Around the Premier League Tracks 2005

[Merlin]

Saturday, 9 July

There were four Premier League matches raced tonight. At Stoke, Glasgow were the visitors; at Workington , Somerset provided the opposition; at Berwick the Bandits took on Sheffield ; and at Rye House the Rockets faced King’s Lynn .


Premier League: Stoke 44, Glasgow 46.


For the first time in months Stoke tracked a seven man side welcoming back Peter Carr at number 1. This week’s guest for Jan Staechmann at number 5 was Phil Morris. Glasgow were at full strength.

Considering that they supplied 11 of the 15 heat winners, Glasgow made heavy weather of a match they should have won comfortably. In most of the heats the Stoke riders were left chasing the fast-gating Glasgow heat leaders yet the match still went to a last heat decider.

In the opening heat Peter Carr got a flier much to George Stancl’s disgust and the Potters were off to a 4-2 winning start. They got a real jolt though in heat 2 when the two Glasgow reserves jumped from the tapes to score a 1-5 which was ultimately to prove decisive since neither of the Tigers’ reserves subsequently managed a point between them. Tapes to flag wins from Stefan Ekberg and Shane Parker resulted in shared heats and the heat 4 score was 11-13.

In heat 5 the Potters fans were none too pleased when George Stancl ran Alan Mogridge so wide that the Stoke rider all but fell off and was out of contention for the rest of the heat. Paul Clews at the back got up to pass Trent Leverington on the last bend to limit the damage for Stoke to a 2-4. Peter Carr made another fast start in heat 6 and led Shane Parker for three laps but the Glasgow man had too much speed for him and passed him for the win and another shared heat. Stoke fell further behind in heat 7 when the struggling Phil Morris found himself trailing Ekberg and Kristensen. Both Stoke riders got past Kristensen but Barrie Evans made a real mess of the fourth bend allowing Kristensen back into third place for a 2-4 to the Tigers. Trent Leverington roared from the tapes in heat 8 for another shared heat and the score was 21-27.

Finally Stoke got back into the match thanks to a 5-1 from Alan Mogridge and Paul Clews in heat 9 with Clews blocking Parker’s run off the fourth bend to secure the heat success cutting Glasgow’s lead to two points at 26-28. It was all square after heat 10 when Robbie Kessler finally ended Stefan Ekberg’s winning streak and Peter Carr finished third for a 4-2 making the score 30-30. Another dreadful start from the Stoke pair in heat 11 saw Stancl and Leverington race off into the distance leaving Morris with no chance of catching them for a 1-5 which left Stoke four points behind again. Stefan Ekberg made another fast start to heat 12 and won the heat for a share of the spoils bringing the score after 12 heats 34-38.

With Stancl and Parker out in heat 13, a match-winning 1-5 for Glasgow looked on the cards and so it seemed when the Glasgow pair burst from the tapes to lead with Peter Carr pulling up at the first bend. On the fourth lap Stancl seemed to slow entering the second bend and Phil Morris gratefully took second place as Stancl ambled home for third and a 2-4 putting the Tigers six points ahead with only two heats to go. Heat 14 was crucial for Stoke. Jack Hargreaves stormed from the gate and Alan Mogridge cleverly worked his way into second place and skilfully shepherded his young partner home for a 5-1 to the home side in by far the slowest time of the meeting. This left Stoke two points down going into the last race where, surprisingly, Stoke opted for Phil Morris to partner Alan Mogridge and Glasgow opted for Stefan Ekberg to partner Shane Parker.

The Stoke plan unfolded as Phil Morris pinned Shane Parker to the outside as Alan Mogridge took Stefan Ekberg wide. Although Ekberg was stuck at the back, Parker cut inside the field and with a phenomenal burst of speed left them all for dead as he scurried down the back straight and on to the heat win Glasgow needed for their first away win in the league since 2003.

Scorers: For Stoke – Alan Mogridge 8+2 (5), Phil Morris 8+1 (5), Paul Clews 7+2 (4), Jack Hargreaves 7+2 (5), Robbie Kessler 7+1 (4), Peter Carr 6 (4), Barrie Evans 1 (3).

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 13 (5), Stefan Ekberg 11 (5), George Stancl 9 (4), Trent Leverington 6+1 (4), Adam Roynon 3 (4), James Cockle 2+1 (4), Claus Kristensen 2 (4).



Premier League: Workington 47, Somerset 46 Workington took the bonus point on aggregate by 97-85.


Workington had new signing Adam Allott making his debut at number 1 and had a full seven man side for the first time in months. Aidan Collins returned to the side at number 7 while Lee Derbyshire filled the ‘revolving’ reserve spot this time. Somerset were at full strength.

After winning down at Somerset, Workington might have been excused for thinking this would be a comfortable win for them. Somerset soon put paid to that idea by pushing them to an eventful last heat decider.

A 4-2 heat win to either side was followed to shared heats for a 12-12 score after heat 4. The two teams exchanged 4-2s again in heats 5 and 6 and followed that by sharing heat 7 to keep the scores level. Workington then took the lead for the first time in heat 8 when Adam Allott won his first ever race for Workington and was followed home by Aidan Collins for a 5-1 to put the Comets ahead at 26-22 after heat 8.

A Tacey/Robson 4-2 in heat 9 increased the Comets lead to 6 points then a Stonehewer/Allott 4-2 in heat 10 made it an 8 point lead. A third consecutive 4-2 when James Wright beat Magnus Zetterstrom with Aidan Collins third looked to have put the Comets out of sight at 38-28 but Ritchie Hawkins who had scored only one point in his three rides took a TR and successfully took all 6 points from Shaun Tacey. With Lee Smart third the Rebels scored a 2-7 to cut the Workington lead to 5 points at 40-35.

Magnus Zetterstrom beat Carl Stonehewer in heat 13 and with Glenn Cunningham third a 2-4 for Somerset shaved another two points from the Comets’ lead at 42-39. The home nerves really started to jangle when Fry and King took a third consecutive heat win by 2-4 in heat 14 to leave the scores separated by one point at 44-43.

The last heat was rerun after an unsatisfactory start and there was a collision between Zetterstrom, Stonehewer and Wright on the first bend with all four being called back for a second rerun with Magnus Zetterstrom considered by many lucky not to be excluded. James Wright was unable to take his part in the rerun and his place was taken by Aidan Collins. Although Zetterstrom won the heat Collins and Stonehewer took the minor places for a shared heat which saw Workington home by one point.

Scorers: For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 12 (5), Aidan Collins 8+3 (6), Shaun Tacey 8+1 (4), James Wright 8 (5), Adam Allott 5 (4), Scott Robson 5 (4), Lee Derbyshire 1 (3)

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14 (5), Paul Fry 10 (4), Glenn Cunningham 8 (5), Ritchie Hawkins 7+1 (4) including a 6 point TR, Jaimie Smith 3 (4), Jason King 3 (4).



Premier League: Berwick 55, Sheffield 37


While Berwick were able to field an unchanged full-strenngth side Sheffield used Josef Franc at number 1 for Sean Wilson and R/R at number 4 for Richard Hall.

[Report to follow]

Scorers: For Berwick – Adrian Rymel 12+1 (5), Michal Makovsky 10 (5), Scott Smith 9+1 (4), Carl Wilkinson 9+1 (4), Tom P Madsen 7+3 (4), Adam Pietraszko 5+2 (5), Chris Schramm 3+1 (4).

For Sheffield –


Premier League: Rye House 61, King’s Lynn 34

[Match Report to follow]


Rye House were at full strength for this match while King’s Lynn had Ashley Jones at number 2, Jan Jaros at number 3 with their reserves Trevor Harding at number 6 and Troy Batchelor at number 7.



