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Edinburgh vs West Ham 23/07/1938

Edinburgh 25 23 July 1938
West Ham 29 Challenge
Edinburgh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T B
1. Wally Little 3 2 3 8
2. Alan Butler 0 0 1 1
3. Jack Gordon 0 3 1 4
4. Jack Gorst 2 0 3 5
5. Bruce Venier 0 3 0 3
6. Kid Curtis 2 0 2 4
7. Bill Little dnr
8. Dick Dennie dnr
.
West Ham
1. Cyril Browning 2 2 2 6
2. Butch Williams 1' 1' 0 2 2
3. Charlie Spinks 3 3 1 7
4. Aussie Powell 1 1 3 5
5. Dick Geary 3 2 2 7
6. Mutt Jones 1 1' 0 2 1
7. Bill Nisbet dnr
8. Leo Lungo dnr
Heat 1 Little, Browning, Williams, Butler 1min 28 3 3 3 3
Heat 2 Spinks, Gorst, Powell, Gordon 1min 23.6 2 4 5 7
Heat 3 Geary, Curtis, Jones, Venier 1min 24.6 2 4 7 11
Heat 4 Spinks, Little, Powell, Butler 1min 24.4 2 4 9 15
Heat 5 Gordon, Geary, Jones, Gorst 1min 24 3 3 12 18
Heat 6 Venier, Browning, Williams, Curtis 1min 26 3 3 15 21
Heat 7 Little, Geary, Butler, Jones 1min 26 4 2 19 23
Heat 8 Gorst, Browning, Gordon, Williams 1min 26.6 4 2 23 25
Heat 9 Powell, Curtis, Spinks, Venier 1min 26 2 4 25 29

Reserves Race
Bill Nisbet, Dick Dennie, Leo Lungo, Bill Little 1min 27.4

Captains Match Race
Charlie Spinks Bt Jack Gordon (Fell) 1min 23.2

Scottish Silver Torch
Heat 1 Charlie Spinks, Kid Curtis, Alan Butler, Dick Dennie 1min 24
Heat 2 Aussie Powell, Jack Gordon, Mutt Jones, Bill Little 1min 26
Heat 3 Bruce Venier, Leo Lungo, Butch Williams, Cyril Browning 1min 27
Heat 4 Wally Little, Jack Gorst, Dick Geary, Bill Nisbet 1min 27.2
Final Charlie Spinks, Wally Little, Aussie Powell, Bruce Venier 1min 25.4
The visiting team again took the honours at the Marine Gardens on 23 July when West Ham Hawks beat Edinburgh by 29 points to 25.

Edinburgh made a great attempt to draw ahead and in the eighth heat were only two points behind but were eventually beaten by the superb riding of Aussie Powell and Charlie Spinks in the final heat. Both teams were without their regular captains who were absent through injuries, but had able deputies in Alan Butler, who captained Edinburgh and Charlie Spinks who captained West Ham.

Edinburgh started well when Rolly Liddle, who was riding in place of Tommy Price, romped home an easy winner. Unfortunately Alan Butler came off just after the start. West Ham then took matters in hand and started to collect points steadily until the seventh heat when Liddle again took first place points, Butler gaining third place this time. The position at this stage was Edinburgh 19 West Ham 23.

The home side continued to gain till the final heat when Aussie Powell and Charlie Spinks decided the match in West Ham’s favour. In the captain’s match race Jack Gordon deputised for Alan Butler, whose machine was under repair. Spinks and Gordon rode a closely contested race until the third lap when Gordon over slid, leaving Spinks to finish alone in 1 min 23 and three fifth secs, the best time of the day.

Some keen riding was seen in the heats of the Scottish Silver Torch event, but Sprinks again proved too good for his opponents. In heat three the local rider, Leo Lungo gave Bruce Venier a splendid race and was just beaten for first place. In the final Spinks was quickly away and held his lead against Liddle while Powell and Venier finished third and fourth respectively.