9:02am Tuesday 22nd December 2009
By Ky Capel
CHRISTMAS has come early for the Weymouth Wildcats – in the form of new signings Tom Brown and Byron Bekker.
Bekker, 22, will fill the number one slot at the Radipole Lane outfit while fans’ favourite Brown returns to the Cats after a four-year absence.
The duo will now line up alongside Terry Day and James Cockle next year and team manager Jem Dicken has revealed he is closing in on a fifth capture for Weymouth’s 2010 title challenge.
Speaking of his latest acquisitions, Dicken said: “I’m sure that every Wildcat supporter will be thrilled that we have agreed terms with Tom Brown.
“Tom was a member of the successful 2005 Knockout Cup winning side and spent most of last season riding in the Premier League for the Somerset Rebels. He has always been popular with the Weymouth faithful even when representing arch rivals Plymouth.
“Byron bagged an eight-plus average for Scunthorpe last year as well as gaining valuable Premier League experience with Edinburgh.”
Club chairman Phil Bartlett – currently seeking a new main sponsor – added: “Tom is still an asset of Stoke while Byron is still an asset of Scunthorpe so I’d like to say thank you to Dave Tattum of Stoke and Rob Godfrey of Scunthorpe for their help in bringing the two riders here. I’ve been a long time fan of Byron and see this signing as a real statement of intent with next season in mind.”
Dicken, hoping to secure a fifth rider in the near future, said: “Talks are at an advanced stage with a fifth rider for the 2010 season and hopefully a deal will be tied up before the end of the year.
“The two reserve places though are still up for grabs and could potentially go to riders impressing at out winter training schools.
“Ideally I would have liked to build the side from the reserves up, that’s okay in the higher echelons of the sport but in the third tier you have to blood the youngsters at some time and there is no finer time than now as we are close to having what I feel is a strong top-five.”
The arrival of Bekker and Brown looks to have ended any chance of seeing former skipper Jon Armstrong at the Wildcats in 2010.
Meanwhile, Weymouth Speedway have announced that the first of their winter training schools will be held on Boxing Day (12-4pm).
This is a delayed start to these sessions as repairs at the track have only just been completed following storm damage a few weeks ago.
Anyone wishing to ride at the training school should contact Dicken on 07775645655.
The second training school will be run on Saturday, January 2.
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