Scorers: For Rye House – Brent Werner 11+2 (5), Scott Robson 10+4 (5), Edward Kennett 10 (4), Tommy Allen 9+1 (4), Chris Neath 8 (4), Daniel King 7+1 (4), Steve Boxall 6+1 (4).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5) including a 6 point TR, Oliver Allen 6+1 (5) including a 5 point TR, Trevor Harding 6+1 (6), Jan Jaros 4 (4), Troy Batchelor 2 (3), Kevin Doolan 1 (4), Ashley Jones 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 10 July

Two Premier League matches were raced today. At Newport the Wasps entertained Berwick while at Glasgow the Tigers met Somerset who continued their journey north after their meeting at Workington yesterday.



Premier League: Newport 49, Berwick 41 Berwick won the bonus point on aggregate by 102-81.


Newport had Travis McGowan from the Elite League as a guest for Craig Watson and used R/R for Michael Coles at number 3. Berwick were at full strength.

There were numerous falls in this match and a lot of criticism of the track. Adrian Rymel fell in three of his five rides and Tom P Madsen had to retire from the meeting with an injured thumb when he came down on the first bend of lap 10. Add in falls from Michal Makovsky and Carl Wilkinson and it’s clear that Berwick were less than enamoured by the track surface.

Berwick made the better start to this match. After Adrian Rymel won the opening heat for a 3-3, Wilkinson and Pietraszko took a 2-4 in heat 2 to give Berwick a two point lead. Tom P Madsen won heat 3 for a shared heat and Travis McGowan did likewise in heat 4 to take the score to 11-13.

Chris Schramm and Adrian Rymel were fast away in heat 5 as Lee Dicken fell and remounted. Going into the last lap Adrian Rymel fell and the race was awarded to Chris Schramm for another shared heat but it all started to go pear shaped for Berwick in heat 6. Michal Makovsky fell while in second place and Mads Korneliussen and Tony Atkin took a 5-1 to put Newport into the lead for the first time at 19-17. McGowan and Dicken followed up with a 4-2 in heat 7 and an interval was taken to regrade the track. When racing restarted Berwick’s fortunes improved dramatically as Carl Wilkinson and Chris Schramm took a 1-5 to level the scores at 24-24.

A Neil Collins win shared heat 9 but Newport went back in front with a 4-2 in heat 10 won by Mads Korneliussen after Tom P Madsen had fallen in the first running of the race and injured his thumb causing him to withdraw from the meeting. The Wasps doubled their lead with another 4-2 in heat 11 won by Travis McGowan as Adrian Rymel this time fell on the first bend and was excluded. Adam Pietraszko won heat 12 but Carl Wilkinson fell challenging Lee Dicken for second place so the heat was shared bringing the score after 12 heats to 38-34.

Mads Korneliussen and Travis McGowan took a 4-2 in heat 13 and Newport were almost home. However, Berwick replied in kind with a 2-4 in heat 14 from Pietraszko and Wilkinson leaving Berwick needing a 1-5 for a draw. Their hopes were dashed as Adrian Rymel crashed into the fence and fell with Mads Korneilussen and Travis McGowan wrapping things up with a 5-1.


Scorers: For Newport – Mads Korneliussen 14 (5), Travis McGowan 12+1 (5), Neil Collins 8+1 (4), Lee Dicken 8+1 (7), Tony Atkin 6+2 (5), Karlis Ezergailis 1+1 (4)

For Berwick – Carl Wilkinson 11 (6), Adam Pietraszko 10+1 (6), Chris Schramm 7+1 (4), Tom P Madsen 5 (2), Adrian Rymel 5 (5), Michal Makovsky 3+1 (4), Scott Smith 0 (3).



Premier League: Glasgow 54, Somerset 41 Somerset won the bonus point on aggregate by 97-93.


Glasgow , fresh from last night’s win at Stoke, were at full strength as were Somerset still rueing their one point defeat at Workington last night.

Somerset got off to good start when Magnus Zetterstrom won the opening heat from George Stancl for a 3-3. They followed that by taking the lead in heat 2 with a 1-5 in the reserves race from Lee Smart and Jason King then a 2-4 in heat 3 from Paul Fry and Ritchie Hawkins. A Parker/Cockle 4-2 in heat 4 stopped the rot but the Tigers trailed 10-14 after the opening four heats.

Glasgow then got into their stride. A 5-1 from Kristensen and Ekberg after Magnus Zetterstrom had suffered an engine failure in heat 5 levelled the scores then Stancl and Leverington took a 4-2 in heat 6 to put Glasgow ahead for the first time at 19-17. Heats 7 and 8 were shared and the heat 8 score read 25-23.

Glasgow stormed ahead with consecutive 5-1s in heats 9 and 10 from, firstly, the Ekberg/Kristensen partnership, then Stancl and Leverington so Somerset gave Magnus Zetterstrom a TR in heat 11. Shane Parker beat him although Jaimie Smith picked up the third place point to give Somerset a 3-5 advantage to claw two points back but another Glasgow 5-1 in heat 12 from Ekberg and Cockle increased Glasgow’s lead to 12 points at 43-31.

Magnus Zetterstrom beat Shane Parker and George Stancl in heat 13 then Paul Fry took a TR in heat 14 which he duly won for a 3-6 which secured the bonus point for the Rebels. Parker and Stancl finished with a 5-1 in heat 15 to round off the match.



Scorers: For Glasgow – Shane Parker 13+1 (5), George Stancl 12+1 (5), Stefan Ekberg 10+1 (4), Trent Leverington 7+2 (4), Claus Kristensen 7+1 (4), James Cockle 5+2 (5), Adam Roynon 0 (3).

For Somerset – Paul Fry 13 (5) including a 6 point TR, Magnus Zetterstrom 10 (5) including a 4 point TR, Glenn Cunningham 5 (4), Jason King 4+2 (4), Jaimie Smith 4+1 (4), Lee Smart 3 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 2+1 (4).

[Merlin]

Monday, 11 July

Three Premier League matches were raced today. At Reading the Racers entertained Edinburgh while at Exeter the Falcons met Berwick who were travelling further south after their meeting at Newport yesterday. The third match was at Newcastle where the Diamonds took on Newport



Premier League: Reading 46, Edinburgh 47.


Reading had hoped to welcome back Danny Bird in this match against Edinburgh but he was still not ready for a comeback. Unfortunately Reading had redeclared their team and were unable to use Rider Replacement for him. Instead they had Conference League junior, Jaimie Westacott, at number 1.Otherwise they were at full strength tracking a seven man team for the first time in months. Edinburgh were without Theo Pijper who was badly injured in a crash riding in Europe and had Brent Werner at number 1. They also welcomed back Robert Ksiezak to the side at number 7 following a lengthy spell on the sidelines from a broken leg.

There was a long delay before this match started as the fire brigade had to be called in to assist with track watering on a very warm night. Then the starting gate failed and attempts to revive it were unsuccessful. The referee had a conference with the riders and starts were made via the green light.

When racing did get underway, Reading made a miserable start not for the first time this season. Brent Werner made a fast start to win the opening race and Kristian Lund got past Jaimie Westacott on the third lap for an Edinburgh 2-4. William Lawson jetted from the gate to win heat two for a shared heat then Edinburgh struck again. Cameron Woodward and Daniel Nermark jettisoned from the start to leave Andrew Appleton in their wake for a 1-5 but Reading hit back with a 4-2 in heat 4 thanks to a Matej Zagar win to take the score to 10-14.

Things went from bad to seriously worse for Reading as they lost heats 5 and 6 both by 1-5. In heat 5, Reading could only track one rider since Mathieu Tressarieu had been replaced in his opening ride and couldn’t get his bike going again and Brent Werner and Kristian Lund had an easy maximum against Andrew Appleton. Then in heat 6 Zdenek Simota jumped the start and had to go from 15 metres back. William Lawson and Rusty Harrison were untroubled as the Monarchs increased their lead to 12 points. In heat 7 Matej Zagar took a TR and made a fast start with his partner Richard Wolff to leave Daniel Nermark and Cameron Woodward well behind as the Racers took the big 8-1 to cut the Monarchs’ lead to 5 points. They followed that with a 4-2 in heat 8 when Zdenek Simota passed Kristian Lund with Richard Wolff third. This took the score after 8 races to 24-27 and the match was well and truly on.

