Around the Premier League Tracks 2005

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 19 July

The usual Tuesday night Premier League match was as on the Isle of Wight where this week’s visitors were Sheffield.



Premier League: Isle of Wight 59, Sheffield 33. Isle of Wight won the bonus point on aggregate by 104-83.


The Isle of Wight were at full strength for this match as were Sheffield with Sean Wilson and Richard Hall back in the side.

It was another huge win for the Islanders tonight following their demolition of Edinburgh last week. This time they took the bonus too as Sheffield could only come up with two race winners all match.

Sheffield went in front with a 2-4 in heat 1 when Sean Wilson beat Craig Boyce and Steen Jensen suffered an engine failure on the run in to the line surrendering third place to Ben Wilson. The Islanders followed by producing the race winner to the next 13 heats. Heat 2 was shared though as Cooper and Legault followed Jason Doyle home after Glenn Phillips had to go from 15 metres back for tape touching. Then the home side slipped into top gear and won four of the next five heats by the 5-1 margin. The only break in this sequence came in heat 6, won by Boyce, with Cooper and Compton keeping Jensen at the back for a shared heat. The score after heat 7 was 28-14.

Ben Wilson took a second place in heat 8, won by Steen Jensen as the Islanders added another two points to their lead with a 4-2. In heat 9 Andre Compton took a TR but, despite a fast start, he was passed by both Marsh and Ostergaard on the exit from the second bend as the Tigers conceded a 5-2. In heat 10 Jensen and Boyce added another 5-1 to the score then Sean Wilson took a TR in heat 11. He was no more successful than Andre Compton two heats previously so another 5-2 went the Islanders way to take the score to 47-21.

Krister Marsh fell in heat 12 but Glenn Phillips rose to the occasion by denying Sheffield any advantage by winning the race. Sean Wilson fell in heat 13 while Boyce beat Compton for a 4-2 to the Islanders, a score which was repeated in heat 14 when Richard Hall split the Ostergaard/Doyle pairing to take the score to 58-28. It looked as though Sheffield would struggle to hit the 30 point mark but, in heat 15, Ulrich Ostergaard fell on the first bend and was excluded. In the rerun the Tigers shocked their hosts when Sean Wilson and Andre Compton took a 1-5 ahead of Craig Boyce to top the 30 point mark and prevent the Islanders topping the 60 point mark again. By that time the bonus had long since disappeared as far as the Tigers were concerned.

Scorers: For Isle of Wight – Jason Doyle 12+1 (5), Craig Boyce 11+1 (5), Ulrich Ostergaard 9+3 (5), Krister Marsh 9 (3), Tomas Suchanek 8+2 (4), Steen Jensen 6 (4), Glenn Phillips 4 (3).

For Sheffield – Sean Wilson 9 (5) including a 2 point TR, Andre Compton 8+2 (5) including a 2 point TR, Paul Cooper 6 (4), Ricky Ashworth 3+1 (4), Ben Wilson 3 (4), Richard Hall 3 (4), Kyle Legault 1+1 (4).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 20 July

One of tonight’s two matches was in the Premier League. At Hull the Vikings were at home to local rivals Sheffield. The other match was in the Premier League KO Cup. At King’s Lynn the Stars raced the second leg of their second round tie against Exeter .


Premier League: Hull 50, Sheffield 45


Hull were still without Garry Stead and this week had Robbie Kessler at number 5 as a guest with Danny Norton continuing at number 7 in place of Joel Parsons. Sheffield were at full strength.

Both teams started with 7 men but by heat 3 were down to 6 each as Craig Branney for Hull and Richard Hall for Sheffield were both withdrawn. Sheffield made good use of the TR facility to pull back from a 12 point deficit after heat 10 to lose by just 5 points and set themselves up for the bonus point.

