Arena Essex suffered two defeats in the opening matches of their three-match northern tour at the weekend.

On Friday, they were trailing 40-32 after 12 heats when thick fog caused the match to be abandoned with the score allowed to stand.

Hammers star - Joonas Kylmakorpi

Despite a track inspection after heat seven when conditions were deteriorating by the race, the referee ordered racing to continue until the fog thickened to force the abandonment.

Racing had been virtually impossible all evening with gating of paramount importance, although Joonas Kylmakorpi made light of the problems with three heat wins and two second places from his five rides.

On Saturday, with improved weather, the Hammers were beaten 53-37 at Berwick with a number of mechanical faults hindering the visitors, none more so than Kelvin Tatum who suffered electrical problems in each of his last two rides.

The star of the night for Arena was again Kylmakorpi who raced to five wins in his 17-point tally.

The Hammers were trailing 16-8 before they recorded their first heat advantage of the night when collecting a 4-2 in heat five through Tatum and Henning Bager.

But the Bandits countered immediately when they were awarded a 5-1 after Lanham fell whilst leading.

He was taken off the track by ambulance but recovered quickly to take his remaining rides despite suffering bad bruising to his spine.

Tatum was introduced as a tactical substitute in heat eight with his side trailing by ten points but was unable to make an impression as the home side collected a maximum.

Published Monday, June 2, 2003

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