MARSHFIELD’S Tom Church made an encouraging return after a frustrating three-month injury lay-off at Foxhills near Swindon on Sunday.

The 28-year-old finished fifth overall in round five of this year’s Maxxis British Moto X Championship in his first meet since being diagnosed with tendonitis in his hand.

He spent the day battling with Swindon rival Stephen Sword but neither of them could compete with championship leader Evgeny Bobreshev. The Russian won two of the day’s three races and finished second to Sword in the other.

A crowd of more than 3,500 gathered on a sweltering day to watch the three races of 20 minutes plus two laps.

Church was pleased with his seventh place in race one, a fifth in race two and a fourth in the final race.

“It was good to be back because it has been tough sitting races out because of such a small injury,” he said.

“The joint on one of my fingers kept swelling up and it was really painful. In the end it needed an operation.

“The track was very humid and that made it difficult for me as well but I think I did okay. I could have got fourth in the second race but I made a mistake on the last lap. It is that key decision making that you lose when you are not racing. You can be quick in practice but you can’treplicate racing.”

Both Wiltshire riders, who compete for the Buildbase CCM Racing Team, have had injuries. Sword has struggled with a virus that forced him to miss races.

Church heads to Belgium and the Czech repulic for two rounds of the Grand Prix Championship before returning to the British Championship round six at Farleigh Castle near Trowbridge on August 14.

“I know what I need to work on so I will be back to 100 per cent by then,” he said.