3 Charlene Johnson 4 Anna Clarke
Under-16 – 1 Will Clarke 2 Lola Martin 3 Jamal Musa
This Saturday the Hawks stage their internal Club Championships over nine categories starting at 1 p.m.