The final full team place was handed to former Aussie World Cup man Travis McGowan, while the remaining double-up berths have gone to highly popular former Ace Ulrich Ostergaard and fellow Dane, Claus Vissing.

It capped a week of mixed fortunes for Clayton which had earlier seen Howes’ 13-year-old brother Jack defeated by majority verdict against Tom Murphy of Furness ABC.

Shields, 35 next month, is one of four Australians in the new-look Autogate Aces line-up along with latest signing Travis McGowan and rising young star Josh Grajczonek.

He had given notice that next season would be his last by announcing a farewell meeting next August.

The Rebels have traditionally finished the season strongly, with last term’s late-season rally taking even themselves by surprise.

Mellor did the business with a hard-earned 4-3 win at lowly Hooley Bridge Celtic to move within five points of Hey with a game in hand.

And the Middleton Guardian is delighted to have teamed up with the race organisers to create a ‘Race within a Race’ for entrants living in our newspaper catchment area, with a prize for our first local male and female finisher and a full set of our local runners’ results printed in the paper following the event.

The hosts game a good account of themselves in what proved a close game.

The final full team place was handed to former Aussie World Cup man Travis McGowan, while the remaining double-up berths have gone to highly popular former Ace, Ulrich Ostergaard and fellow Dane, Claus Vissing.

In their first game for eight weeks, Rangers took a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from Sam Freakes and John Buckley, before Timperley responded to make it 2-1 at the break.

Brown, who competed at the 2004 Athens Games, is already on his way to Mexico City for a two-week training camp with the rest of the Newton Heath based GB squad.

Goals by Mike Norton and Matthew Wolfenden plus Dean Stott spot kick gave FC an ultimately comfortable 3-0 victory at Chasetown which keeps them within touching distance of a play-off place in seventh spot – just one point off the top five.

But reigning champions Whalley Range retained their unbeaten record and stay seven points adrift of Hey with five games in hand as they beat Old Stretfordians 3-1.

Having conceded on the break midway through the first half, Parkway took the game to Urmston after the interval and were rewarded when a stunning 30-yard shot from Murray Taylor was superbly tipped on to the post by the hosts’ keeper and Tom Culley followed up to slot home.

Now the ambitious youngster is preparing to cook up a treat for Autogate Aces’ fans as he targets the next level in his speedway education.

The Academy, now entering its fourth year at Swinton Leisure Centre, can already boast much success with three of their players having qualified for the last 16 of the national finals, but jumped at the opportunity to expand its operations after being sounded out by Riley’s manager Bea Porter.

The British lightweight champion’s hopes of taking on Ricky Burns were smashed when the interim WBO king announced his first defence would be against Paulus Moses in March.

Gjedde, one of Lynch’s favourite riders, made a successful return last season after an 18-month absence for shoulder and knee operations.

Chorltonians are struggling to retain their Premier Division status but showed great spirit in the semi-final of the Manchester Challenge Cup only losing by the odd goal in five to the Manchester League high-fliers AVRO.

The away side started brightly, scoring two penalty kicks inside the opening 20 minutes.

Neville, making his return from a three-match suspension, received a straight red card after appearing to elbow Ferriby’s Wayne Brooksby in the face and will now have to sit out a further four games.

There was a question mark over Gjedde’s availability as he wanted to continue doubling up with Premier League Newport and it wasn’t clear at first if he could race for them and the Aces.

Victory over visiting Stafford Rangers at the weekend would have seen the promotion-chasing Rebels move up into a play-off place but instead they frustratingly remain seventh after slumping to a shock 2-1 defeat.

Volunteers at the Panel at Westhoughton and Ashton Cricket Club cleared parts of their greens to allow the shows to go on.

Championship-chasing East’s home clash with lowly AFC Bury at Wright Robinson Sports Academy in Gorton was the only top flight fixture to survive the big weekend freeze.

The Hitman, who promotes British champion Crolla, is desperate to get him in the ring with the WBO interim king.

The Rebels’ star striker was again on target in Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Northwich Victoria, although on that occasion his last-gasp goal was no more than a consolation.

The Elite League fixture list, released this week, has handed the Autogate Aces a searching programme of nine league matches in the first month with five of them at home.

Hennessey, a fan as well as a businessman, is managing director of Autogate Systems, a national security systems company.

North were determined to win after their disapointing game Littleborough last time out and they had their more stronger team out for this fixture but by no means the strongest.

United’s 10-game unbeaten run was halted in an unlucky defeat at Nethermoor, which saw Marginson’s men fall to two goals in the last 20 minutes.

Staged at Portsmouth’s Mountbatten Centre, the bout saw Rehman roar to success with an impressive 14-4 win to claim the National Novice Amateur Boxing Championship.

Jameson, a pupil at Alkrington Primary School, was team mascot for the Reds’ home game against Wolves on Saturday.

FC United went undefeated in seven games last month - winning five and drawing two – climbing to seventh in the league and advancing to the third round of the FA Trophy.

Advised from the off that he would have to begin strongly against his tricky opponent, Rehman looked in fine form throughout the bout and progressed through to the final with a 14-7 victory.

