Bournemouth had their unbeaten league tag ripped from their flagpole as the Buxton Hitmen hit them for six, well 14 to be precise. Spurred on by their high-scoring reserve Craig Cook the Derbyshire side never allowed the Buccaneers to settle on a track which to those unaccustomed to it can find navigation, especially of the first turn, somewhat tricky.
A broken chain incurred by Jay Herne in the opening heat and a blown motor suffered by Aaron Baseby in the following race and no finisher in heat 4 after Warwick was disqualified and Hart was truly clamped out at the first turn in the re-run, did little to help Bournemouth’s cause but in truth with Cook in near unbeatable form throughout his 7 rides and Jade Mudgeway winning over half of his outings the home side always looked as though they were going to deny Bournemouth the chance to go back to the top of the National Development League having been deposed on Friday by near-neighbours Weymouth.
Cook was simply awesome and he didn’t always do it from the front, as he proved in heat 8 when Jerran Hart - equally as busy providing the fair-sized crowd a separate competition as to which of the two reserves would run out of rides first – taking a tactical ride had a handy advantage over Cook after 2 laps. But that didn’t perturb the Buxton lad and he charged through and went on to win by a fair margin leaving Hart mystified as to how he allowed his opponent by.
Three heats later it was Jay Herne looking to eventually open his account after a terrible start to the meeting that had a significant advantage but left a brief enough invitation for Cook to power through to bank his sixth unbeaten ride of the meeting. Heat 12 provided some anxious moments for Bournemouth fans – and there was a fair sprinkling of them at the venue that has been described as the Track of Four Seasons – not because of the choice of music but because the weather elements can change from one extreme to another during the course of a meeting. Aaron Baseby was out in front pursued by Jade Mudgeway but on the fourth turn Mudgeway rode into Baseby and both riders went down heavily. Thankfully both were able to make their own way back to the pits, Baseby to prepare for the three man re-run, Mudgeway to ponder his disqualification. In the re-start Andrew Aldridge, who was having a bit of a roller-coaster performance jetted away and with Baseby in close attention the Buccaneers whacked in a 5-1. Significantly this ended the run of Buxton heat advantages, Herne claiming a 6-3 when out in heat 13 as a tactical rider, Warwick struggling at the rear and then Hart gaining eventual revenge over Cook and in emphatic style it has to be said, the fastest time of this season testimony to that claim. But hopes of a Bournemouth advantage were dented when Mark Baseby’s miserable afternoon finished with a fall and the meeting closed out with another race win for Herne but Aldridge struggled to Isherwood and Taylor.
Buxton 54
B.Taylor 1,2,2',2,1' =8+2
R/R (CC,DH,JM,GI)
J.Mudgeway 3,3,0,3,X =9
G.Isherwood 1,1,2',3,1,2 =10+2
S.James 3,1,1,1' =6+1
C.Cook 3,3,2',3,3,3,2 =19+1
D.Hodgson 1,0,1 =2
Bournemouth 40
J.Herne R,F,2,6^,3 =11
A.Aldridge 2,2,1',0,3,0 = 8+1
R/R (JHa,JHa,JHa,AA)
M.Baseby 0,0,1,F =1
D.Warwick Fx,3,0,0 =3
A.Baseby R,1,1,2' =4+1
J.Hart 2,2,F,2,4^,0,3 =13
Referee Jim Lawrence
Gates 1+3 Bournemouth win toss; Heat 15 1+3 Bournemouth win toss
1. Cook Aldridge Taylor Herne (rtd) 4 2 4 2 (56.4)
2. Cook Hart Hodgson A.Baseby (rtd) 4 2 8 4 (56.2)
3. Mudgeway Hart Isherwood M.Baseby 4 2 12 6 (56.9)
4. James, Cook, Hart (fell)Warwick (fell disqualified) 5 0 17 6 (59.0)
5. Mudgeway Aldridge Isherwood Herne (fell) 4 2 21 8 (56.7)
6. Warwick Taylor A.Baseby Hodgson 2 4 23 12 (58.2)
7. Cook Hart James M.Baseby 4 2 27 14 (56.4)
8. Cook Hart (TR) Aldridge Mudgeway 3 5 30 19 (56.3)
9. Mudgeway Isherwood A.Baseby Warwick 5 1 35 20 (57.6)
10. Isherwood Taylor M.Baseby Hart 5 1 40 21 (57.3)
11 Cook Herne James Aldridge 4 2 44 23 (56.2)
12 Aldridge, A.Baseby, Hodgson Mudgeway (disqualified) 1 5 45 28 (59.0)
13. Herne (TR) Taylor James Warwick 3 6 48 34 (56.1)
14 Hart Cook Isherwood M.Baseby (fell) 3 3 51 37 (54.7)
15 Herne Isherwood Taylor Aldridge 3 3 54 40 (56.2)