Sean Wilson won the opening heat for Sheffield but it was Hull who took the lead with a 4-2 in the reserves race won by Simone Terenzani. Heat 3 was shared by virtue of a Ricky Ashworth win in a rerun with four riders after Ashworth and Branney had crashed on the back straight. Branney had to withdraw from the meeting as a result of his injuries and Richard Hall pulled out too. Hull then opened up a 6 point lead with a 5-1 from Danny Norton and Robbie Kessler after Andre Compton had fallen while lying third and remounted and Kyle Legault had engine failure at the start. This took the heat 4 score to 15-9.

Sheffield pulled two points back with a 2-4 from the two Wilsons in heat 5, but after sharing heat 6, Hull stretched the lead to 6 points again with a 4-2 from Terenzani and Kessler. Then the Vikings strengthened their grip on the match with a 5-1 from Thorp and Terenzani in heat 8 to open up a 10 point lead at 29-19.

In heat 9 Sheffield gave Andre Compton a TR. Emil Kramer won the heat but with Compton finishing second and Cooper third after Norton had fallen Sheffield gained a two point advantage with a 3-5 to trail by eight points. A 5-1 to Hull from Thorp and Sanchez in heat 10 had them 12 points down so Sean Wilson took a TR in heat 11. He won it, too, and with Ben Wilson following him home Sheffield took a big 1-8 to pull the score back to 38-33.

Paul Cooper rose to the occasion by winning heat 12 for the Tigers as Ricky Ashworth retired then Sean Wilson and Andre Compton had the home fans’ nerves jangling with a 2-4 in heat 13 to get within 3 points of the Vikings. Simone Terenzani didn’t help things by falling in heat 14 and being excluded but Emil Kramer won the heat to maintain the Vikings’ three point lead and set up a last heat decider.

With Sean Wilson and Andre Compton due out in heat 15 the Tigers had a chance to snatch the match but Compton was excluded under the two minute rule and elected to go from 15 metres back. However he failed to beat the fresh two minutes as well so Sheffield went with one rider in the race and lost it 4-2 when Paul Thorp took the win.



Scorers: For Hull – Paul Thorp 12+1 (5), Simone Terenzani 11+2 (7), Emil Kramer 11 (5), Robbie Kessler 6+1 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 5+2 (4), Danny Norton 5+1 (5), Craig Branney 0 (1).

For Sheffield – Sean Wilson 17 (5) including a 6 point TR, Andre Compton 9 (5) including a 4 point TR, Paul Cooper 8+1 (6), Ricky Ashworth 6 (4), Ben Wilson 3+1 (4), Kyle Legault 2+1 (6), Richard Hall 0 (1).



Premier League KO Cup (second round, second leg): King’s Lynn 63, Exeter 27 King’s Lynn won through to the semi-final on aggregate by 108-72.


King’s Lynn were at full strength for this second leg tie but Exeter were again without Mark Lemon and again had Shaun Tacey as a guest at number 1. King’s Lynn had done the hard work at Exeter on Monday night and were never in any danger of failing to win through for the semi-final tie against Berwick. Exeter’s cause wasn’t helped when Ray Morton had to withdraw from the meeting with concussion after crashing with Ashley Jones on the first bend of heat 10.

Poor Exeter, demoralised by the news of their imminent closure at the end of the season and the failure to build any sort of lead in the first leg on Monday night, were never in this match and, without any tactical rides to boost their score, fell well short of the 30 point mark.

Tomas Topinka won the opening heat but only for a 3-3 before the Stars took their first 5-1 of the meeting in the reserves race after Ben Barker had led from the start. Kevin Doolan won heat 3 but Exeter shared the race when Jan Jaros suffered an engine failure while lying second. Heat 4 produced a second 5-1 to the Stars so the score after the opening 4 heats was 16-8.

Heat 5 was shared then the Stars dropped only one point over the next four races when Ray Morton managed a second place to Troy Batchelor in heat 7 to move the score on to 38-16 at the interval after heat 9.

