Brilliant Bridger riding high

The Bexhill-based sensation, pictured above right, has won titles with both his clubs, ridden for his country and scooped a pair of individual honours during a stunning month.

It could still get even better because the 15-year-old is due to represent The Buffaloes in the Academy League final at Scunthorpe on Sunday.

"It's unbelievable," said Bridger's grandfather, Tony Thompson. "The whole season couldn't have been better really."

Sunday couldn't have been much better either because two of the aforementioned achievements came on the same memorable afternoon.

He was the second highest scorer for Great Britain under-18s in their match at Buxton before top-scoring for The Buffaloes in their Academy League Knockout Cup final.

Bridger amassed 12 points from his five rides for Britain, including wins in heats four, six and 15, although clutch problems meant he had to settle for third and second in heats nine and 13 respectively.

He then led The Buffaloes to a 32-15 success over The Bulls and one of his heat triumphs was accomplished in the fastest time of the night.

The previous Sunday, Bridger notched 11 points from five rides as the Weymouth Wildcats secured a 99-91 aggregate success over Mildenhall despite going down 51-45 in the second leg of the Conference League Knockout Cup final. He won heat one in the fastest time of the match and claimed the prize for being Weymouth's best rider of the day.

Bridger has also been named the Speedway Writers' Association Conference League Rider of the Year and Young Rider of the Year following a summer in which he has won the Conference League's Bronze Helmet, Paul Strank Roofing Championship, the Conference Fours with Weymouth and come runner-up in the Under-18 Championship of Great Britain.