James Cockle missed out on Qualification for the U21 final tonight in a closely contested qualifier at Loomer Road this evening.

The field had already been identified as the strongest of the three qualifiers but was made even stronger when Stoke asset Jack Hargreaves was added to the line up yesterday. Glasgow asset Gary Beaton will now ride in one of the other qualifiers.

James started well comfortably winning his first two heats although admittedly against some of the poorer riders in the field. His third race saw him finish second to Newcastle's Jamie Robertson in a race that was decided from the gate.

In his fourth race, he came up against eventual winner on the night James Brundle, Aussie Joel Parsons and Newport's Sam Hurst. in the first running, Hurst came off and was excluded. The re-run saw James come in third which made his chances of qualification difficult although not completely impossible. However, his final race saw him come up against James Brundle - who eventually claimed second spot - Stoke asset Jack Hargreaves and meeting reserve Sam Dore. needing a win to stay in contention, James trailed in third to finish with a creditable 10 points but short of the points needed to qualify.

With King winning and Brundle second, there was a run off for third between Parsons, Hargreaves and Robertson which the young Australian won to claim the final qualifying spot.

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