Rusty Harrison confortably won heat 9 for a shared heat then Zdenek Simota did likewise for Reading in heat 10 but the crucial heat of the evening turned out to be heat 11. In this heat Matej Zagar and Richard Wolff faced Brent Werner and Kristian Lund but it was Werner and Lund who made the start with Zagar playing catch up. Zagar was making little impression on Lund who, by blocking the Reading rider, had given Werner the chance to open up a big lead. In an act of desperation Zagar tried a cut back on the second corner of the third lap but overcooked it and had to withdraw from the race leaving the Monarchs to score a 1-5 and open the lead to 7 points at 31-38.

In heat 12 Andrew Appleton finally burst into life to win the heat for a Reading 4-2 and Matej Zagar won heat 13 for a shared heat. It was Mathieu Tressarieu’s turn to score a win in heat 14 but Daniel Nermark took second place. The 4-2 closed the score to 42-45 leaving Reading needing a 5-1 in the last heat for a win. Although Zagar was fast away, Brent Werner had little difficulty taking second place to ensure that Edinburgh left with both league points.

Scorers: For Reading – Matej Zagar 15 (5) including a 6 point TR, Zdenek Simota 10 (5), Richard Wolff 9+1 (7), Andrew Appleton 6+1 (4), Mathieu Tressarieu 5 (3), Chris Johnson 1+1 (4), Jamie Westacott 0 (3).

For Edinburgh – Brent Werner 13 (5), Rusty Harrison 8+2 (5), Kristian Lund 7+2 (4), Daniel Nermark 7+1 (4), Cameron Woodward 6+1 (4), William Lawson 6 (5), Robert Ksiezak 0 (3).



Premier League: Exeter 38, Berwick 52 .


This was the seond home match for Exeter in four days as they faced the high-flying Berwick Bandits. Exeter were at full strength but Berwick were without Adrian Rymel injured at Newport yesterday and used R/R for him at number 1.

What a shock for Exeter, tipped by many as one of the teams expected to challenge for the league title this year, as they followed their Premier Trophy exit on Friday with this crushing defeat at the hands of a Berwick side now making people sit up and take serious notice. As it turned out the Bandits coped more than adequately for their missing number one and, indeed, they would have still won the match if they had arrived only with riders numbered 4 to 7.

A shared opening heat, 1-5 to Berwick in the reserves race, 5-1 to Exeter from Seemond Stephens and Ray Morton and 1-5 to Berwick from Michal Makovsky and Carl Wilkinson was the story of the first four heats which meant that the score after heat 4 was 10-14.

Exeter squared the match with the fourth 5-1 in five heats from Morton and Stephens again then heat 6 was shared. Another maximum, this time a 1-5 for Berwick was the result of heat 7 from Smith and Madsen as Toni Svab suffered engine failure for the second time in two outings. Lee Smethills won heat 8 for a shared heat and the score was then 22-26.

Adam Pietraszko won heat 9 from Seemond Stephens and with Michal Makovsky third the Bandits moved 6 points clear at 24-30 but a Lemon/Smethills 4-2 clawed two points back in heat 10. Ben Barker then had an excellent win over Michal Makovsky with Toni Svab third for another home 4-2 and the Berwick lead was down to 2 points at 32-34. Seemond Stephens won heat 12 for a shared heat as Exeter struggled to get back on level terms – then the roof caved in!

Berwick simply ran away with the match by winning each of the last three heats 1-5 as the Falcons wilted. Exeter will reflect that they had the majority of race winners but Berwick’s strength lay particularly at reserve where Pietraszko and Wilkinson rattled up a total of 24+5 between them.

Scorers: For Exeter – Seemond Stephens 10+1 (5), Lee Smethills 8 (5), Mark Lemon 7 (4), Ray Morton 5+1 (4), Ben Barker 5 (4), Pavel Ondrasik 2 (5), Toni Svab 1 (3).

For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 13+1 (6), Adam Pietraszko 13+1 (6), Carl Wilkinson 11+4 (6), Scott Smith 10+1 (5), Chris Schramm 3+2 (4), Tom P Madsen 2+1 (3).


Premier League: Newcastle 55, Newport 36 Newcastle won the bonus point on aggregate by 100-81.


Newcastle had Trevor Harding at reserve in place of the injured Christian Henry while Newport had Stuart Robson as a guest for the injured Craig Watson and again used R/R for Michael Coles.

If ever Newcastle hit the jackpot with a guest it was surely in picking Trevor Harding as a replacement for Christian Henry at number 6. He outscored Newport’s guest for their number 1 Craig Watson by 3 points albeit from a ride more.

A 4-2 for Newcastle in heat 2 was all that separated the sides over the opening five heats as the score went to 16-14. Newcastle then took heats 6 and 7 by 4-2 with Josef Franc and James Grieves both recording their second race wins then heat 8 was shared to take the score to 27-21.

Stuart Robson won heat 9 for a shared heat then Newport hit the Diamonds with a 1-5 from Neil Collins and Lee Dicken over the previously unbeaten Josef Franc in heat 10 to cut the home side’s lead to two points at 31-29. Newcastle suddenly sprung to life and responded with a 4-2 in heat 11 followed by maximums in each of the last four heats even thwarting a Neil Collins TR in heat 14 which resulted in a 5-2 for the Diamonds.

Scorers: For Newcastle – James Grieves 15 (5) (full maximum), Josef Franc 11+2 (5), Trevor Harding 11 (5), Phil Morris 7+2 (4), Richard Juul 6+3 (4), Lubos Tomicek 4 (4), Jaimie Robertson 1 (3).

For Newport – Neil Collins 11 (5) including a 2 point TR, Stuart Robson 8 (4), Tony Atkin 7 (6), Lee Dicken 5+3 (7), Mads Korneliussen 3+1 (4), Karlis Ezergailis 2 (4).

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 12 July

The sole Premier League match tonight was, as is usual for a Tuesday, on the Isle of Wight where the visitors were Edinburgh fresh from their success last night at Reading.



Premier League: Isle of Wight 61, Edinburgh 34. Edinburgh won the bonus point on aggregate by 97-91


The Isle of Wight were at full strength for this match. Edinburgh had Michal Makovsky as a guest at number 1 for the injured Theo Pijper.

Although Edinburgh kept the score fairly close over the opening heats, the Islanders soon pressed ahead and the match ultimately revolved round whether or not they could pull back the 33 point deficit for the bonus point. The Islanders did not have a single last placed rider apart from Jason Doyle who fell in heat 14 under challenge from Daniel Nermark.

In the opening heat Craig Boyce just nipped ahead of Michal Makovsky on the second bend for an opening 4-2 to the home side. William Lawson comfortably won the reserves race for a shared heat then Daniel Nermark split the Ostergaard/Marsh pairing for another 4-2. Rusty Harrison made a good start to win heat 4 and, with Robert Ksiezak in second place for the first lap, Edinburgh looked as though they would take a heat advantage. However Ksiezak was passed by both the home riders on the first two bends of lap two and the heat was shared. This took the score after the opening four races to 14-10.

The Isle of Wight stepped up a gear after that. They scored two 4-2s over heats 5 and 6 before registering the first 5-1 of the match in heat 7 from Tomas Suchanek and Jason Doyle from Cameron Woodward to move 12 points in front. In heat 8 Edinburgh made a reserve change with William Lawson taking Robert Ksiezak’s place and they tried to give Lawson a TR too. However the referee was having none of it and Lawson had to replace his black and white helmet cover with a yellow one. Steen Jensen made it to the second bend first but Lawson took second place for a 4-2 which moved the heat 8 score to 31-17.

