Southampton Cycle Speedway Club were crowned British team champions for the second successive year after an epic victory over arch rivals Leicester in the sport's equivalent of the FA Cup.

The semi-final saw Saints dismantle the Scotia side from Edinburgh with newly-crowned British individual champion Gavin Wheeler unbeaten.

Southampton were even afforded the luxury of resting ex-British Champions Denis Hubble and Pete Young for the final, but replacements Mark Janes and Allan Busby both gave strong performances.

Against Leicester in the final, Saints began with a 6-4 from Young and Hubble, before Craig Marchant inflicted a defeat upon Gav Wheeler in the next race.

Leicester led by six points after some quetsionable refereeing decisions resulted in two exclusions for Hubble and one for Young. But a superb 7-3 from Woodhouse/Millen in heat nine meant Saints went into the half-time interval only two points in arrears.

The first few heats after the interval saw Southampton at their best and a barrage of heat wins put them back in the ascendancy.

The meeting was all over by heat 17 as a 7-3 from youngsters Shaun Woodhouse and Nathan Harris meant Saints couldn't be beaten.

World junior champion Woodhouse scored a maximum to underline his credentials as the best young talent in the game.

The final race saw Wheeler move at the tapes, giving Leicester a 7-2 win to make the final 92-84 score look more respectable.

Overall, it was a tremendous performance. Gavin Wheeler and Woodhouse were as good as ever - and they received strong backing from Young and Harris augmented by sterling showings from Galley, Millen and veteran Colin Wheeler.

Saints scorers: Shaun Woodhouse 18+2 (5), Nathan Harris 15+1 (5), Gavin Wheeler 14+1 (5), Pete Young 14 (5), Lee Galley 11+1 (5), Toby Millen 8 (3), Colin Wheeler 6+1 (3), Denis Hubble 6 (5).