In heat 10 Ashley Jones and Ray Morton crashed with Morton withdrawing from the meeting. In the rerun with four riders Tomas Topinka won but Ben Barker, reserve replacement for Morton, took second place from Ashley Jones for a 4-2 to the home side. This was followed by a shared heat in heat 11 thanks to a race win by Shaun Tacey but another 5-1 in heat 12 from Harding and Jaros after both Exeter riders had fallen saw the score move on to 50-22.

Tacey won again in heat 13 ruining Tomas Topinka’s maximum in the process for another shared heat but the Stars finished with two more 5-1s in the last two heats for a resounding victory.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Kevin Doolan 15 (5) (full maximum), Tomas Topinka 13+1 (5), Trevor Harding 10+2 (4) (paid maximum), Oliver Allen 9+1 (4), Troy Batchelor 6+3 (4), Ashley Jones 6+1 (4), Jan Jaros 4+2 (4).

For Exeter – Shaun Tacey 11 (5), Ben Barker 7 (7), Ray Morton 4 (2), Lee Smethills 2+2 (4), Toni Svab 2 (4), Seemond Stephens 1+1 (4), Pavel Ondrasik 0 (4).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 21 July

Tonight Sheffield hosted the return local derby match against Hull in the Premier League looking to pull back the five points by which they lost at Hull in search of the bonus point.



Premier League: Sheffield 56, Hull 39. Sheffield won the bonus point on aggregate by 101-89


Once again Sheffield found themselves without Richard Hall and they used R/R for him at number 4. Hull were without Craig Branney, injured last night at Hull, and the Vikings used R/R for him at number 3.

Interest in the score both for the match and the aggregate bonus point soon disintegrated as Sheffield stormed into a 12 point lead after just 4 heats. Sean Wilson won the opening heat but Ben Wilson fell while in second place so the race was shared but Sheffield then struck with three consecutive 5-1s to lead 18-6 after 4 heats.

Hull gave Paul Thorp a TR in heat 5 which he won from Ashworth and Cooper for a 3-6 to the Vikings to cut Sheffield’s lead to 9 points. In heats 6 and 7 the teams exchanged 4-2s. Heat 6 was won by Sean Wilson from Robbie Kessler then heat 7 was won by Emil Kramer from Paul Cooper after Andre Compton had suffered an engine failure while leading the race. Paul Thorp won again in heat 8 for a shared heat and the score after eight heats was 30-21.

Robbie Kessler was next up for the TR in heat 9 but could only finish second to Ricky Ashworth for a 4-4 but Hull pulled two more points back with a 2-4 in heat 10 with a Kramer win after Sean Wilson fell and remounted. Andre Compton won heat 11 for another shared heat as Hull hung on but the Tigers stretched their lead to 9 points with a 4-2 in heat 12 when Ricky Ashworth beat Emil Kramer with Kyle Legault third. The score after heat 12 was 43-34.

Andre Compton and Sean Wilson took the expected 5-1 in heat 13 to finish off the Vikings’ hopes but they still tried a Tactical Substitute ride for Emiliano Sanchez in heat 14 from 15 metres back. Although Emil Kramer won the heat, Sanchez could not overcome the handicap so the heat was shared. In the last heat Sean Wilson and Andre Compton scored another 5-1 so Sheffield had scored 56 points for the second home match in succession.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Ricky Ashworth 12+1 (5), Sean Wilson 11+1 (5), Andre Compton 11+1 (5), Kyle Legault 9+1 (5), Paul Cooper 7+2 (5), Ben Wilson 6+2 (5).

For Hull – Paul Thorp 13 (6) including a 6 point TR, Emil Kramer 12 (6), Robbie Kessler 8 (4) including a 4 point TR, Emiliano Sanchez 2+1 (4), Simone Terenzani 2 (4), Danny Norton 2 (6).

[Merlin]

Friday, 22 July

The action at Edinburgh tonight was the first leg of the Scottish Cup against local rivals Glasgow . The other match was at Somerset where the Rebels raced against Stoke in a Premier League match.