Rusty Harrison took a TR in heat 8 but Ostergaard and Marsh were first to drive off the second bend for a 5-2. Heat 9 produced the first pass of the match (after the second bend shake out) when Cameron Woodward drove round the outside of Steen Jensen on the third and fourth bends for second place and a 4-2 to the home side then Michal Makovsky took a TR in heat 11. Suchanek was again first to come off the second bend so Makovsky had to be content with second place which gave Edinburgh a 4-4 shared heat.

Heat 12 produced an incredible ride for Cameron Woodward. Krister Marsh was quickly into the lead with Woodward giving chase. On the second bend of the second lap Woodward went just too wide to get some drive and clouted the fence. His front wheel reared in the air and he did well to stay on his machine although he slipped to the back. Nothing daunted he took up the chase again, passed William Lawson and caught and passed Glen Phillips on the last bend for a hard earned second place and a 4-2 to the Islanders. The score was now 48-27 and it was clear that the Islanders were going to fall short in their quest for the bonus. A ‘tapes to flag’ win for Boyce and Suchanek produced another home 5-1 then Edinburgh played their last card by giving Cameron Woodward a GDTS ride from 15 metres back. Daniel Nermark burst into life by almost squeezing past Ulrich Ostergaard on the first two bends but he was passed by both Ostergaard then Doyle. A close race followed between Doyle and Nermark before Doyle fell on the third lap. The rerun was again won by Ostergaard but with Nermark slowing to allow Woodward through Edinburgh took their one and only heat advantage of the night with a 3-5. The Islanders wrapped things up with Boyce and Ostergaard completing their maximums in the last heat.


Scorers: For Isle of Wight – Craig Boyce 15 (5) (full maximum), Ulrich Ostergaard 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Tomas Suchanek 9+2 (4), Krister Marsh 7+1 (4), Steen Jensen 6 (4), Jason Doyle 5+1 (4), Glen Phillips 5+1 (4).

For Edinburgh – Cameron Woodward 9 (5) including a 4 point GDTS from 15 metres, Michal Makovsky 9 (5) including a 4 point TR, Rusty Harrison 8 (5) including a 2 point TR, William Lawson 5 (5), Daniel Nermark 3+1 (4), Kristian Lund 0 (3), Robert Ksiezak 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 13 July

Of the two matches tonight one was in the Premier League KO Cup and the other for Premier League points. At Hull the Vikings were attempting to pull back a 22 deficit from the first leg of their Premier League KO Cup first round match against Glasgow while King’s Lynn were looking for revenge in their Premier League match against Rye House after their heavy defeat at Hoddesdon.



Premier League KO Cup (first round, second leg): Hull 44, Glasgow 46 Glasgow won though to the second round on aggregate by 102-78.


Hull were without Garry Stead and Joel Parsons for this match. In place of Garry Stead they had Michal Makovsky at number 5 as a guest and Daniel Giffard at number 7 for Joel Parsons. Glasgow were at full strength.

It was always going to be a hard task to pull back 22 points against a rejuvenated Glasgow side but Hull were very much up against it when Michal Makovsky, as a guest for Garry Stead, turned in the lowest score in the team. The Vikings got a break when George Stancl fell and was excluded from the opening heat but Trent Leverington got the Tigers off to a good start by winning it. Hull then scored two 4-2s in heats 2 and 3 and heat 4, won by Shane Parker, was shared for a score of 14-10 after heat 4.

Glasgow then effectively put the tie beyond Hull’s reach with 2-4s in heats 5 and 6 won by Stancl and Parker respectively to get back on level terms. Then they shocked Hull with a 1-5 from Ekberg and Kristensen ahead of Makovsky in heat 7 to lead 19-23 on the night. Hull responded with a 5-1 from Daniel Giffard and Craig Branney after Trent leverington had fallen to square the match after heat 8 at 24-24.

There was only the prestige of the result on the night at stake after that and Hull took another 5-1 in heat 9 when Paul Thorp and Emil Kramer relegated Shane Parker to third place for a 4 point lead. Undismayed Glasgow were back on level terms after heat 10 when Ekberg and Kristensen took another 1-5 this time from Emiliano Sanchez. They followed that with their third 1-5 of the night in heat 11 from Stancl and Leverington after Makovsky had fallen and been excluded to lead 31-35 then increased their lead to six points when Ekberg beat Thorp with Roynan taking third place from Giffard. The score after heat 12 was 33-39.

It looked all over as the rampant Glasgow side took another 2-4 from Parker and Stancl in heat 13 for a 35-43 lead but Hull kept their hopes of a draw alive with a 5-1 in heat 14 from Kramer and Terenzani leaving them needing another 5-1 in the last race to salvage it. Although Kramer won heat 15, Ekberg took the vital second place as Thorp beat Parker at the back. Glasgow were then through to a quarter final tie against Rye House.

Scorers: For Hull – Emil Kramer 11+1 (5), Paul Thorp 9 (5), Emiliano Sanchez 7 (4), Simone Terenzani 6+1 (4), Daniel Giffard 5+1 (4), Craig Branney 3+2 (4), Miachal Makovsky 3 (4).

For Glasgow – Stefan Ekberg 13 (5), Shane Parker 10 (5), George Stancl 7 (4), Trent Leverington 6+1 (4), Claus Kristensen 4+2 (4), James Cockle 4 (4), Adam Roynon 2 (4).


Premier League: King’s Lynn 53, Rye House 38 Rye House won the bonus point on aggregate by 99-87.


It’s hard to keep up with the King’s Lynn team these days as they are afflicted by injuries, recruit replacements then reinstate riders returning form injury and shuffle things about again thanks to the averages. Tonight Ashley Jones was at number 2 and Jan Jaros at number 3. Trevor Harding was at number 7. Rye House were at full strength and were defending a 27 point lead for the bonus point.

A shared opening heat, won as usual by Tomas Topinka, was followed by 5-1s to either side. Troy Batchelor and Trevor Harding took the reserves race for King’s Lynn then Daniel King and Brent Werner did likewise for Rye House in heat 3. Chris Neath won heat 4 for a shared heat and the score was 12-12.

The teams then exchanged 4-2s in heats 5 and 6. Robson and Kennet did the business for Rye House to put them momentarily in the lead but Topinka and Jones squared the match again in the following heat. Heats 7 and 8 won by Oliver Allen then Edward Kennett kept the match all tied up after 8 heats at 24-24.

In heat 9 King’s Lynn took a 5-1 from Kevin Doolan and Jan Jaros to put the Stars four points up going into the interval. Then after the interval Tomas Topinka and Ashley Jones repeated the dose from King and Werner and the Stars found themselves 8 points to the good. Heat 11 was shared but another 5-1 for King’s Lynn from Jan Jaros and Trevor Harding saw the match almost outwith Rye House’s grasp. They gave Stuart Robson a TR in heat 13 but it all went pear-shaped when he fell on the first bend. Although he remounted Chris Neath in third place did not slow to let him through for the extra point although by this time it was irrelevant. The resultant 5-1 took the score to 47-31. Tommy Allen was then given a TR in heat 14 and scored four points from his second place finish when Troy Batchelor was excluded and Steve Boxall suffered an engine failure for an unusual 3-4 score. Tomas Topinka won the last heat for a shared heat. Although it was a comfortable win for the Stars it was also a comfortable bonus point for the Rockets.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Kevin Doolan 9 (4), Oliver Allen 8+2 (5), Trevor Harding 7+3 (4), Ashley Jones 5+3 (4), Jan Jaros 5+1 (4), Troy Batchelor 5 (4).

