Around the Premier League Tracks 2005

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 30 March

Last night’s scheduled match between the Isle of Wight and Rye House was washed out early in the day by the weather. Although the weather threatened again, two Premier Trophy matches were completed tonight one in the northern section and one in the southern. The northern section match was between Hull and Edinburgh while the southern section match was between King’s Lynn and Exeter.


Premier Trophy: Hull 53 , Edinburgh 42

This was a clash between the 2004 and 2003 League Champions. Hull were without the injured Joel Parsons and used Barrie Evans as a guest reserve replacement while Edinburgh were at full strength.

Four of the first five heats resulted in 4-2 wins to the Vikings. Heat 2 was the exception when Robert Kzeizak headed home Craig Branney and Barrie Evans. There was a delay after heat 4 to allow grading of the second bend but after the 4-2 in heat 5 Edinburgh fell further behind to a 5-1 to Paul Thorp and Emiliano Sanchez after Ross Brady had briefly led the field. Edinburgh now found themselves 24-12 and well into TR territory.

Rusty Harrison took the TR in heat 7 and finished second to Garry Stead. However, with Cameron Woodward third the Monarchs took a 3-5 to pull two points back at 27-17. Hull were back to winning ways with a 4-2 in heat 8 to restore the 12 point gap. Edinburgh had their second heat success in heat 9 when Ross Brady beat Emil Kramer with William Lawson third as Lee memberen retired but another 5-1 to Hull in heat 10 from Paul Thorp and Emiliano Sanchez from Cameron Woodward after Rusty Harrison had retired took the score to 38-24.

In heat 11 Daniel Nermark took a TR and stung the Vikings by winning the heat. With Theo Pijper taking second place ahead of the previously unbeaten Garry Stead Edinburgh took the big 1-8 to reduce the gap to 39-32 and suddenly Edinburgh had halved the deficit to seven points! Worse was to follow for the Vikings when Edinburgh had another maximum heat win in heat 12 through Rusty Harrison and William Lawson after Craig Branney, in second place, had an engine failure on the third lap to take the score to 40-37. So after being completely out of the match with a 14 point deficit after heat 10 the Monarchs found themselves just three points in arrears.

In heat 13 Ross Brady fell while Hull were on a 5-1 and the race was rerun with Brady excluded. It made no difference though as Stead and Thorp produced the same result ahead of Daniel Nermark in the rerun to stretch the lead to 7 points again and Hull were almost home and dry. They were after a shared heat 14 won by Emil Kramer from Robert Ksiezak and Cameron Woodward. In heat 15 Rusty Harrison was excluded under the two minute rule before Emiliano Sanchez completed his paid maximum behind Paul Thorp for a closing 5-1 to Hull which gave them an 11 point win.

Scorers: For Hull – Emiliano Sqanchez 12+3 (5) paid maximum, Paul Thorp 12+1 (5), Emil Kramer 11 (4), Garry Stead 10 (4), Craig Branney 4 (5), Lee memberen 3 (4) and Barrie Evans 1+1 (3).

For Edinburgh – Daniel Nermark 12 (5) including a 6 point TR, Rusty Harrison 9 (4) including a 4 point TR, Ross Brady 6 (4), Robert Ksiezak 5 (4), Theo Pijper 4+1 (4), Cameron Woodward 3+2 (4) and William Lawson 3+1 (4).


Premier Trophy: King’s Lynn 56, Exeter 37

This looked to be an interesting match between two of the teams expected to do well this year. King’s Lynn were at full strength but Exeter continued to use R/R for Jernej Kolenko.

Any claim that Exeter might challenge for honours this year looked weak after King’s Lynn devastated them from the start with an opening 4-2 followed by three 5-1s to lead 23-9 after five heats. Mark Lemon was the only Exeter rider to have taken a second place and he repeated this in heat 5, this time as a TR to ensure that Exeter stopped the rot with a 4-4, when he split Adam Allott and Kevin Doolan.

In heat 6 Exeter played their second TR nominating Seemond Stephens for the double point ride. Like Mark Lemon in the previous heat he finished second this time to Tomas Topinka with James Brundle third for a second consecutive 4-4 heat result. It was back to winning ways for King’s Lynn with a 4-2 from Oliver Allen and Jan Jaros with Toni Svab taking second place and the score went to 31-15. This was followed by another two 5-1s from, firstly, Brundle and Batchelor, then Allott and Doolan to increase Exeter’s misery with a scoreline of 41-17. Another 4-2 in heat 10 increased the gap to 26 points when Topinka beat Stephens with Brundle third.

At last the sun came out for Exeter as they finally took a heat win! Mark Lemon beat Oliver Allen and Nick Simmons passed Jan Jaros for a 2-4 in heat 11. In Heat 12 Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan collided with Batchelor taken to hospital with a suspected broken arm. When Kevin Doolan suffered an engine failure while leading the rerun Exeter were presented with a gift 0-5 and, in heat 13, a win for Mark Lemon consolidated this minor recovery to 50-31. The gap stayed the same when Adam Allott won heat 14 with Jan Jaros going backwards through the field from first to last. Allott’s maximum chance was lost when he finished last in heat 15 after he missed the gate leaving Tomas Topinka to win the race from Mark Lemon and Toni Svab. After such a dismal first 10 heats which saw them 26 points in arrears Exeter finished only 19 behind after the last 5 heats at 56-37.


Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Adam Allott 12 (5), Oliver Allen 9+1 (4), Troy Batchelor 7+2 (4), James Brundle 6 (4), Kevin Doolan 5+2 (4) and Jan Jaros 3+1 (4).

For Exeter – Mark Lemon 14 (5) including a 4 point TR, Toni Svab 10+1 (6), Seemond Stephens 6 (5) including a 4 point TR, Nick Simmons 4+1 (6), Pavel Ondrasik 2+1 (4) and Lee Smethills 1 (3).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 31March

It took a while to get tonight’s meeting at Sheffield under way where Edinburgh were the visitors. The track was a mess and the referee allowed the Sheffield track staff half an hour to get it into some sort of shape. Then it started raining but the rain eventually stopped and the meeting got underway.

Premier Trophy: Sheffield 50, Edinburgh 40

A 10 point win for Sheffield may look comfortable enough but it doesn’t tell the full story of this match. In fact Edinburgh were leading by two points with only three heats remaining in one of their better performances at a track where they are traditionally hammered and this was achieved without the assistance of TR or TS rides. Both teams were at full strength.

The first two races were decided from the starting gate and both were drawn as a result of wins by Sean Wilson and William Lawson. In heat 3 Sheffield moved into a two point lead thanks to Ricky Ashworth beating Rusty Harrison with Richard Hall third. Andre Compton won heat 4 but again the points were shared then Theo Pijper did likewise in heat 5 when he beat Ricky Ashworth.

Sheffield started to get a little worried when Ross Brady and Sean Wilson had a ding-dong battle, passing and repassing each other in heat 6, before the Edinburgh rider took the win for another shared heat to bring the score to 19-17. Sheffield took their second heat win in heat 7 thanks to another Andre Compton win this time over Rusty Harrison with Paul Cooper third to ease the pressure putting the Tigers four points ahead. However the Monarchs neutralised that result with their own 2-4 when Robert Ksiezak won heat 8 from Ben Wilson with Theo Pijper third.

Ross Brady had his second consecutive heat win in heat 9 beating Ricky Ashworth for another drawn heat and a Sean Wilson win in heat 10 produced the same result and the score was now 31-29. Although Andre Compton won heat 11 Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark took the minor places for another share of the points. Then the unthinkable happened.

Edinburgh went in front as a result of a 1-5 in heat 12 from Harrison and Ksiezak ahead of Kyle Legault to take the score to 35-37. Sheffield were now rattled as they found themselves in arrears in a match which they expected to win comfortably. Edinburgh were then incensed at the goings-on in heat 13! Sean Wilson touched the tapes but the referee declared it an unsatisfactory start then allowed extra time for Andre Compton to repair a puncture! (Must have a look for that one in the rule book!) As a result Sheffield got their big guns back to the tapes for the restart and this time they made no mistake taking a 5-1 to put Sheffield back in front at 40-38.

Sheffield then sealed the win in heat 14 after Robert Ksiezak fell and was excluded from the rerun. Paul Cooper and Ricky Ashworth took a 5-1 ahead of Cameron Woodward before Andre Compton and Sean Wilson sealed things with a third consecutive 5-1 for the Tigers to give them a 10 point win.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 15 (5) full maximum, Sean Wilson 12+2 (5), Ricky Ashworth 9+1 (4), Paul Cooper 6 (4), Richard Hall 3+2 (4), Ben Wilson 3+1 (4) and Kyle Legault 2+1 (4).

For Edinburgh – Ross Brady 10 (5), Rusty Harrison 9 (5), Theo Pijper 7+1 (4), Robert Ksiezak 6+2 (5), , Daniel Nermark 3+1 (4), William Lawson 3 (3) and Cameron Woodward 2+1 (4).

[Merlin]

Friday, 1 April

Two Premier Trophy matches were originally scheduled for tonight but only one took place – the match at Somerset where Reading were the visitors. The other match (between Edinburgh and Stoke) was postponed to allow the running of the second leg of the Spring Trophy between Edinburgh and Glasgow which was cancelled two weeks ago because of rain.


Premier Trophy: Somerset 48, Reading 45


It was tough going for Somerset in their match against Reading but they held on to win. Somerset were at full strength but Reading were without Danny Bird and Matej Zagar. Danny Bird has a broken leg so they used R/R for him. Matej Zagar was riding in the Slovenian Championships and Reading were therefore entitled to the use of a guest. And what a guest they got – none other than Simon Stead who, apparently, is still able to guest in the Premier League on his last year’s PL average which is so high that the only riders he can guest for on current averages is Matej Zagar and Edinburgh’s Daniel Nermark.

Magnus Zetterstrom and Chris Mills got the Rebels off to the perfect start ahead of Richard Wolff who took the R/R for Danny Bird. They followed this with a 4-2 in the reserves race before Paul Fry and Rirtchie Hawkins appeared to have put them on easy street with another 5-1 to give them a 14-4 lead. Simon Stead won heat 4 for a shared heat then Chris Mills was involved in a nasty accident in heat 5 which saw him carted off to hospital so the Racers were down to five riders. The 4-2 in that heat put the Rebels 21-9 ahead.