Scottish Cup (first leg) : Edinburgh 41, Glasgow 48.


It was a strange move for Edinburgh to ask local rivals Glasgow to bring this match forward to fill a gap in the fixture list when they were still without Theo Pijper and Ross Brady and had a barely fit Robert Ksiezak at reserve. Glasgow came to Armadale with a full strength team on the crest of a wave after a number of excellent away results and the inevitable happened. It didn’t help the Monarchs’ cause that they turned in a woeful performance in gifting so many points to a Tigers side who must have thought that Christmas had come early. Edinburgh had Brent Werner as a guest for Theo Pijper at number 1.

Edinburgh made a bright start with a 5-1 in the opening heat when Kristian Lund and Brent Werner got to the first corner ahead of George Stancl but threw their advantage straight back at Glasgow when William Lawson suffered an engine failure when leading heat 2. Ominously for Edinburgh Robert Ksiezak fell off twice, remounting on both occasions for the third place point. Daniel Nermark won heat 3 comfortably but the battle was for second place between Stefan Ekberg, who had made the better start, and Cameron Woodward. It ended on the third lap when Ekberg fell under pressure from Woodward for another 5-1 to Edinburgh. In heat 4 Shane Parker made the start and, after surviving a couple of efforts from Rusty Harrison to get past, he finally pulled away for the win. Adam Roynon again took a point from Robert Ksiezak so the Tigers pulled two points back from the 2-4. The score after heat 4 was 13-11.

In heat 5 Daniel Nermark headed George Stancl from the gate but when Trent Leverington pulled a locker on the fourth bend Cameron Woodward ran into him so the race head to be rerun with Leverington excluded. As happens so often the lead from the gate changed hands this time with Stancl leading into the first bend where Daniel Nermark locked up and fell off. He remounted in time but then Cameron Woodward had a very expensive engine blow up on the fourth bend, second lap which meant that the heat result was a 2-3 to Glasgow with only one point now separating the teams. Shane Parker just managed to squeeze past Kristian Lund down the back straight at the start of heat 6 and went on to win the race for a shared heat but Monarchs took a 4-2 in heat 7 with Rusty Harrison winning from Ekberg and William Lawson having to settle for third place after looking like challenging the Glasgow rider. Another Edinburgh 4-2 in heat 8 was a disappointment for the home side who must have fancied a 5-1 when Lawson and Lund led Leverington from the tapes. However Leverington powered past Lund’s feeble effort to maintain his second position to take the score after heat 8 to 26-21.

Shane Parker made it three wins out of three in heat 9 as Cameron Woodward fell while lying third to gift the third place point to James Cockle for a Glasgow 2-4. Then Glasgow took the lead in heat 10 when Kristensen and Ekberg left the Edinburgh pair for dead at the gate. Brent Werner was unable to mount a challenge on the Glasgow pair as Kristian Lund, his partner, baulked his attempt to get past him for three laps. This took the score to 29-30 and things just went from bad to worse as Edinburgh crumbled. A fast start from George Stancl kept Rusty Harrison in second place in heat 11. Edinburgh chose this heat to give Robert Ksiezak his third ride so Glasgow took a 2-4 to increase their lead to 3 points. The score after heat 11 was 31-34.