It proved a comfortable victory for Boro over North Manchester at Rakewood on Saturday.

In a high-scoring affair that finished 19-13, Johnson claimed a convincing victory under the watchful eye of Great Britain selector Martin Utley.

The Reds dominated possession from the start and should have taken the lead inside 10 minutes when a poor goal kick was seized upon by Mike Norton who rounded the keeper but shot wide when it looked easier to score.

The competition took place at the National Squash Centre and was attended by over 140 juniors aged from 16 to as young as five.

After successfully defending his British lightweight crown against Willie Limond in Motherwell, Million Dollar will head to New York for Murray’s clash with WBA champion Brandon Rios.

And after seeing off the challenge of Willie Limond, the lightweight champion roared: Bring on Ricky Burns.

Improving on their current fifth place was never going to be easy as Parrs Wood started the game in fourth place and boasted an impressive home record.

The former Commonwealth light-middleweight champion wound the clock back with a classic display to earn a unanimous points win in Scotland.

An in-form North quickly dominated their depleted visitors. From the outset North’s backs began to run tries in from all areas of the field.

Hosts Houldsworth looked strong, coming off the back of a three-game winning streak.

Dynamos took the game to their Stockport opponents and it wasn’t long before they got on the score sheet with a Ryan Worsley strike.

The British lightweight champion has enjoyed a taste of the limelight since stopping John Watson in the ninth round in Liverpool in February to take the title.

Second-half goals from Liam Smith and substitute Lee Herbert secured the victory but as always the endeavour, work-rate and attitude of the young Middleton side formed the backbone of their victory.

That meant an evening training session at Manchester College’s Nicholls Campus.

In a recent video interview Pendleton – who trains at Manchester’s Velodrome – talks about her preparations for London 2012 and on her forthcoming marriage.

Last week they received long-awaited approval from the council to build a new home in Moston. It will comprise a 5,000-seater stadium, club house, pitches and even a physiotherapy suite when it opens next year.

It will be the fourth full season for the Danish star, from Fredericia, who joined the Autogate Aces midway through the 2008 season as soon as he left college.

Dynamos’ lowly league position certainly does not reflect their potential and now without any distractions, having been knocked out of the Lancashire Amateur Cup, this match provided the opportunity to get their league campaign back on track.

When the club was born in June 2005, those at the helm pledged to build a team to benefit the whole community.

The news came on a good night for Schlein, 27, as he picked up the Rider of the Year award at a packed end-of-season dinner in Ashton and was presented with what he has always wanted – an autographed Paul Scholes Manchester United shirt.

Dynamos’ lowly league position doesn’t quite give an accurate picture of the quality in the side – they recently reached the fifth round of the Lancashire Amateur cup only to lose in a penalty shoot out.

In the junior novice class B bout Kieran Bailey boxed Naheem Chaudhry of Blackburn and Darwin ABC.

John Buckley broke through to give Rangers the lead but Rovers responded with a goal of their own on 20 minutes.

John Hughes and Nilofar Siddiqi, Labour councillors for the local Gorton North ward, were guests of the Autogate Aces when they rode the first leg of the Knockout Cup final against Poole.

North went into the game with a lot of confidence knowing they did the double over Ashton last year and they were determined to make it a hat-trick of wins over their rivals.

Stones is likely to feature in the Rebels’ midfield when they play Stocksbridge Park Steels away on Saturday.

They needed to stop the rot last weekend if Rangers had any intentions of a victorious league campaign this season.

The 23-year-old former Collyhurst and Moston boxer produced a masterclass on Saturday night to collect the super-bantamweight title and in all likelihood end Booth’s proud career.

It will be the Rebels' second trip over the Pennines to the GMB stadium in as many weeks, the first resulting in a 3-1 Evo-Stik Premier victory.

The result saw them leapfrog above their opponents into ninth place in North Lancashire Division One.

Instead he hopes to make his fame and fortune in the ring.

Record crowds and sentimentality is expected at the first meeting of the fan-owned sides at Gigg Lane since Chester reformed last year.

British lightweight champion Crolla is being lined up for a WBC light-welterweight clash with Mexican legend, Erik Morales in December, a week after former European lightweight champion Murray takes on WBA king, Brandon Rios, at Madison Square Garden.

It was a very close game with the possession of the ball being even. The home team’s lineouts were on form with Andrew Hindle winning the ball more than he lost.

Lucy Haslam (10) represented Team GB at the prestigious Martial Arts World Games.

Former Manchester Giants and Magic guard Steve Gayle is head of basketball at the Belle Vue secondary, leading the year 10 and 11 lads to the national schools finals for the last three years.

The 2008 Olympian insists he will stand by his trainer even after former British and European lightweight champion John Murray walked out two weeks ago.

A defensive mix-up allowed Dolly Blues striker Lee Dodgson to score five minutes into the second half and, although the Reds had a handful of chances to draw level, Lancaster held out for a deserved victory.

This was not to be the case as they lost match 10-0.

Four gold medals at the British Open in Manchester last weekend plus two other podium places again illustrated the ability of home players to compete and beat the world’s best.