Simon Stead again stopped the rot by winning heat 6 from Magnus Zetterstrom for another share of the points but when Andrew Appleton won heat 7 from Glenn Cunningham with Richard Wolff third Reading tasted their first heat victory by 2-4 to take the score to 26-16. Back came the Rebels with their own 4-2 in heat 8 to restore their 12 point lead while Simon Stead kept it that way by winning heat 9. Another 4-2 in heat 10 for Somerset from Zetterstrom and Jamie Smith split by Andrew Appleton increased their lead to 14 points at 37-23.

In heat 11 Simon Stead took a TR and won the race from Glenn Cunningham with Mathieu Tressarieu third so Reading took a 2-7 to reduce the deficit to nine points at 39-30. Reading must have bitterly regretted not giving Richard Wolff the TR in heat 12 as he won the race with Chris Johnsson taking third place for a 2-4 to Reading which could have been another 2-7!. So Reading were still seven points adrift at 41-34 instead of 41-37. Simon Stead had his fifth consecutive race win in heat 13 for a shared heat before Andrew Appleton did likewise in heat 14 leaving the Racers seven down with only the last heat to come.

Simon Stead completed his six ride maximum in heat 15 and with Andrew Appleton following him home for a 1-5 ahead of Magnus Zetterstrom and Paul Fry the Racers finished three down at 48-45 but if Wolff’s heat win in heat 12 had been as a TR when Reading were still far enough behind to use one the final score would have been a 48-48 draw!



Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 10 (5), Paul Fry 10 (5), Glenn Cunningham 8, Jamie Smith 7+1 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 6+2 (4), Jason King 6+2 (5) and Lee Smart 1 (3).

For Reading – Simon Stead 21 (6) including a 6 point TR, Andrew Appleton 12+1 (6), Richard Wolff 6 (5), Chris Johnson 3 (5), Mathieu Tressarieu 3 (5), Chris Mills 0 (2).


Spring Trophy: Edinburgh 54, Glasgow 42 Edinburgh win on aggregate by 97-91


This was the third match in three days for Edinburgh who were returning home unscathed after matches at Hull and Sheffield to be at full strength. On the other hand Glasgow were without their injured reserve James memberle whose rib injuries sustained last Sunday at Ashfield were more serious than had at first been thought. They used God Beaton at reserve in his place.

Glasgow started this match defending a six point lead and could hardly have made a worse start when they lost the opening two heats 5-1 to find themselves two behind on aggregate. Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark beat George Stancl in heat one from the gate and that was that. In heat two Robert Ksiezak fell on the first bend and it was all four back. Then Trent Leverington fell at the same spot in the rerun and was excluded! The Edinburgh reserves had little difficulty beating God Beaton for a second maximum.
Matthew Wethers led briefly in heat three before being overhauled by Rusty Harrison and, with Cameron Woodward third, the lead was increased to ten points (four on aggregate).

There then followed four drawn heats as Glasgow dug in but they needed two TRs – one by George Stancl and the other by Matthew Wethers – to do so as we had two 3-3s and two 4-4s. The highlight of these four heats was the awesome form of Shane Parker who slipped past Ross Brady in heat 4 and then took Theo Pijper from the back in heat 6 with a devastating burst of speed off the third/fourth bends. In heat 8 Trent Leverington split the Monarchs pair of Theo Pijper and Robert Ksiezak but Glasgow slipped two more points in arrears as a result of the 4-2. Shane Parker won heat 9 for a share of the points then Glasgow had some good luck in heat 10. Edinburgh were on a comfortable 5-1 as Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark led Paul Bentley (Matthew Wethers having retired from the heat) when Theo Pijper’s bike packed up on the last bend of the third lap. This meant that Bentley picked up two points he scarcely deserved as Pijper pushed home for the third place point. Ross Brady won heat 11 but with William Lawson suffering an engine failure at the gate it was another 3-3 as was heat 12 won by Rusty Harrison.

The Glasgow plan had been quite clear for some time. They hoped to claw the points needed back in heats 13 and 15 from their Stancl/Parker pairing and to give Shane Parker a TS ride in heat 14. There were two problems with this plan. The first was the dismal form of George Stancl and the second that nobody had told Stancl and Leverington about it as they both blocked Shane Parker’s attempts to get to the front by pinning him on the inside in heats 13 and 14. As a result a grateful Daniel Nermark and then William Lawson comfortably won these two heats without ever being challenged as the Tigers’ hopes finally died. Shane Parker had the satisfaction of winning heat 15 for another share of the points but he must have been ‘unimpressed’ with his team mates in the previous two heats.




Scorers: For Edinburgh – Rusty Harrison 12+1, Daniel Nermark 11+1, Theo Pijper 9, Ross Brady 8, William Lawson 7, Robert Ksiezak 4+2 and Cameron Woodward 3+1.

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 17 (6) including a 4 point GDTS, George Stancl 9 (5) including a 4 point TR, Matthew Wethers 7+1 (4) including a 4 point TR, Trent Leverington 6+2 (6), Paul Bentley 2 (3), God Beaton 1 (3) and James Birkinshaw 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 2 April

Three Premier Trophy matches were raced tonight, two in the northern section and one in the southern section. The northern section matches were at Stoke where Berwick were the visitors and at Workington who were at home to Newcastle. The southern section match was at Rye House who took on Reading .

Premier Trophy: Stoke 53, Berwick 40


Injury hit Stoke took on Berwick who were also short-handed tonight. Stoke were without the injured Paul Pickering for whom they used R/R at number one and they were also missing Jan Staechmann also recovering from injury. They had Glasgow’s George Stancl guesting for him. Berwick were missing Piotr Dym who apparently has a wrist strain and used R/R at number 5.