Heat 12 was another bad one for Edinburgh as Ekberg and Cockle made the start. On the third bend Cockle straightened up and Cameron Woodward had to change direction quickly to avoid running into him and baulked his partner, William Lawson, instead. Woodward sorted himself out and chased and passed James Cockle before setting off after Ekberg. Although he was reeling Ekberg in he ran out of time and the result was another 2-4 to Glasgow who now stood 5 points to the good. Shane Parker won heat 13 which was shared after George Stancl had paid a visit to the fourth bend fence to make the score 36-41 and Glasgow were home and dry. Edinburgh threw away more points in heat 14. William Lawson was well in front with Daniel Nermark in second place but Lawson’s bike started to slow on the second lap. Nermark slowed to help protect his partner but it was clear that Lawson was not going to complete four laps so Nermark had to take the win without support. Parker completed his maximum in heat 15 but Daniel Nermark took second place ahead of Stancl for another Glasgow 2-4 which leaves them 7 points ahead for the second leg later in the season.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Daniel Nermark 12 (5), Rusty Harrison 9 (5), Kristian Lund 6 (4), Brent Werner 5+3 (4), Cameron Woodward 4 (4), William Lawson 4 (5), Robert Ksiezak 1 (3).

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 15 (5) (full maximum), George Stancl 8 (5), Stefan Ekberg 7+1 (4), Adam Roynon 6 (4), Claus Kristensen 5+1 (4), James Cockle 4+1 (4), Trent Leverington 3 (4).



Premier League: Somerset 56, Stoke 40 Somerset won the bonus point on aggregate by 98-88


Somerset paraded their two new signings with Trevor Harding coming into the side at number 6 and Chris Mills at number 7. Stoke had popular guest Stuart Robson at number 5 as a guest for Jan Staechmann. The Potters were defending a 6 point lead for the bonus point.

Although Stoke twice used their TRs to gain the maximum 6 points from each, they never looked liken even taking the bonus point as Somerset’s new reserves proved the major difference between the sides outscoring their Stoke counterparts by 11-3.

Zetterstrom’s heat 1 win was only good enough for a shared heat but Somerset soon stormed ahead with a 4-2 in the reserves race won by Trevor Harding from Barrie Evans then a 5-1 from Fry and Hawkins in heat 3. Glenn Cunningham beat Stuart Robson with Chris Mills third for a 4-2 in heat 4 to take the score to 16-8.

Another Fry/Hawkins 5-1 in heat 5 had the Potters trailing by 12 points so they gave Stuart Robson a TR even though he was facing Magnus Zetterstrom. Robson won the heat for a Stoke 3-6 but Glenn Cunningham and Trevor Harding added another 5-1 in heat 7 to put the Rebels 13 points ahead so Stoke then gave Robbie Kessler a TR in heat 8. Kessler won the heat and with Barrie Evans taking the third place point after Jaimie Smith had retired Stoke gained a 2-7 advantage to make the score after 8 heats 31-23.

Stuart Robson won heat 9 for a 3-3 then Zetterstrom and Smith took a 4-2 to increase the Rebels lead to 10 points, 4 points on aggregate. Glenn Cunningham won heat 11 from Carr and Kessler for a shared heat then Hawkins and Mills took another 4-2 for Somerset before Magnus Zetterstrom and Glenn Cunningham tied things up with a 5-1 in heat 13 to put the home side 16 points ahead. That’s the way it stayed as Alan Mogridge then Magnus Zetterstrom won the last two heats each if which was shared.


Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14 (5), Glenn Cunningham 11+1 (4) (paid maximum), Paul Fry 10 (5), Ritchie Hawkins 8+3 (4), Trevor Harding 6+2 (4), Chris Mills 5 (4), Jaimie Smith 2+1 (4).

For Stoke – Stuart Robson 12+1 (5) including a 6 point TR, Robbie Kessler 12+1 (5) including a 6 point TR, Alan Mogridge 5 (4), Peter Carr 4+1 (4), Paul Clews 4 (4), Barrie Evans 3 (5), Jack Hargreaves 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 23 July

There were a variety of meetings on tonight. In the Premier League Berwick were at home to Edinburgh and Workington were at home to the Isle of Wight . The bonus point was at stake in both matches. At Stoke it was Testimonial night for Alan Mogridge while at Rye House the racing was for the Vic Harding Memorial Trophy.



Premier League: Berwick 54, Edinburgh 41. Edinburgh won the bonus point on aggregate by 100-88.


