Hawks sting Newport Hornets with their biggest win of the season
National League: Hackney Hawks 59 Newport Hornets 35
The Hawks powered to their biggest National League win of the season against an outmatched Hornets side, with all seven of their riders securing at least one race win.
Barrie Evans managed much more than that, going through the card with a full 15-point maximum, and was nearly matched by David Mason, who was beaten only by Jay Herne in a hard-fought heat five.
Elsewhere, Ben Morley enjoyed a strong night marred only by a mechanically troubled heat eight, while Marc Owen bounced back to form with a win in heat three and a later last-bend storm past Tom Young for second place in heat 14.
The biggest plus, however, was probably at reserve, where Ben Hopwood looked white hot in scorching to paid 13 and Brandon Freemantle delivered a highly encouraging paid 7 that included paid and full wins in heats two and 14 respectively, and would have been even higher but for a last-lap fall when holding third place in heat seven.
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Poor Shane Hazelden had to endure a string of misfortune, being excluded for touching the tapes in heat one and later suffering two falls when on for 5-1s in heats six and 13. He still managed a race win alongside Ben Morley in his other outing of heat 10.
The Hornets, in contrast, were effectively a two-man side.
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The Premier League experienced Jay Herne looked stylish, and received solid support from Matt Bates, but the Welsh side certainly missed Todd Kurtz, who was on doubling-up duty with the senior Wasps.
The rest of the side managed just 10 points between them.
Hackney scorers: Shane Hazelden 3 (4 rides) Ben Morley 7+1 (4) David Mason 11+3 (5) Marc Owen 6+1 (4) Barrie Evans 15 (5 maximum) Brandon Freemantle 6+1 (4) Ben Hopwood 11+2 (5)