The teams traded 4-2s in the opening two heats before Stoke took a 5-1 in heat 3 from the Kessler/Mogridge pairing to open up a four point lead. This was followed by a strange heat 4 won by Stoke reserve Barrie Evans from Berwick reserve Joachim Kugelmann with George Stancl taking the third place point from Adam Pietraszko. Another 5-1 in heat 5 from the Kessler/Mogridge pairing again stretched the Stoke lead to 10 points.

Berwick reserve Joachim Kugelmann won heat 6 from Alan Mogridge and Paul Clews but yet another Stoke 5-1 followed in the next heat from George Stancl and Rob Grant against the Berwick pair of Cartwright and Makovsky – the second consecutive 5-1 they had conceded. The lead was now 14 points at 28-14 and Berwick gave Joachim Kugelmann a TR in heat 8. However he could only finish third to his partner Adam Pietrszko and Paul Clews so the Bandits won the heat 2-5 to cut the gap to 11 points. Berwick won heat 9 as well after Alan Mogridge had fallen with Adrian Rymel taking the win from Robbie Kessler. The score now stood at 32-23.

A killer 5-1 to Stoke in heat 10 from Stancl and Clews opened up the gap to 13 points and Berwick were reduced to damage limitation thereafter. A TR for Adam Pietrszko resulted in a 4-4 shared heat when he finished second to Stancl with Grant third. Heats 12 and 13 were shared but the Bandits fired home a 2-4 in heat 14 won by Michal Makovsky from Alan Mogridge with Kugelmann third but Stoke scored a 4-2 in the final heat from Mogridge and Kessler with Makovsky in second place.

Scorers: For Stoke – Robbie Kessler 15 (6), George Stancl 13 (5), Alan Mogridge 11+2 (6), Paul Clews 6+2 (5), Rob Grant 5+1 (4) and Barrie Evans 3 (4).

For Berwick – Joachim Kugelmann 12+1 (6) including a 2 point TR, Adam Pietrszko 10 (6) including a 4 point TR, Michal Makovsky 8+1 (6), Adrian Rymel 5 (5), Chris Schramm 4 (4) and Simon Cartwright 1 (3).


Premier Trophy: Workington 64, Newcastle 30


High-flying Workington were at home to Newcastle in the other northern section match. Both teams were at full strength.

Well what can you say about this match as the brand new Newcastle team were torn apart by the Comets. In fact the Diamonds’ score was inflated by 4 points thanks to TRs so they really only scored 26 points.

After an opening heat 4-2, which saw Kevin Little excluded under the two minute rule and Christian Henry splitting Carl Stonehewer and James Wright, Workington scored four consecutive 5-1s, followed by three 4-2s and a 5-2 as James Grieves took a TR in heat 9 for an extra point. Another 4-2 in heat 10 took the score to 45-16 as only Christian Henry (twice), Claus Kristensen (twice) and James Grieves (once) had managed a second place by way of resistance.

Then came Newcastle’s ‘oasis in the desert’ in heat 11 when Phil Morris won a heat while on a TR too! He beat Shaun Tacey and, with Christian Henry landing the third place point, the heat went to the Diamonds by 2-7 to take the score to a more respectable 47-23. However Workington took two more 5-1s in the next three heats although Phil Morris won another heat in heat 13 for a share of the points to ruin Carl Stonehewer’s maximum hopes.

Another 5-1 went Workington’s way in heat 14 before Phil Morris split the home pairing of Stonehewer and Nieminen for a final heat 4-2 which saw the Diamonds hit the 30 point mark, a feat which had looked beyond them after heat 10. This result makes Workington ‘favourites’ for the bonus tomorrow (Sunday).

Scorers: For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 14 (5), James Wright 12+1 (5), Kauko Nieminen 11+2 (5), Scott Robson 9+3 (4) paid maximum, Shaun Tacey 8+2 (4), Tony Dart 7 (4) and Kevin Little 3 (4).

For Newcastle – Phil Morris 12 (5) including a 6 point TR, Clasu Kristensen 6 (5), James Grieves 5 (4), Christian Henry 5 (4), Josef Franc 1 (4) , Lubos Tomicek 1 (4) and Jamie Robertson 0 (4).



Premier Trophy: Rye House 55, Reading 40


After last night’s close encounter and TR gaff at Somerset it was the turn of Rye House to take on Reading. The Rockets are still using R/R for the injured Tommy Allen. Reading lost Chris Mills last night in an accident at Somerset so had Daniel Giffard guesting at number 2. They were also without Danny Bird and used R/R at number 1. With Matej Zagar also still absent on duty in the Slovenian Championships they used another Elite League guest. Last night Simon Stead racked up a 21 point maximum and tonight it was Leigh Lanham’s turn to hit home a 20 point return! It must be a first for a team to use guests on consecutive nights who total 41 points between them!

This was a decent showing from Reading given they were using two guests and R/R. In fact they were in front after heat 2 thanks to a 2-4 from Johnson and Tressarieu after Leigh Lanham had won the opening heat for a shared heat. However two 5-1s to Rye House sandwiching another Lanham win opened up a six point gap at 18-12. Then in heat 6 Leigh Lanham suffered his one and only defeat of the night when Edward Kennett beat him with Stuart Robson third for a 4-2. Another 4-2 in heat 8 from Kennett and King with Tressarieu separating them saw the Rockets comfortably ahead at 29-19. However they got a shock in heat 9.

