ROBERT Pearce fully justified his late selection for England, winning three of his five races in the European Junior Nations Championship at Sandwell, Birmingham last Saturday, scoring 14 points.

The 17-year-old, already the most successful rider in Bury's 28-year history, added European gold to his collection as England won a tie-breaker with Poland, after both had tied on 80 points each over the 21-heat match.

East Anglian Darren Slater, double winner of Bury's Ken Graham trophies two weeks ago, was chosen by team manager Roger Ellis of Wednesfield, to face Krzysztov Kowalski, Poland's top scorer, and from the inside grid didn't make any mistakes to secure the championship, to the delight of the large crowd. The other finalists, Wales, were never in it.

Final score: England 80, Poland 80, Wales 46.

Following the juniors' lead, the seniors also triumphed over Poland by just two points. England 68, Poland 66, Wales 42, Scotland 38, Ireland 33.

The championships embraced three tracks over three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and a very intensive series of qualifiers was somewhat marred by atrocious weather on Friday and Saturday, but it all came out right on Sunday for the individual finals, with bright sunshine at Sandwell.

Bury's Scott Jarman was eliminated in the Junior with 12 points, while Ben Scranage made the final only as reserve after 14 points in the qualifying round, and ten in the semi-final. Robert Pearce was the only Bury rider in the final, having been selected as England's seed by the authorities.

Unfortunately, Robert was never in it, suffering two disastrous last places in his first two rides. Two second places boosted his total to nine points but it was a bit disappointment.

In the Senior Competition, Bury's Fred Rothwell and Neil Howarth progressed to the semi-finals with 15 and 13 points respectively. Paul Dyson was eliminated, despite scoring 14 points but losing a run-off for the last qualifying place in his group. In the semi's Fred scored nine, Neil seven, but that was the end of their championship.

Both Senior and Junior finals were dominated by Polish and English riders, and a major talking point was the controversial team tactics employed by the Poles -- not allowed in individual events. The referees tried hard to keep control and both made brave but correct decisions, excluding offenders, in a very difficult situation.

The results were surprising as Poland took both titles, eclipsing the top English riders.

Junior: Rafal Dulinski 19; Adam Peck (Gt Blakenham) 18; Marcin Skowronek 16.

Senior: Karol Szymanski 19; Marcin Puk 17; Dave Hemsley (Poole) 16.