South East Div.1: East London (63+30) 93 Ipswich Eagles 115.
Ash Hill, Matt Hill, Charlie Rumbold, Fraser Harris, Dan Knights, Richard Fellgett, Alex Harvey

Referee: Dave Hill (Ipswich)

The Eagles gave away 30 points for fielding 5 restricted riders, but recovered this and went in at half time with a one point lead. This was a good-natured match with friendly banter, the only incident being Fraser Harris’ mother of all twitches at the tapes.  Alex Harvey made his division one debut from reserve, committing himself to the Eagles (as opposed to Whirlwind) Div.1 squad for 2014.

South East Combination: East London (72+12) 84 Ipswich Eagles (55+63) 118.
Fraser Harris, Troy Brumpton, Lisa Marie Bown, Alex Harvey, Phil Clarke, Chloe Pearce, Gemma Hill

Referee: Dave Hill (Ipswich)

East London’s penalty points gave them the slimmest possible chance, requiring 7-3s in all 13 heats to win or 12 7-3s and a 6-4 to draw. Troy Brumpton put paid to that in the first heat, shielded to four points by Fraser Harris. Ipswich fielded a very young team, their average age being around 13.5 without veteran Phil Clarke (and nearly 18 with). Star of the day was Alex Harvey, recovering from 2 mechanicals and a crash to take 2 convincing heat wins.