Leigh Lanham on a TR and Mathieu Tressarieu took a 1-8 ahead of Chris Neath and Jason King to drag the Racers back into contention at 30-27 only three points down. Their joy did not last long however as Rye House thumped home two consecutive 5-1s in heats 10 and 11 to open up the gap to 11 points again. Mathieu Tressarieu took a TR in heat 12 and finished second to Chris Neath for a 4-4. Then Leigh Lanham won heats 13 and 15 for shared heats with Rye House taking a 5-1 in heat 14 from Chris Neath and reserve Steve Boxhall from Tressarieu and Appleton.

Scorers: For Rye House – Edward Kennett 12+1 (5), Chris Neath 11+2 (5), Brent Werner 10+2 (5), Danny King 8+1 (6), Steve Boxhall 7+2 (5) and Stuart Robson 7+1 (4).

For Reading – Leigh Lanham 20 (6) including a 6 point TR, Mathieu Tressarieu 10+1 (7) including a 4 point TR, Richard Wolff 4 (5), Andrew Appleton 3+1 (5), Chris Johnson 3 (4) and Daniel Giffard 0 (3)

[Paul Wiktorko]

Merlin - in case you've not noticed I have sent you a PM.

Paul.

[Merlin]

Paul said:

Merlin - in case you've not noticed I have sent you a PM.

Paul.

Reply sent - thanks.

[Merlin]

Sunday, 2 April

Of the three Premier Trophy matches raced today, two resulted in away wins. Glasgow were the only team to win at home beating Hull comfortably. For the other two Sunday sides, Newport and Newcastle, it was not a good day since they lost to Exeter and Workington respectively.

Premier Trophy: Newport 41, Exeter 49


It’s shades of last year for Newport as they lost at home for the second successive week when Exeter scored an eight point victory. Newport were at full strength for this fixture but Exeter again operated R/R for Jernej Kolenko (who it is rumoured might be making his debut for the Falcons fairly soon).

Newport started quite well and were 14-10 ahead after the first four heats thanks mainly to a maximum in heat 3 from Mads Korneliussen and Neil Collins. The teams swopped 4-2s in heats 5 and 6 but in heat 8 Exeter were back level with a 5-1 from Lee Smethills and Pavel Ondrasik. The score was now 24-24 but Exeter were causing the home side big problems with their faster gating.

Newport were back in front with a 4-2 in heat 9 when Mads Korneliussen caught Seemond Stephens and Neil Collins took the third place point but in heat 10 Toni Svab and Seemond Stephens made the gate to leave the Newport pair at the back for a 1-5 which saw Exeter take the lead for the first time in the match at 29-31. Newport were still two points down with three heats to go and Mark Lemon kept it that way when he beat Craig Watson and Michael Coles in the battle of the heat leaders in heat 13. However a 2-4 for Exeter in heat 14 when Pavel Ondrasik held off a gallant attempt by Neil Collins with Toni Svab third put them four ahead. With the score at 40-44 Newport needed a 5-1 in the last heat for a draw but Mark Lemon and Toni Svab were fast away to leave Craig Watson and Mads Korneliussen at the back.



Scorers: For Newport – Craig Watson 12 (5), Neil Collins 8 (4), Mads Korneliussen 7+1 (5), Kristian Lund 6 (4), Michael Coles 4+2 (4), Tony Atkins 3 (4) and Karlis Ezergailis 1+1 (4).

For Exeter – Mark Lemon 13+1 (5), Pavel Ondrasik 12+2 (6), Toni Svab 11+1 (6), Seemond Stephens 8+1 (5), Lee Smethills 5 (5) and Nick Simmons 0 (3).



Premier Trophy: Glasgow 52, Hull 40

This was a must win match for Glasgow having failed to win their opening two Premier Trophy matches at Ashfield. Hull were the visitors. Glasgow were missing James memberle again and had God Beaton at number 6 while, similarly, Hull were without the injured Joel Parsons and had Edinburgh’s Robert Ksiezak guesting at number 7.

Glasgow won this match with some degree of comfort. Although they were only seven points ahead after heat 12 they had the comfort of knowing that George Stancl and Shane Parker would be out in heats 13 and 15 to see them home. And so it happened. A 5-1 in heat 4 from Shane Parker and Trent Leverington from Garry Stead was the only break in a series of eight 3-3s in the first nine heats! When George Stancl and Matthew Wethers took a 4-2 in heat 10 Glasgow finally got to six ahead.

The Stancl/Parker pairing duly obliged with a 5-1 in heat 13 to put the Tigers 44-33 ahead so Hull gave Emil Kramer a TR in heat 14. Mathematically Hull could still have drawn with this manoeuvre with a 1-8, 1-5 finish but that was for dreamworld. Emil Kramer did win heat 14 for the six points but received no support then Stancl/Parker rounded things off with another 5-1 to record the Tigers first home Premier Trophy win.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Shane Parker 15 (5), George Stancl 12+2 (5), Trent Leverington 11+2 (5), Paul Bentley 7+1 (4), James Birkinshaw 4+2 (4), Matthew Wethers 3+2 (4) and God Beaton 0 (3)

For Hull – Emil Kramer 13 (5) including a 6 point TR, Garry Stead 9 (5), Paul Thorp 7 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 5+2 (4), Craig Branney 3+1 (5), Robert Ksiezak 2 (3) and Lee memberen 1+1 (4).



