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Heathens move to Monmore 'Wood' |
With the crowds for Dudley exceeding everyone's expectation, it
was decided that Monmore Green seemed to be the most popular with fans so it was
decided that the track sharing would carry on, dropping the other half of
matches at Perry Barr, Birmingham. |
L to
R Ashley Morris, Richard Franklin, Luke Chessell, Tom Perry, Adam
Roynon, Darryl Ritchings,
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Another rider who has a
reputation for being prone to injury was Jon Armstrong, with painful knee
injuries in 2008 and 2009 then a broken arm in 2010. He didn't escape 2011 either, another crash against Buxton left him with injuries to his throat when the handlebars of his bike struck him and he also ended up hurting his back in the same crash. Will was hoping that having Adam at number one would ease the pressure on the 37 year old Armstrong but it didn't work out for him. Kyle Newman came in for Adam in the middle of May until Adam returned in early August, then Newman came back again to replace Armstrong in September. However Kyle himself had a bad crash on the Isle of Wight with Nick Simmons which put him out for a few weeks before he finished his season in early October riding for his Premier League club Newcastle. A crash against Newport saw him rushed to hospital with blood gushing from a ruptured artery in his leg. Heathens jinx? We had a lot to thank Kyle for he was an instant hit with the fans and topping the Dudley averages proved he was a capable replacement for both stricken Heathens. On a more positive note some
of the Heathens prospered, it was good to see the progress made by Ashley
Morris, he had his fair share of spills being battered and bruised at Belle
Vue in July and concussion in a crash against Mildenhall in August. He took
it all in his stride and as a 17 year old youngster he showed he has a good
future in the sport. The support for the Heathens was second to none, during
one disastrous night on the 23rd August the Heathens took a battering from
Stoke at home 27-64! The fans at some tracks would have been walking out at
the interval but the Dudley fans stuck by the team which was so amazing that
the riders came out after the match to applaud the supporters for sticking
by them! It was a night to forget when we lost both reserves Danny Stoneman
and Richard Franklin in heat two so had to ride the match with just five
riders.
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Riders Performance Chart 'The Heathens' 2011
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statistics taken from the Cradley Speedway database for NL matches only.
National
League
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National Shield National League Fours |
KO
Cup |
NL Pairs Group B was won by Stoke 23, Mildenhall
21, Dudley 20, Buxton 13, Isle of Wight 13 National League Riders Championship |
The 2011 Golden Hammer was won by Kyle Hughes with Adam Allott 2nd and Todd Kurtz in third place. Tom Perry was the highest placed Heathen with 10 points. Dudley hosted an under 21 v USA Tourists International Challenge match in October with GB beating the tourists 46-44 |