For Rye House – Stuart Robson 11 (5), Chris Neath 6 (4), Daniel King 5+1 (3), Edward Kennett 5+1 (5), Brent Werner 4+1 (4), Tommy Allen 4 (4), Steve Boxall 3 (5).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 14 July

The sole Premier League match tonight was, as is usual for a Thursday, at Sheffield where the visitors were Exeter.



Premier League: Sheffield 56, Exeter 37. Sheffield won the bonus point on aggregate by 95-93


It was a red letter day for Sheffield as they welcomed back from injury their inspirational skipper, Sean Wilson and Richard Hall both of whom had been missing from the line up for some time. So for the first time in ages they were at full strength. Exeter too were at full strength defending a 17 point lead for the bonus point.

It was Exeter who took the lead in the opening heat as Mark Lemon beat Sean Wilson with Lee Smethills third but a 4-2 from Kyle Legault and Paul Cooper split by Ben Barker levelled the score again. Ashworth and Hall took another 4-2 to put Sheffield in front then heat 4 was shared after Kyle Legault was excluding for bringing down Toni Svab who was unfit to take his place in the rerun. The score after heat 4 was 13-11.

Ashworth won heat 5 for a shared heat but Sheffield extended their lead to six points with a 5-1 from the two Wilsons. Andre Compton won heat 7 for a 3-3 but Exeter hit back with a 1-5 in heat 8 when the Sheffield pair were outgated by Lee Smethills and Pavel Ondrasik to cut the Tigers’ lead to two points after heat 8 at 25-23.

Stung by that, Sheffield banged home two 5-1s in heat 9 and 10 from Ashworth and Hall then the two Wilsons to charge 10 points ahead at 35-25. Exeter then gave a TR to Mark Lemon but Andre Compton won the heat. With Lemon second and Smethills third the heat result was a 3-5 advantage to Exeter who cut the lead to eight points. Another Sheffield 5-1 in heat 12 increased the Sheffield lead to 12 points and Sheffield were beginning to take a keener interest in the bonus point with the score at 43-31.

Mark Lemon won heat 13 for a 3-3 then Exeter gave a TR to Ray Morton. Morton made a fast start and led the race for three laps before Hall and Legault forced their way past for a 5-2 which opened the lead to 15 points at 51-36 leaving Sheffield needing a 5-1 in the last heat to win the bonus point. They got it too when Sean Wilson and Andre Compton both passed Mark Lemon to make the Tigers night complete.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 12+2 (5), Sean Wilson 12+1 (5), Ricky Ashworth 12 (4) (full maximum), Kyle Legault 7+1 (5), Ben Wilson 6+1 (4), Richard hall 6+1 (4), Paul Cooper 1 (3).

For Exeter – Mark Lemon 12+1 (5) including a 4 point TR, Lee Smethills 7+1 (4), Ray Morton 7 (4) including a 2 point TR, Ben Barker 5+1 (5), Pavel Ondrasik 4 (4), Seemond Stephens 2+1 (4), Toni Svab 0 (5).

[Merlin]

Friday, 15 July

Two Premier League matches were raced tonight. At Edinburgh the visitors were league leaders Berwick . The other match was at Somerset where the Rebels raced against King’s Lynn .



Premier League: Edinburgh 59, Berwick 34.


Edinburgh were without their injured captain, Theo Pijper, and had Andre Compton as a guest at number 1. Berwick were without Adrian Rymel, injured last Sunday at Newport, and used R/R at number 1. They were also without Scott Smith and had Trent Leverington as a guest.

Although Berwick yet again took a bit of a hammering at Armadale there were some excellent races as the Bandits gated well. Adam Pietraszko had to withdraw after his second race suffering from a neck injury.

Tom P Madsen rocketed from the gate in heat 1 to share the race 3-3 before the Monarchs took a 4-2 from the reserves race. William Lawson pulled a locker on the first bend, hampering his partner, Robert Ksiezak, and giving the Berwick reserves a big lead. However as Pietraszko and Wilkinson tried to tiptoe their way to a 1-5, Wilkinson fell and Lawson, with the bit firmly between his teeth, reeled in Pietraszko to get the decision on the line. Daniel Nermark fell in heat 3 after throwing a chain but Cameron Woodward won the rerun for a shared heat. Rusty Harrison won heat 4 after a rerun for another shared heat and the heat 4 score was 13-11.

Chris Schramm made an electric start to heat 5 but an excellent ride from Daniel Nermark took him past the Berwick rider for a 4-2 to double Edinburgh’s lead. In heat 6 the referee ludicrously excluded Andre Compton for making an inside pass on Michal Makovsky who laid his machine down in sheer fright but Kristian Lund made an excellent start in the rerun to share the race. Rusty Harrison won heat 7 from Madsen as William Lawson picked off Trent Leverington for third place and Edinburgh stretched their lead to 6 points. Kristian Lund drove hard round the field in heat 8 and was joined by William Lawson for a 5-1 which took the score after 8 heats to 29-19.

Michal Makovsky made a fast start to heat 9 but forgot to turn and, as he fell, he clouted his partner, Carl Wilkinson, into the fence. In the rerun Carl Wilkinson made another fast start but Woodward reeled him in and passed him after 2 laps. Wilkinson then had the misfortune to suffer an engine failure and conceded second place to Daniel Nermark while pushing home for the third place point. Tom P Madsen also made a fast start to heat 10 and won comfortably with Berwick probably wishing they had given him a TR. The heat was shared then Berwick gave a TR to Michal Makovsky in heat 11 but he was well beaten by Rusty Harrison and William Lawson for a 5-2 to the Monarchs. In heat 12 Berwick finally did give a TR to their man in form, Tom P Madsen, but it was Cameron Woodward who drove strongly round the outside of the Berwick rider to win the heat. Madsen gave chased but finally fell back. With Carl Wilkinson third Berwick managed their one and only heat adavantage of the night with a 3-5 to take the heat 12 score to 45-30.

Heat 13 saw an excellent race between Rusty Harrison and Chris Schramm with Schramm passing Harrison round the outside of the first and second bends of the second lap but the Edinburgh rider did likewise to Schramm one lap later for a 4-2. Edinburgh then signed off with two 5-1s from Daniel Nermark and William Lawson in heat 14 and Cameron Woodward and Rusty Harrison in heat 15.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Rusty Harrison 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Cameron Woodward 13 (5), William Lawson 10+3 (5), Kristian Lund 8+2 (4), Daniel Nermark 8+1 (4), Andre Compton 5+1 (4), Robert Ksiezak 1 (3).

For Berwick – Tom P Madsen 15 (6) including a 4 point TR, Carl Wilkinson 8+1 (7), Michal Makovsky 4+2 (5) including a 2 point TR, Chris Schramm 4 (6), Adam Pietraszko 2 (2), Trent Leverington 1+1 (4).



Premier League: Somerset 43, King’s Lynn 47 King’s Lynn won the bonus point on aggregate by 109-75


Somerset were at full strength for this match while King’s Lynn fielded the same team which beat Rye House on Wednesday night. King’s Lynn had a 30 point lead for the bonus point which looked to be way beyond Somerset’s capacity to pull it back.

After a shared opening heat, The Stars’ reserves took the reserves race 1-5. This was a bad omen for Somerset as was subsequently proved by the King’s Lynn reserves outscoring the Somerset reserves by 20-4 from one more ride over the match. Somerset hit back with a 4-2 in heat 3 from Fry and Hawkins but heat 4 was shared, won by Glenn Cunningham, for a heat 4 score of 11-13.

In heats 5 and 7 King’s Lynn scored two more 2-4s from Topinka and Jones then Batchelor and Doolan while heats 6 and 8 were shared so the score after 8 heats saw King’s Lynn with a six point lead at 21-27. It was announced after heat 7 that Paul Fry had withdrawn from the meeting although no reason was given. This was a massive blow for the Rebels since their reserves were inadequate replacements for their number 4.