Premier Trophy: Newcastle 42, Workington 48 - Workington took the bonus point on aggregate by 112-72


Oh dear! Newcastle must be wondering if their injury jinx will ever leave them. In their match against Workington Phil Morris fell while leading the opening heat and had to withdraw from the meeting. He went to hospital with a suspected broken elbow. So although they started with a full strength team Newcastle had to take on the Comets without their number one man and with no facility for him. Workington fresh from their demolition job on the Diamonds last night were at full strength.

As a result of Phil Morris’ fall Newcastle were immediately behind to a Carl Stonehewer win from Christian Henry. They got back to level terms with a 4-2 in the reserves race with a win from Lubos Tomicek and actually took the lead two heats later with another 4-2 from James Grieves and Jaimie Robertson with James Wright taking the second place. So it was 13-11 after four heats.

A Stonehewer, Franc, Little finish to heat 5 brought the Comets level with a 2-4 but Newcastle went ahead again in heat 6 with another 4-2 thanks to a win by Jamie Robertson from Shaun Tacey with Christian Henry third. However Dame Misfortune was waiting to pounce again in heat 8 when Christian Henry fell on the first bend and Kevin Little and James Wright took a 1-5 for Workington to put them ahead for the first time at 23-25.

In heat 10 the Comets stretched their lead to four points in a heat where Phil Morris would normally have been out. Scott Robson took the win in this heat from Jamie Robertson who passed Kauko Nieminen for his second place. The score was now 28-32 and although James Grieves and Josef Franc won three of the next four races they were all drawn. So Newcastle reached the last heat needing a 5-1 for a draw. However, Carl Stonehewer wrapped things up for Workington by winning the heat with his partner, Scott Robson, taking third place for good measure. Workington therefore took all three points and now look a certainty to win the northern section.

Scorers: For Newcastle – James Grieves 14 (5), Josef Franc 11 (5), Jamie Robertson 9+1 (7), Christian Henry 3 (4), Lubos Tomicek 3 (4), Claus Kristensen 2 (4) and Phil Morris 0 (1).

For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 12+1 (5), James Wright 12+1 (6), Scott Robson 10+1 (5), Kauko Nieminen 6+2 (4), Kevin Little 6+1 (4), Shaun Tacey 3+1 (3) and Tony Dart 0 (2).

[Merlin]

Monday, 4 April

Two Premier Trophy matches were raced tonight – both in the southern section. Exeter were at home to the Isle of Wight while Reading faced Newport.


Premier Trophy: Exeter 53, Isle of Wight 39


Despite the score Exeter didn’t get things all their own way tonight. The Isle of Wight put up a good fight until the Falcons took control mid-match. Exeter finally had Jernej Kolenko in the side so, for the first time this season, were at full strength as were the Isle of Wight.

After Exeter had gone in front with a second heat 4-2 it was the Islanders who took up the running. A 5-1 in heat three from Ostergaard and Marsh from Kolenko, making his debut, and Svab turned the two point lead from an Exeter one to an Isle of Wight one at 8-10. A shared heat 4 was followed by a 2-4 which put the Isle of Wight four points up at 13-17 when Craig Boyce took his second heat win backed up by Manuel Hausinger in third place. The next two heats were shared and the score was 19-23 after heat 7 – not the way Exeter had it scripted. Then the roof fell in on the Islanders.

In a four heat spell from heats 8 to 11 the Falcons ran up two 5-1s and two 4-2s to turn a four point deficit into an eight point lead. Even the Svab/Kolenko pairing got into the act, after they had lost their first two races as a pairing, by taking one of the 5-1s ahead of Jason Bunyan and Steen Jensen. The score now stood at 40-32.

Exeter triumphed 5-1 in the heat 13 battle of the big guns to go 12 ahead so the Islanders gave Ulrich Ostergaard a TR in heat 14. Although Pavel Ondrasik rose to the occasion to win the heat after Toni Svab had an engine failure, Ostergaard and Jason Doyle filled the minor places for a 3-5 to the visitors. Then Exeter finished off with a last heat 5-1, with Seemond Stephens completing a five ride maximum, to extend their lead to 14 points leaving things nicely balanced for the return on the Island when the bonus point will be up for grabs.

Scorers: For Exeter – Seemond Stephens 15 (5) full maximum, Mark Lemon 11+3 (5), Pavel Ondrasik 11+1 (5), Lee Smethills 6 (4), Toni Svab 5 (4), Jernej Kolenko 3+1 (4) and Nick Simmons 2 (3).

For the Isle of Wight – Ulrich Ostergaard 10 (5) including a 4 point TR, Craig Boyce 8 (5), Krister Marsh 5+2 (3), Jason Bunyan 5+1 (4), Steen Jensen 5+1 (4), Jason Doyle 4+2 (5) and Manuel Hauzinger 2 (4).



Premier Trophy: Reading 48, Newport 44 Newport took the bonus point on aggregate by 93-92

Injury-ravaged Reading faced Newport at Smallmead looking to win by at least 6 points to take the bonus point. Reading were again without Danny Bird and Chris Mills so used R/R at number 1 with Steve Boxall guesting at number 2. They did have Matej Zagar back in the lineup however. Newport were at full strength.

