Saturday saw the emergence of a new batch of Welsh junior riders from East-newport, Newport, Birmingham and Horspath clubs.  England fielded a very strong junior team that revealed Pete Barnes, the experienced and highly competitive, English team manager was not going to take Wales for granted.
 
Both teams were eager to start and after a thorough check of East-Newports, new race surface, referee Richard Hughes declared the match a go!  His decision was fully justified as an afternoon of close racing was to unfold with no damage to the track.
 
Heat one saw Jack Harrold blocked by Leon Wild and Matt Beharrel.  Jack`s resulting highside failed to throw him and he got straight back into the race.  Ryan Lewis used his home track knowledge to full effect and cleanly undertook Leon to take second.
6-4 to England.
 
Heat two saw a few restarts due to the tapes sagging from the copious amounts of water falling from the skies!  Ben Mould out-gatted Carl Jarvis to take the win.  A clever and defensive race-line by Dan Chambers held of Welsh rider, Ryan Evans.  A 5-5 draw.
 
Heat three.  Restart due to first corner collision followed by an exclusion against Aaron Morgan for moving at the tapes.  Tension were raised when, from the gate, Louis Harvey ran Paul Heard wide.  The attempt to get fellow welsh rider Dan Bock through into second
failed as Dan`s indecision allowed Paul to block the move.
6-3 to Wales.
 
Heat four had Mark Carmichael charge from the gate to take an easy win.  Jack Harrold stopped pedalling in the first bend enabling Matt Beharrel to power around the outside of Jack and fellow English rider Aaron Herbet.  A 5-5 draw.
 
Heat five.  A restart was ordered as the Referee decided none of the riders were racing!  A second restart was the result of Ryan Lewis flying over the handlebars, after a first corner collision.  The third restart was clean but Ryan was lucky not to be excluded, for boring, on the second lap.  The English pairing of Dan Osbourne and Leon Wild won the race.
 
The score, after all 16 riders had raced, was 26 England to 23 Wales.
 
Heat six.  Louis Harvey out-gated Dan Chambers and Carl Jarvis.  After a first corner look to see where his partner was he sped away to victory.  Carl did try an undertake on Louis during the second lap but unfortunately he was carrying too much speed into the corner and fell off.  Dan Bock narrowly missed the fallen rider to claim a much needed third place.  6-4 to Wales.
 
Heat seven.  Welsh rider, Jack Harrold`s day got worse as he slid out on the third lap and failed to remount before the pack lapped him.  7-2 to England.
 
Heat eight had Ben Mould fly from the gate and remain untroubled by the pairing of Matt Beharrel and Leon Wild, who settled for second and third positions.  A 5-5 draw.
 
Heat nine.  Carl Jarvis out-gated Mark Carmichael who was looking to bring Dan Bock through into second.  Dan got stuck on the outside of a wiley Aaron Herbet and had to settle for fourth.  6-4 to England.
 
At the half-way stage England were leading 48-40.
 
Heat ten.  Louis Harvey controlled the race from start to finish.  Dan Chambers tried to close the gap but Louis dug deeper and pulled away.  A 5-5 draw.
 
Heat eleven.  Paul Heard, England Captain, led the race to take a fine win over Ben Mould.  Aaron Morgan was right on their tails with Ryan Evans looking to take advantage of any mishap by the leading three riders.  6-4 to England.
 
Heat twelve.  With a ten point deficit Welsh team manager, Ian Sizer, substituted Ryan Lewis with Mark Carmichael, a move that was justified by an excellent win over Dan Chambers and Carl Jarvis.  A 5-5 draw.
 
Heat thirteen.  Louis Harvey on gate 2 with Matt Beharrel on gate 3.  This was the first time that these riders had met, during the match, and expectations were high on both sides!  Leon Wild reached the corner first with Matt on the outside of Louis.  A front wheel slide forced Louis to stamp and save it during which time Matt took full advantage to keep pedalling.  Louis tried to keep Matt on his outside but the experience of Matt forced Louis to make a costly error resulting in a fall.  Yet again, with such close racing, Dan Bock had to take evasive action!  Louis remounted to claim a vital point.  7-3 to England.
 
Heat fourteen.  England were now holding a 14 point advantage with Wales hoping for a much needed 7-3 win.  This was accomplished in the race of the match!  Welsh rider, Ryan Evans proved his worth with a fantastic gate and heat win following a fair challenge by Paul Heard, on the second lap, who unfortunately fell.  With Mark Carmichael in last position at the end of the first lap it needed something very special by the Welsh captain.  What a ride!  By holding a super-tight line under the fallen English captain Mark was able to also undertake Dan Osbourn on the straight.  He secured this vital second place with a turn of speed, in the fourth lap, that saw him pull clear of any challenge.  7-3 to Wales.
 
Heat fifteen.  A masterful ride, from gate one, saw Aaron Morgan hold a defensive line for all four laps against Welsh rider Ben Mould.  Aaron Herbet and Josh Davis closely followed them home.  Josh`s score doesn`t really portray how hard he fought in all his races.  6-4 to England.
 
England 80,  Wales 68. 
While it was theoretically possible to draw, Wales would need three 7-3 wins against the vastly more experienced English side.
 
Heat sixteen.  A first corner collision resulted in a restart.  Ryan Lewis gated and held first place for one lap.  The second lap saw a fine undertake by Matt Beharrel who forced Ryan wide allowing Dan Chambers to steal first.  7-3 for England and the match was won.
 
Heat 17 & 18.  A 6-4 win for England followed by a 5-5 draw. 
 
Wales 80
Jack Harrold (Newport)3
Ryan Lewis (East-Newport)8
Ben Mould (Birmingham)18
Ryan Evans (Newport)8
Dan Bock (East-Newport)9
Louis Harvey (East-Newport)14
Mark Carmichael captain, (Horspath) 17
Josh Davis (East-Newport) 3
 
England 98
Matt Beharell 16
Leon Wild 14
Carl Jarvis 11
Dan Chambers 14
Paul Heard (capt) 13
Aaron Morgan 14
Aaron Herbet 6
Dan Osbourne 10