Oliver Allen retired from heat 9 as Somerset pulled two points back with a win for Ritchie Hawkins and the next two heats were shared with wins for Magnus Zetterstrom and Glenn Cunningham for the Rebels. In heat 12 Somerset clawed another two points back with a 4-2 from Hawkins and King to make the score 35-37 leaving only two points between the sides with three heats to go.

Oliver Allen fell and was excluded from heat 13 but Tomas Topinka kept the Stars in front by beating Glenn Cunningham and Magnus Zetterstrom for a shared heat. Then Somerset’s hopes were sunk without trace when, without Paul Fry in the race for Somerset, Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan took a match-winning 1-5 from the Somerset reserves for a 39-45 lead with one race to go. Magnus Zetterstrom had the satisfaction of beating Tomas Topinka for a 4-2 to the Rebels in heat 15 but it was the Stars who went home with the two league points plus the bonus.

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 12+1 (5), Glenn Cunningham 11 (5), Ritchie Hawkins 9 (4), Jaimie Smith 4+1 (4), Paul Fry 3 (2), Lee Smart 2 (5), Jason King 2 (5).

For King’s Lynn – Troy Batchelor 14+1 (6), Tomas Topinka 12 (5), Kevin Doolan 7+1 (5), Trevor Harding 6+1 (5), Oliver Allen 4+1 (4), Ashley Jones 3+2 (3), Jan Jaros 1+1 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 16 July

It was a big night for the Premier League KO Cup ties. At Rye House , Glasgow provided the opposition for the first leg of a quarter final tie while, similarly at Berwick the Bandits took on Workington in the same competition. The one other match was in the Premier League at Stoke where Exeter were the visitors.



Premier League KO Cup (quarter final, first leg): Rye House 48, Glasgow 42.


After winning 55-40 earlier in the season and with the team in good form, Rye House looked for a repeat of that score against Glasgow. However, the Tigers had an ace up their sleeve in the shape of recently signed Swede, Stefan Ekberg. Both teams were at full strength, although there was some doubt over Rye's Daniel King after he had aggravated a leg injury earlier in the week at King's Lynn.

Heat 1 saw Edward Kennet lead all the way. Stuart Robson chased George Stancl for second place but the Glasgow rider held on. Rye took a 5-1 in heat 2 through Tommy Allen and Steve Boxall. Adam Roynon tried hard to catch Boxall, eventually doing too much and coming off on the last bend.

Ekberg was out in heat 3 and led from tape to line. Daniel King and Brent Werner both caught and passed Claus Kristensen to level the heat. Glasgow won heat 4 when Shane Parker passed the fast starting Tommy Allen. Chris Neath fell at the first bend to give James Cockle an easy run for third place. The fifth heat was shared. Stancl led all the way against King and Werner who, once again, worked themselves into the minor places, this time catching Trent Leverington.

Heat 6 was the pick of the night. Kennett again shot out of the gate to lead throughout. Behind him, Parker and Robson had a tremendous race for second place. Parker held the upper hand until the last bend when Robson, having already looked at the move on the previous lap, squared the last corner beautifully and got the drive on early to take second place at the line.

Glasgow took a 4-2 in heat 7. Ekberg flew from the tapes to win from Neath, with Boxall trying, but failing, to catch Kristensen. The Rockets hit back with a 5-1 in heat 8 (Kennett & Allen) to lead by 10. The re-run heat 9 was shared, Werner gating fast to hold off Parker. Daniel King fell at the first bend to gift Adam Roynon third place.

Stefan Ekberg faced his toughest test so far in heat 10 against Robson & Kennett. For once, his gating deserted him and it was Robson who led all the way, Kennett following him home for a 5-1. Heat 11 was another cracker. Stancl led Neath from the tapes and the two of them had a four-lap duel. Neath got in front briefly on the third lap but Stancl passed him again on the outside of the second bend. Leverington beat Boxall for third place.

Heat 12 was a real blow for the Rockets. Ekberg raced to the front once again ahead of Adam Roynon, with Allen and Werner never close enough to challenge. The Rockets stormed back in heat 13 where Robson and Kennett faced Stancl and Parker. Neath, at last, started quickly and had the comfort of finding Stuart Robson behind him. Stancl tracked them in third place but Robson watched him closely and took an easy second place behind Neath.

Glasgow came back again in heat 14. When Kristensen and Roynon lined up against Allen and King, the home side must have fancied their chances of a 5-1. They were right - but it went in Glasgow's favour. Kristensen, in gate 1, started quickly and took both Rye riders wide at the first bend. Roynon had no problem in slipping through into second place and there he stayed, behind Kristensen, until the line.

Rye House sent out Kennett and Robson in heat 15. Glasgow, for once, left Shane Parker in the pits and sent out Stancl and Ekberg. The Glasgow pair gated quickly and Stancl led all the way. Kennett, for the first time, was slowly away and took no part. The battle for second place was won by Robson who caught and passed Ekberg.

This was a great result for Glasgow and they must be favourites to win the tie. They won 8 of the 15 heats and no other team has come close to doing that at Rye House this season.

Scorers: For Rye House – Edward Kennett 11+1, Stuart Robson 10+2 (5), Tommy Allen 9+1 (5), Chris Neath 7 (4), Brent Werner 5+2 (4), Daniel King 4 (4), Steve Boxall 2+1 (3)

For Glasgow – George Stancl 12 (5), Stefan Ekberg 10 (5), Shane Parker 6 (4), Adam Roynon 5+3 (5), Claus Kristensen 5 (4), James Cockle 2 (3), Trent Leverington 2 (4).

[Report by Candyman]




Premier League KO Cup (quarter final, first leg): Berwick 49, Workington 41


Berwick were missing Adam Pietraszko for this match and had Jaimie Robertson as a guest at number 6. Workington had Jaimie Courtney at number 6 and Aidan Collins at number 7.

Berwick opened with a 4-2 thanks to a win for Adrian Rymel over Carl Stonehewer as Adam Allott went from 15 metres back for tape touching. But the next four heats were all shared as the score after heat 5 went to 16-14. Workington then wiped out Berwick’s lead and went two points ahead with a 1-5 in heat 6 from James Wright and Jaimie Courtney ahead of Adrian Rymel but Berwick countered with a 5-1 of their own from Jaimie Robertson and Michal Makovsky ahead of Shaun Tacey as Scott Robson retired from the heat. This took the score to 22-20.

A 4-2 to the Bandits in heat 8 through Carl Wilkinson and Chris Schramm doubled their lead to four points then a 5-1 in heat 9 from Carl Wilkinson who replaced Tom P Madsen and Scott Smith doubled it again to eight points at 31-23. Madsen withdrew from the meeting with a shoulder injury to leave the Bandits shorthanded in their quest to build a match-winning lead for the second leg.

That was the end to any heat advantages since the last six heats were all shared with Berwick unable to increase their lead and Workington containing the deficit at eight points to set up a finely balanced second leg tomorrow night at Workington.

Scorers: For Berwick – Carl Wilkinson 14+1 (6), Michal Makovsky 9+1 (5), Scott Smith 8+1 (5), Jaimie Robertson 6+1 (4), Adrian Rymel 6 (4), Tom P Madsen 3+1 (2), Chris Schramm 3 (4).

For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 13 (5), Scott Robson 9 (4), James Wright 7 (5), Aidan Collins 6+1 (4), Jaimie Courtney 5+1 (5), Shaun Tacey 1 (4), Adam Allott 0 (3).



Premier League: Stoke 50, Exeter 40 Stoke won the bonus point on aggregate by 94-86.


Stoke had Glenn Cunningham as a guest for Jan Staechmann at number 5 but otherwise were at full strength. Exeter were unchanged with a full strength side. The Falcons won the match at the County Ground by only two points so were going to have their work cut out trying to win the bonus point.