Reading made light of their patchwork team by getting off to a cracking start in this match. Over the first five heats they rattled up a 5-1 and four 4-2s to lead 21-9 and leave Newport reeling. However, it was Reading who were reeling after heat 6 as Newport gave Craig Watson a TR. Luck was with the Wasps as Richard Wolff fell and was excluded leaving Steve Boxall to face Craig Watson and Tony Atkin. Strangely it was Atkin who took the race win with Craig Watson second to reduce a possible 1-8 to 1-7. Newport now trailed by only six points at 22-16.

The next four heats all finished 3-3 before Reading stretched their lead to 8 points with a 4-2 in heat 11 from Zagar and Johnson to take the score on to 38-30. Heat 12 was shared but Newport shocked the Racers with a 1-5 in heat 13 when Craig Watson and Michael Coles took a big 1-5 ahead of Matej Zagar to cut the home side’s lead to four points at 42-38 and put themselves one point ahead on aggregate in the race for the bonus point. Neil Collins rose to the occasion by winning heat 14 from Andrew Appleton to keep it that way so Reading needed a heat advantage from heat 15 for the bonus.

Although Matej Zagar won the heat, Craig Watson and Michael Coles kept Andrew Appleton at the back. So the Racers took the two match points with a four point win but the Wasps took the bonus point back to Wales.


Scorers: For Reading – Matej Zagar 16 (6), Andrew Appleton 9+1 (6), Richard Wolff 8 (5), Mathieu Tresarrieu 6+2 (4), Steve Boxall 5+1 (5) and Chris Johnson 4+2 (4).

For Newport – Craig Watson 14+1 (5) including a 4 point TR, Mads Korneliussen 10 +2 (5), Michael Coles 6+1 (4), Kristian Lund 5 (4), Neil Collins 5 (4), Tony Atkin 4 (5) and Karlis Ezergailis 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 5 April

There’s only one place to be if you want to see Speedway on a Tuesday night. Tonight saw the Isle of Wight take on King’s Lynn in a Premier Trophy match – their first home match of the season following last week’s postponement against Reading.


Premier Trophy: Isle of Wight 54, King’s Lynn 39


The Isle of Wight came into this match at full strength on the back of three away fixtures in this tournament already, a win at Reading, a hammering at Rye House and a decent showing at Exeter. King’s Lynn were unbeaten having home wins against Somerset and Exeter to their credit but the Isle of Wight does not hold happy memories for them. Following last week’s injuries to Troy Batchelor the Stars have signed Ashley Jones to take Troy’s place meantime and he made his debut tonight at number 7.

The Islanders got off to a flying start with a 4-2 and two 5-1s in the opening three heats before Oliver Allen stopped the rot by winning heat 3 for a shared heat. The score after four heats was 17-7 so King’s Lynn immediately gave Tomas Topinka a TR in heat 5 which he duly won from Krister Marsh and Ulrich Ostergaard for a 3-6. A shared heat 6 was followed by a home 5-1 from Steen Jensen and Jason Bunyan to put the Isle of Wight 11 ahead at 28-17 but back came the Stars with a 1-5 of their own in heat 8 from James Brundle and Jan Jaros after Manuel Hauzinger had fallen to claw the score back to 29-22.

King’s Lynn dug in after that and the next three heats were shared before the Stars pulled back another two points in heat 12 when Kevin Doolan beat Krister Marsh with Jan Jaros taking the third place point from Jason Doyle. So the gap closed further to five points at 40-35 with three heats to go as King’s Lynn enjoyed one of their better nights on the Island.

I don’t know what they put in the tea during the interval but after heat 12 King’s Lynn crumbled over the last three heats losing a 4-2 then two 5-1s to finish 15 points down at 54-39. Still having nearly scored 40 points, King’s Lynn will probably fancy taking the bonus point in the return match on 20 April.

Scorers: For the Isle of Wight – Craig Boyce 13 (5), Jason Bunyan 11+2 (5), Ulrich Ostergaard 9+2 (4), Steen Jensen 9+2 (4), Krister Marsh 7 (4), Jason Doyle 4+1 (4).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5) including a 6 point TR, Kevin Doolan 7 (4), Oliver Allen 7 (5), Jan Jaros 6+2 (5), James Brundle 3 (4), Ashley Jones 1+1 (3) and Adam Allott 1+1 (4).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 6 April

Two Premier Trophy matches took place tonight – one in the northern section, the other in the southern section. Having raced against Edinburgh last week Hull faced the other Scottish team, Glasgow , while King’s Lynn returned home from last night’s match on the Isle of Wight to take on Reading.


Premier Trophy: Hull 52, Glasgow 41 Glasgow win the bonus point on aggregate by 93-92


Hull lost by 12 points at Glasgow last Sunday so the bonus point was very much up for grabs in this return meeting. Both sides tracked guests at reserve. For Hull Ben Wilson replaced the injured Joel Parsons while, for Glasgow, Danny Norton did likewise for James Cockle.

