Horspath Hammers won the British Open Championship at Astley & Tydlesley in a superb final which saw all four teams separated by just five points.

Starting off grid one in the first four races, Hammers rattled up 15 points and from then on it was a matter of defending their lead.

By heat 14, Wednesfield had drawn level, but Mark Boaler, who dropped just one point during the day, blasted through to win the penultimate heat with Aces in third.

It left skipper Steve Harris needing to finish within a place of the Wednesfield rider in the final heat - and the wily campaigner achieved that comfortably.

Scores: Horspath 42 (M Boaler 15, S Harris 10, L Osborne 9, D Harper 5, S Rudman 3), Wednesfield 41, Stockport 38, Leicester 37.

Horspath paid the price for a poor start as they slipped to a second British Premier League defeat with a 91-88 loss at Leicester, Hammers hadn't raced as a team for eight weeks - and it showed.

New boy Rafal Dulinski, a world finalist, was one of the few to make an early impression.

However, he faded towards the end off the outside gates as Hammers chased the match.

Dulinski and Danny Harper posted a 7-2 win in heat 11, and a fine ride from Matty Szymczak ensured a 6-4 success in heat 16 to get Hammers back into the match.

Horspath trailed by a point going into the last heat, but the unbeaten Lukasz Nowacki, a former Hammer, flew out of gate one to clinch victory for Leicester.

Horspath Hammers scorers: M Skowronek 15, M Szymczak 14+1, S Harris 14, R Dulinski 11+2, D Augustinski 11, L Osborne 9+3, D Harper 9, S Rudman 5.