Mark Lemon won heat 1 for a 3-3 then the Potters’ reserves scored a 4-2 in heat 2 to take the lead. Ray Morton won heat 3 for Exeter and the heat was shared as was heat 4 won by Glenn Cunningham. The score after the opening four heats was 13-11.

Stoke doubled their lead with a 4-2 in heat 5 from Alan Mogridge and Paul Clews then the meeting was held up for around 40 minutes allowing the sun to set so that the riders could see properly. On the restart Stoke took another 4-2 in heat 6 won by Peter Carr with Robbie Kessler third but Exeter hit back strongly with a 1-5 in heat 7 from Ray Morton and Seemond Stephens ahead of Glenn Cunningham to cut the home side’s lead to two points at 22-20. Robbie Kessler won heat 8 for a shared heat to take the score after 8 heats to 25-23.

In heat 9 Stoke hit home a 5-1 from Mogridge and Clews but Exeter responded immediately in heat 10 with their own 1-5 from Stephens and Morton so there were still only two points in it. Back came Stoke with another 5-1 this time from Barrie Evans and Glenn Cunningham ahead of Mark Lemon to open up the six point lead again at 36-30. Heat 12 was shared then Exeter pulled two points back again with a 2-4 from Lemon and Svab in heat 13 to make the score 41-37. There were now only four points between the teams with two heats remaining but in heat 14 Stoke scored a match-winning 4-2 when Alan Mogridge ended Ray Morton’s unbeaten run with Barrie Evans picking up the vital third place point. Mogridge also won the last heat and with Glenn Cunningham second ahead of Mark Lemon Stoke clinched the bonus point too.

Scorers: For Stoke – Alan Mogridge 13+1 (5), Glenn Cunningham 10+2 (5), Barrie Evans 9 (5), Paul Clews 6+2 (4), Robbie Kessler 6+1 (4), Peter Carr 5 (4), Jack Hargreaves 1 93).

For Exeter – Ray Morton 10 +1 (4), Mark Lemon 10 (5), Seemond Stephens 8+1 (5), Toni Svab 5+1 (4), Pavel Ondrasik 3+1 (5), Ben Barker 2 (3), Lee Smethills 2 (4).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 17 July

The two matches raced today were in the Premier League KO Cup. At Newport the Wasps faced Reading while at Workington the Comets met Berwick . At Glasgow the day was given over to Shane Parker for his testimonial meeting.



Premier League KO Cup (first round, second leg): Newport 39, Reading 51 Reading won through to the next round on aggregate by 105-75


Newport faced an 18 point deficit to pull back from the first leg of this cup tie and this week had Stuart Robson for the injured Craig Watson. They again used the R/R facility for the absent Michael Coles. Reading had reshuffled their team following their home defeat by Edinburgh. With Danny Bird still out through injury Steve Masters came back into the side at number 3 with Appleton and Simota forming the opening pairing.

There was good news and bad news for the Newport fans in the opening race. The good news was that Mads Korneliussen won it beating Andrew Appleton for a 4-2. The bad news was that Korneliussen fell after the race had finished and sustained a shoulder injury that caused him to withdraw from the meeting. Already tracking a six man team they were now down to five riders although with Karlis Ezergailis failing to score a point in his seven races it was effectively four!

In heat 2 the Racers equalised with Richard Wolff taking the race win from Lee Dicken but Newport took a four point lead with a 5-1 in heat 3 when Neil Collins and Tony Atkin outpaced Steve Masters after Mathieu Tressarieu had fallen at the back. A fine ride by Stuart Robson to pass both Richard Wolff and Matej Zagar earned the Wasps a share of the points in heat 4 after which the score was 14-10.

Although Lee Dicken fell in heat 5, Neil Collins took his second race win for another shared heat but Reading pulled two points back in heat 6 with a Zagar win from Atkin with Chris Johnson again beating Karlis Ezergailis for the third place point. In heat 7 Stuart Robson again came from the back to head home Steve Masters and Richard Wolff but in heat 8 Newport lost their lead and fell two points in arrears when Reading took a 1-5 from Zdenek Simota and on-fire reserve Richard Wolff. This took the score after 8 heats to 23-25 and already the aggregate victory was looking like a forlorn hope for Newport. It wasn’t all good news for Reading, however, as Mathieu Tressarieu withdrew with a shoulder injury.

It got worse for the Wasps when Matej Zagar won heat 9 with Chris Johnson beating Karlis Ezergailis for the third time for the third place point. The 2-4 gave Reading a four point lead and they increased it to six when Steve Masters beat Tony Atkin in heat 10 with Richard Wolff third for another 2-4. Stuart Robson won heat 11 but with Lee Dicken at the back the six point gap remained and there was no change in the next race when Neil Collins won from Steve Masters with Chris Johnson beating Karlis Ezergailis at the back for the fourth time in the meeting. The score after heat 12 stood at 33-39.

Matej Zagar finally ended Stuart Robson’s winning streak in heat 13 for another reading 2-4 while Richard Wolff and Chris Johnson took a 1-5 in heat 14 from the Wasps’ reserves to extend the Racers’ lead to 12 points. In the last race Matej Zagar wound things up by beating Stuart Robson and Neil Collins to end a sorry match for Newport.

Scorers: For Newport – Stuart Robson 13 (5), Neil Collins 12+1 (5), Tony Atkin 8+1 (5), Mads Korneliussen 3 (1), Lee Dicken 3 (7), Karlis Ezergailis 0 (7).

For Reading – Matej Zagar 14 (5), Richard Wolff 11+3 (7), Steve Masters 8 (4), Zdenek Simota 7 (4), Chris Johnson 6+2 (5), Andrew Appleton 5+2 (4), Mathieu Tressarieu 0 (2).



Premier League KO Cup (second round, second leg): Workington 42, Berwick 48 Berwick won through to the next round on aggregate by 97-83.


This tie looked finely balanced as Workington contained Berwick to an eight point lead in the first leg last night. The Comets had Jaimie Courtney at number 6 and Aidan Collins at number 7. Berwick had Adrian Rymel back at number 1 after his injury sustained at Newport last Sunday but were missing Tom P Madsen who was injured last night in the first leg at Berwick in a collision with James Wright. They were also without Adam Pietraszko at reserve and his place was taken by Jaimie Robertson as a guest.

Carl Stonehewer won the opening race but with Chris Schramm passing Adam Allott at the back the heat was shared. Workington took the lead in heat 2 when jaimie Courtney beat Carl Wilkinson with Aidan Collins third for a 4-2 but Berwick hit back with a vengeance in heat 3 with a 1-5 from the fast gating Scott Smith and Chris Schramm against the Scott Robson/Shaun Tacey pairing which put the bandits two points in front on the night. James Wright won heat 4 with Aidan Collins falling at the back for a shared heat so the score after 4 races was 11-13 with Berwick now 10 points ahead on aggregate.

Scott Robson had an engine failure in heat 5 as Adrian Rymel beat Shaun Tacey so Berwick went even further ahead with the 2-4. Carl Stonehewer and Adam Allott hit the front in heat 6 but Allott was passed by both Makovsky and Robertson so the heat was shared. Heat 7 turned out to be pivotal. Scott Smith in front fell and James Wright had nowhere to go crashing into the stricken Berwick rider. Smith collapsed in the pits and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken pelvis while James Wright who was severly shaken but did not appear to have suffered any broken bones was withdrawn from the meeting by the doctor. This was more of a blow to Workington than it was to Berwick since the Comets rely heavily on Wright’s heavy scoring round Derwent Park. As a result of the delay in waiting for the ambulance for Smith the interval was taken. On resumption Carl Wilkinson won the rerun of heat 7 so Workington failed to make any inroads to berwick’s lead. The same rider won heat 8, too, but this time Chris Schramm followed him home ahead of Adam Allott and Aidan Collins and the 1-5 all but ended Workington’s hopes who now trailed by 20-28 after 8 heats and by 16 points on aggregate.