An opening heat 4-2 for the Vikings from Paul Thorp and Emiliano Sanchez with George Stancl second was followed by a bizarre heat 2 which saw no home finisher after Craig Branney and Ben Wilson had collided. The 0-5 put the Tigers in front at 4-7 but their lead didn’t last long as a Hull 5-1 from Emil Kramer and Lee Dicken put them back in front at 9-8. A shared heat 4 was followed by a 2-4 to Glasgow from George Stancl and Matthew Wethers to put the Tigers back in front at 14-15 before a 5-1 to the Vikings from Thorp and Sanchez once again put Hull in front at 19-16.

Hull opened up a five point lead with a 4-2 from Garry Stead and Ben Wilson in heat 7 with the next two heats shared to take the score to 29-24. In heat 10 the Thorp/Sanchez pairing registered another 5-1 to put Hull 9 in front so Glasgow immediately gave George Stancl a TR and he duly obliged by winning. With Trent Leverington (in for Matthew Wethers) picking up third place this resulted in a 2-7 to Glasgow which brought the score to 36-32 with just 4 heats to go and Glasgow looking good for at least the bonus.

A shared heat 12 won by James Birkinshaw, who suddenly burst into life, brought us to the battle of the big guns in heat 13. This went very much the way of Hull as they registered a 5-1 from Paul Thorp and Garry Stead over George Stancl and Shane Parker and the Vikings were eight points ahead at 44-36. Glasgow then gave a Tactical Substitute ride to Shane Parker from 15 metres back but he couldn’t prevent Hull from taking maximum points with a 5-2 heat win from Emil Kramer and Craig Branney, who finally got the better of Parker and Bentley going into the last lap, to put the Vikings 11 points ahead needing a 4-2 from the final heat to take the bonus point. However it was Glasgow who took the bonus when the heat was shared as Paul Thorp completed his full maximum. So the two points from the third place in heat 14 turned out to be a bonus point winner after all for Glasgow! Strangely enough Glasgow were the second team this week to win a bonus point by 93-92 as Newport did the same thing at Reading on Monday night.



Scorers: For Hull – Paul Thorp 15 (5) full maximum, Garry Stead 10+1, Emil Kramer 10 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 7+2 (4), Lee Dicken 5+2 (4), Craig Branney 2+3 (5) and Ben Wilson 1 (3)

For Glasgow – George Stancl 14 (5) including a 6 point TR, Shane Parker 9+1 (6) including a 2 point GDTS, Trent Leverington 8+1 (5), Paul Bentley 4 (4), James Birkingshaw 3 (4), Danny Norton 2+1 (3) and Matthew Wethers 1 (3).



Premier Trophy: King’s Lynn 49, Reading 44


King’s Lynn tracked the same side which lost last night on the Island while injury-hit Reading continued to use R/R for Danny Bird at number 1 with Daniel King guesting for Chris Mills at number 2.

Heat 1 proved to be an eventful opener when first Daniel King fell and remounted while lying second and then James Brundle did likewise for a shared heat. There was another faller in heat 2 when Chris Johnson added to Reading’s woes crashing on the first turn and needing medical attention. The Ashley Jones fell resulting in another shared heat. King’s Lynn took the lead in heat 3 thanks to a 5-1 from Adam Allott and Kevin Doolan. Reading hit back with a 2-4 in heat 4 when Matej Zagar beat Oliver Allen with Mathieu Tresarrieu in third place to make the score after 4 heats 13-11.

The Stars went four up again with a 4-2 to Adam Allott and Kevin Doolan with Daniel King in second place. In heat 6 Tomas Topinka beat Matej Zagar and another 4-2 went to the Stars when James Brundle finished third to stretch the lead to six points. Heat 7 was an absolute disaster for King’s Lynn. Jan Jaros hit the back wheel of Oliver Allen and both riders came down heavily. Oliver Allen was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone while Jan Jaros also retired from the meeting with concussion. Ashley Jones came in for Oliver Allen in the rerun and took second place to Andrew Appleton as Reading took a 2-4 to trail by 23-19. The Stars then gave themselves an eight point cushion by winning heat eight by 5-1 before they faced the second half of the meeting two riders short.

Matej Zagar won heat 9 but Reading could make no inroads to the eight point lead with Kevin Doolan and Adam Allott filling the minor places.
In heat 10 King’s Lynn stretched the lead to 10 points when Tomas Topinka beat Andrew Appleton with James Bundle beating Richard Wolff. The downside to this from the Stars’ point of view was that Reading were now in a position to give Matej Zagar a TR in addition to his R/R in heat 11. The Racers took the likely 1-8 with Daniel King finishing second to close the gap to three points at 36-33. However King’s Lynn struck again in heat 12 with a 5-1 from Ashley Jones and Kevin Doolan when Richard Wolff had an engine failure. So the score went to 41-34 with just three heats to go.

Tomas Topinka kept on winning as the only Stars’ rider in heat 13 and King’s Lynn were almost home and dry. They were when Adam Allott won heat 14 for a shared heat. However Matej Zagar finally ended Tomas Topinka’s maximum hopes by winning the last heat. Andrew Appleton took third place to pull back the deficit for the bonus point to 5 points.


Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Adam Allott 10+1 (4), Ashley Jones 8+1 (7), Kevin Doolan 7+2 (5), James Brundle 5 (4), Jan Jaros 3 (2), Oliver Allen 2 (1).

For Reading – Matej Zagar 18+1 (6), Andrew Appleton 11 (6), Daniel King 8+2 (5), Mathieu Tresarrieu 4+1 (4), Chris Johnson 2+1 (4), Richard Wolff 1 (5).