FOLLOWING the great championship win by Fred Rothwell in the 'Vets,' the British under-19 and the championship weekend which both promised so much were something of a disappointment, particularly for rising star Ben Scranage.

The under 19s at Coventry saw Ben progress through to the final sixteen but his hopes were dashed with a start exclusion in his second ride.

Although on grid three it looked to be his easiest ride but the four 'lost' points cost him dearly. Thirteen points left him in sixth place whilst those extra points would have put him in a run-off for runner-up.

Poole's Aaron Lowey took the title with an impeccable 20 points maximum and East Anglians, Lewis Osborne and Daniel Pike, both only 17, took second and third after the tie breaker.

Ben has drawn at Swindon and Southampton in the qualifiers for the Open Championship and on his first visit to both tracks he competed admirably but an aggregate 28 points left him just two points short of the cut. Thirteen points on Saturday including a fall and 15 on Sunday meant no repeat final performance for last years 'shock' finalist.

Bank holiday's final at Horspath, Oxford, saw Lee Aris of Wednesfield, the most unlucky rider in last years world final at Bury, score a very popular victory ahead of Shaun Woodhouse of Southampton and world champion Dave Hemsley of Leicester after a 17 point tie breaker. The only northerner rider to make the final, mancunian Terry Norman, who shares his riding between parent club Stoke and secondary club Tameside was in contention but finished with 13 points in joint sixth place.

A touch national league fixture at Coventry saw a depleted Bury side battle well but both second team 68-40, and first team 91-84 were lost. Michael Parrish and Chris Dyson shared top scores for the seconds with 12 points each whilst Paul Dyson 18, Fred Rothwell and Neil Howarth, 16 were best for the seniors.

A moderately successful and enjoyable but very wet 'summer fun' campaign came to a close last Thursday evening with a first dry evening when a large turnout enjoyed racing and training.

Bury are away at Scotia, Edinburgh this Sunday with the final round of the British Youth and Junior League at Astley and Tyldesley the previous day Saturday starting at 12 noon.

Next Thursday there will be no training at Goshen as Bury are away at Astley and Tyldesley in a Northern League first team match starting at 7.30pm.