2018

National Trophy only to keep the Heathens on track

 Season Review

Limited dates from Monmore Green, so Cradley could not race in the National League in 2018.  However to keep the Heathens name alive the management decided to race the five team Northern section of the National Trophy.
The difficult circumstances with riders not being tied to just the Heathens club for just 10 matches would always cause difficulties.
Cradley were allowed to cherry pick riders from other clubs.
The Heathens kept Conor Dwyer who was happy to just do the Trophy matches.
New number one was fans favourite Adam Roynon who was very happy to be captain and double up with the Heathens and Plymouth. Adam was always very popular with the Cradley fans and with the very young riders that Cradley were able to use he was an inspiration to them with help and advice to nurture these lads.
 Another  popular rider with the Heathens fans was Bradley Andrews Who had signed for Plymouth in the National League but was happy to help Cradley again in the National Trophy.

Then the young Guns, the impressive Drew Kemp and Jordan Jenkins from Mildenhall, Kyle Bickley from Belle Vue and Workington, Jason Edwards from Eastbourne.

L to R Jason Edwards, Kyle Bickley, Jordan Jenkins, Drew Kemp. Bradley Andrews
Will Pottinger (team manager), Adam Roynon (capt) Conor Dwyer
This team was beginning to set tongues wagging throughout the sport but on the plus side was that most of the other clubs with teams in the 'Trophy' were rubbing their hands knowing that Cradley would always bring a load of supporters with them and help the turnstiles to keep moving.
Cradley opened their season on 7th May against Stoke and quickly showed their potential winning 59-29 with Jordan Jenkins and Drew Kemp getting paid maximums and Jason Edwards getting 11 and 3 bonus from reserve, then just two days later Jordan crashed at Birmingham and damaged his back, so the first match was the last time the full side was seen together!
Conor Dwyer began to struggle with lack of confidence and he was pulled out after just two more matches.
Chris Widman replaced Conor and Alfie Bowtell was drafted in to replace Jordan.  Alfie was excellent and soon became a favourite with the Cradley fans.
Adam Roynon crashed on the Isle of Wight in June and his season was over. The Heathens were then using guests for the rest of the season.
However Cradley managed to battle through to the National Trophy Final but so did Mildenhall and with Drew Kemp reverting back to his main club and also using ex Cradley hero Max Clegg in place of the injured Danny Ayres the battle was over.

 
 

Riders Performance Chart

'The Heathens' 19--


Rider
Matches
Rides
Points
Bonus
Total
Aver
Drew Kemp

5

26

68

 3 71 10.92
Adam Roynon
5
 21 49 5 54 10.29
Kyle Bickley 8 36 71 7 78 8.67
Jason Edwards 10 50 87 19 106 8.48
Alfie Bowtell
8
 42 77 10 87 8.29
Chris Widman 4 16 18 6 24 6.00
Jordan Jenkins 1 5 14 1 15 12.00
Taylor Hampshire 1 5 8 2 10 8.00
Richard Andrews 3 16 20 4 24 6.00
Ellis Perks 2 7 9 0 9 5.14
Bradley Andrews 2 5 5 1 6 4.80
Conor Dwyer 3 12 3
0
 3 1.00
GUESTS
Danny Ayres 1 5 10 1 11 8.80
Tom Brennon 1 5 6 0 6 4.80
James Chattin 4 16 3 0 3 0.75
Joe Lawlor 1 4 6 2 8 8.00
Ben Morley 1 6 14 0 14 9.33
Jack Smith 1 4 5 1 6 6.00
Nathan Stoneman 1 6 14 2 16 10.67
Northern Section
Team M W D L 4W 3W D 1L L F A P
Cradley 8 3 0 1 3 0 1 0 0 407 276 23
Birmingham 8 3 1 0  2 1 0 0 1 418 301 21
Coventry 6 1 0 2 2 0 0 0 1 279 259 11
Stoke 7 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 259 337 7
Buxton 7 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 3 219 409 0

 

Golden Hammer

Tom Bacon 15, Danny Ayres 14, Max Clegg 12,
  Tom Perry 12, Drew Kemp 11, Ben Morley 10 Tom Brennan 9, Jason Edwards 6,Luke Harris 6, Kyle Bickley 6,
Alfie Bowtell 5, Danny Phillips 5,
Connor Coles 4, Rob Shuttleworth 3, David Wallinger 2,
Luke Ruddick 0
 

  



Heathens Rider of the Year
Drew Kemp
 

 

  

Local lad James Chattin
 
Southern  Section
Team M W D L 4W 3W D 1L L F A P
Mildenhall 8 4 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 450 267 23
Eastbourne 8 4 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 397 321 20
Kent 8 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 346 368 14
Plymouth 8 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 2 329 388 10
Isle of Wight 8 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 270 448 0


Mildenhall beat Cradley 100 - 80 in the Final

  

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