Hammers v The Eagles – Meeting Preview
The Thurrock AsMatt Ltd Hammers finally take on the Eastbourne ‘Watling Tyres’ Eagles at Iwade Speedway this Sunday the 13th October (gates 10am, tapes up midday) following the postponed fixture back in September.
The highly anticipated Nora League format clash sees the Hammers make one change to their original line up, with Jason Edwards coming in to replace Connor King, maintaining the distinctive ‘Essex’ related feel to the team.
The Eagles have strengthened considerably from the original team announced, with seven times British Champion Scott Nicholls coming into the team at number one, to join Nathan Ablitt, Edward Kennett, Paul Starke, Henning Loof.
Hammers Team Manager Mark Sexton commented
“When the Lakeside Hammers raced their final fixture at the Arena Essex Raceway in September 2018, the team included 3 young, local riders who were just beginning their careers.
Our fixture against the Eastbourne Eagles on Sunday will see Ben Morley, Alfie Bowtell and Jason Edwards proudly don the Crossed Hammers once again and it must be a measure of the progress that all three have made since 2018, that has encouraged the Eagles to name a side with heat leaders that wouldn’t be out of place in this year’s SGB Championship let alone a friendly challenge fixture run under Nora rules!
Despite the strength of the opposition, our lineup is exactly the sort of one we wanted to track as it reflects the depth of speedway talent in Essex and reinforces the importance of having a track in the county to nurture that talent further.
We will now obviously go into the fixture as significant underdogs but it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog!
It will be a pleasure to see Scott Nicholls and ex- Hammer Eddie Kennett in the Eastbourne team and fair play to them for agreeing to ride. Their presence alone should ensure a big crowd and I’m looking forward to seeing Rhys, Jacob and Jack test themselves against the very best and confident that they will spring a surprise or two!
Our campaign to return the Hammers will continue apace and we still look forward to the day when we can host our very own meeting back in Essex!”
Teams:
Thurrock AsMatt Ltd Hammers
- Alfie Bowtell 2. Jack Kingston 3. Ben Morley 4. Rhys Naylor 5. Jason Edwards 6. Jacob Clouting
Eastbourne Watling Tyres Eagles
- Scott Nicholls 2. Nathan Ablitt 3. Edward Kennett 4. tbc 5. Paul Starke. 6. Henning Loof
Meeting info:
Iwade Speedway (Raspberry Lane, ME9 8SP)
Gates open at 10am, with the first race scheduled for midday.
Admission fees (cash or card at the gate)
Adults: £13
Concessions (60 years +): £10
Children Under 16: free (with a paying adult)
Programmes: £2.50
The main meeting will be followed by a second half, including youth races.
Image credit: TGS Photo
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