Robert Branford takes British Under-21 crown

Robert Branford lifted the British Under 21 title on a night of memorable racing hosted by Dudley Heathens at Monmore Green on Tuesday.

In front of a bumper crowd, Britain's most talented young riders put on a tremendous display of close action which eventually saw new Coventry signing Branford leave victorious.

Jason Garrity and Kyle Howarth had looked set to contest a two-horse race after they topped the score-charts - Garrity edging ahead of Howarth courtesy of his victory when the duo met in heat 17.

Yet Branford - an asset of Premier League Redcar Berars - shot out of gate two in the final before holding off Howarth to take the chequered flag.

The impressive Garrity eventually took third place courtesy of a last lap overtake on Heathens skipper Ashley Morris who bounced back from a heavy crash in his opening ride to come within a whisker of the top three.

Branford said: "Things are finally starting to look up for me, I've been waiting a long time for it and tonight was awesome, I couldn't ask for any better.

"I did what I had to do, I gated well to get to the semis and then made another two good gates and didn't do anything silly, and it all paid off in the end."

QUALIFYING SCORES: Jason Garrity 15, Kyle Howarth 14, Ashley Morris 13, Robert Branford 12, Tom Perry 11, James Sarjeant 9, Darryl Ritchings 8, Danny Stoneman 7, Joe Jacobs 7, Dan Greenwood 6, Ben Morley 4, Stefan Nielsen 4, Shane Hazelden 3, Max Clegg 3, Josh Bates 3, Matt Williamson 1