Tacey and Robson got two points back with a 4-2 in heat 9 and Stonehewer did likewise in heat 10 from Stonehewer and Courtney after Wilkinson had fallen so the lead on the night was cut to four points at 28-32. Berwick moved six points clear again with a 2-4 in heat 11 thanks to Rymel and Schramm then Shaun Tacey won heat 12 for a share of the points. With the score at 33-39 after 12 races Berwick had already clinched the tie on aggregate.

Stonehewer won heat 13 for a 3-3 then Berwick took another 2-4 in heat 14 from Robertson and Wilkinson before the Comets wound things up winning the last race 4-2 thanks to Carl Stonehewer and Shaun Tacey.

Scorers: For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 15 (5) (full maximum), Jaimie Courtney 9+1 (6), Shaun Tacey 9 (5), James Wright 3 (2), Aidan Collins 3 (6), Scott Robson 2 (4), Adam Allott 1 (3).

For Berwick – Carl Wilkinson 12+1 (7), Adrian Rymel 11+1 (5), Michal Makovsky 10 (5), Chris Schramm 7+3 (6), Jaimie Robertson 5+2 (5), Scott Smith 3 (2).



Shane Parker Testimonial Meeting

First: Sam Ermolenko 14 points
Second: Steve Johnston 13 points
Third: Shane Parker, Gary Havelock, Simon Stead 11 points

The testimonial meeting took the form of a 16 rider, 20 heat individual meeting with each rider taking five rides. The full list of point scorers was:

Sam Ermolenko 14, Steve Johnston 13, Shane Parker 11, Gary Havelock 11, Simon Stead 11, Chris Harris 10, Jason Lyons 10, George Stancl 8, Rusty Harrison 7, Stefan Ekberg 7, Joe Screen 5, Trent Leverington 5, Chris Louis 3, James Grieves 2 (4), Paul Thorp 2, Craig Boyce 1, Adam Roynon (reserve) 0 (1).

[Merlin]

Monday, 18 July

The Premier League match at Reading saw the Racers take on Somerset while at Exeter the Falcons met King’s Lynn in the first leg of their second round Premier League KO Cup tie.


Premier League: Reading 46, Somerset 44.


Reading tracked the same team which won at Newport yesterday which meant that Steve Masters was at number 3 with Appleton and Simota forming the opening partnership. Somerset were without Paul Fry and used R/R at number 4. They also had Chris Mills at number 7 as a guest for Jason King.

Last week Reading won the last heat 4-2 to score 46 points but lose. This week they did the same but won. Somerset, who are turning out to be a real Jekyll and Hyde side, pushed the Racers all the way with the scores tied at 42-42 with one heat to go.

Magnus Zetterstrom won the opening heat which was shared then Reading took the lead with a 4-2 in heat 2 through Richard Wolff and Chris Johnson. Ritchie Hawkins won heat 3 for Somerset and a shared heat then Matej Zagar did likewise for Reading to produce a score after heat 4 of 13-11.

The next four heats were also shared producing wins for Zetterstrom, Cunningham, Zagar and Simota so there were still two points between the teams after heat 8 when the score was 25-23. In heat 9 Somerset finally got back on level terms with a win from Glenn Cunningham over Mathieu Tressarieu with Chris Mills beating Steve Masters but they were soon behind again. Heat 10 produced the first 5-1 of the match to Reading from Appleton and Simota to propel the Racers into a four points lead. Heat 11 saw the first battle of the big ‘Zs’ won by Zagar from Zetterstrom but the heat was shared. Somerset pulled two points back in heat 12 won by Ritchie Hawkins to cut the Racers’ lead to two points and the heat 12 score was 37-35.

Zagar beat Zetterstrom again in heat 13 and with Appleton in third place the 4-2 to the Racers put them four up with two heats to go and looking favourites for the win. They got a shock in heat 14 though when Somerset scored a timely 1-5 in heat 14. Richard Wolff was excluded for bringing down Chris Mills and Hawkins and Mills took a maximum from Tressarieu to leave the match score at 42-42. Zagar made it three wins on the trot over Zetterstrom in heat 15 and it was Simota who took third place from Cunningham for the 4-2 which gave Reading the win.

Scorers: For Reading – Matej Zagar 15 (5) (full maximum), Zdenek Simota 9+2 (5), Andrew Appleton 7+1 (4), Mathieu Tressarieu 7 (4), Steve Masters 4+2 (4), Richard Wolff 3 (5), Chris Johnson 1 (3).

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 12 (5), Ritchie Hawkins 10+1 (5), Chris Mills 9+2 (6), Glenn Cunningham 9 (6), Jaimie Smith 4+2 (5), Lee Smart 0 (3).



Premier League KO Cup (second round, first leg): Exeter 45, King’s Lynn 45 .


It was a strange way to encourage a feel-good factor among the fans by announcing before this important cup tie got under way that Exeter were unlikely to run next year. As it was, the Falcons were without their number one Mark Lemon who was unwell and had Shaun Tacey as a guest in his place. King’s Lynn had Barrie Evans as a guest at number 6.

On their last visit to Exeter on 2nd May in a Premier Trophy match, King’s Lynn scored the grand total of 29 points from 15 heats and 3 of them were extra points from tactical rides! So this result was quite an improvement.

The Falcons opened with a 4-2 thanks to a win from their guest Shaun Tacey who beat Tomas Topinka for his only defeat in the match. It looked as though King’s Lynn would pull the two points back in heat 2 but Barrie Evans, guesting for the Stars, had a puncture and was passed on the last bend by Ben Barker for a shared heat. Kevin Doolan and Oliver Allen won heats 3 and 4 respectively for the Stars but there was no support for them so those heats were also shared taking the score after 4 heats to 13-11.

King’s Lynn got back on level terms in heat 5 when Tomas Topinka beat Ray Morton with Ashley Jones third for a 2-4 and then went ahead with a repeat result in heat 6 from Oliver Allen and Barrie Evans which meant that the Stars had produced four consecutive race winners. Toni Svab won heat 7 for a 3-3 then Exeter wiped out the Stars’ lead to go ahead themselves with a 5-1 from Lee Smethills and Pavel Ondrasik in heat 8 which brought the score to 25-23.

Another home 5-1 in heat 9 from Stephens and Morton after Oliver Allen had broken the tapes saw Exeter move 6 points in front in their efforts to build a lead for the second leg and they stretched it to eight points with a 4-2 in heat 10 from Tacey and Smethills to take the score to 34-26. However with Topinka out in three of the last five heats this lead was looking a bit precarious and so it proved. A 2-4 from Topinka and Jones was followed by a 1-5 in heat 12 when Jan Jaros and Troy Batchelor took advantage of a shed chain by race leader Pavel Ondrasik on the last bend. The fight back was completed with another 2-4 from Topinka and Allen in heat 13 with the score now reading 39-39.

In heat 14 Exeter may have thought they could take the lead again when Kevin Doolan touched the tapes and was excluded but Troy Batchelor came to King’s Lynn’s rescue by beating Ray Morton and Pavel Ondrasik for a shared heat before Tomas Topinka secured the draw for the Stars by winning the last heat for another share of the points.

Scorers: For Exeter – Shaun Tacey 12 (5), Ray Morton 8+3 (5), Pavel Ondrasik 6+3 (5), Seemond Stephens 6 (4), Toni Svab 5 (4), Lee Smethills 5 (4), Ben Barker 3+1 (3).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Troy Batchelor 10+1 (6), Oliver Allen 7 (5), Jan Jaros 6+1 (4), Kevin Doolan 5 (4), Ashley Jones 2 (4), Barrie Evans 1 (4).