With three riders out injured it was a makeshift Berwick side which took onEdinburgh. The Bandits were without Tom P Madsen, Scott Smith and Adam Pietraszko. They had Claus Kristensen at number 6 for Pietraszko, Trent Leverington at number 4 for Smith and used R/R for Tom P Madsen. Edinburgh had Josef Franc at number 1 as a guest for Theo Pijper but otherwise were at full strength.

There was never much chance of Edinburgh winning this match so the main interest in the meeting revolved round whether Berwick could pull back the 25 points by which they lost at Armadale for the bonus point. The match was more like a Berwick/Glasgow select match with two Tigers and four Bandits making up the home side but Edinburgh had the ace up their sleeve with their choice of guest – former Bandit Josef Franc. The start was delayed for some time to let the biggest crowd seen this season at Shielfield Park gain admission.

Edinburgh got off to a winning start when Josef Franc won the opening heat from Adrian Rymel with Kristian Lund picking up his only point of the match for a 2-4 but any prospect of a surprise away win were well and truly buried when Berwick rattled off three consecutive 5-1 wins in the next three heats to lead 17-7 after four races.

In heat 5, Josef Franc took a TR for the Monarchs and duly won the heat for a 3-6 to make the score 20-13 with Franc having scored 9 of them! Rusty Harrison took advantage of an Adrian Rymel engine failure to win heat 6 with Lawson third for a 2-4 and the Monarchs found themselves only five down at 22-17. Again Berwick extinguished any flames of hope by scoring another two 5-1s in heats 7 and 8 to lead 32-19 after 8 heats and at that stage the Bandits were just about on course for the bonus point.

Strange to relate that’s as close as they got as they failed to make any more inroads to Edinburgh’s aggregate lead. Rusty Harrison split the Kristensen/Leverington pairing in heat 9 while on a TR so the heat was shared 4-4. Then the Monarchs pulled two points back with a 2-4 when Cameron Woodward won heat 10 comfortably from Rymel with Nermark third. It was nearly a 1-5 as Rymel took until the last bend to pass Nermark. A Josef Franc win in heat 11 resulted in a shared heat then Berwick opened the gap to 13 points again with a 4-2 when Chris Schramm just held on to beat Cameron Woodward with Carl Wilkinson in third place to take the score after heat 12 to 45-32.

Edinbugh took a 2-4 from Harrison and Franc in heat 13 then Berwick did likewise form Wilkinson and Kristensen in heat 14 before Makovsky prevented a last heat 1-5 to the visitors by riding round Harrison and Franc in the last heat for a share of the points.

Scorers: For Berwick – Carl Wilkinson 15 (7), Michal Makovsky 11+2 (5), Claus Kristensen 10+2 (5), Chris Schramm 7+1 (5), Adrian Rymel 7 (5), Trent Leverington 4+2 (3).

For Edinburgh – Josef Franc 15 (5) including a 6 point TR, Rusty Harrison 11+1 (5) including a 4 point TR, Cameron Woodward 6 (4), Daniel Nermark 4 (4), William Lawson 3 (5), Kristian Lund 1 (3), Robert Ksiezak 1 (4).



Premier League: Workington 50, Isle of Wight 42 Workington won the bonus point on aggregate by 95-87.


It must have been with a huge sigh of relief that Workington welcomed Kauko Nieminen back to their ranks after his long absence through injury. The Comets started with a full 7 man team for a change but they were soon down to six men again when Jaimie Courtney crashed in his opening race and withdrew from the meeting. By the end of the meeting they were down to five riders as Carl Stonehewer joined Courtney on his way to hospital with an arm injury as a result of a collision with Craig Boyce in the last heat. The Isle of Wight were at full strength but, with the match on the Island being drawn, the bonus point would go to the winner of this match.

Carl Stonehewer beat Craig Boyce in heat 1 with Shaun Tacey third for a 4-2 but in heat 2 Jaimie Courtney fell and injured his hand which needed a visit to hospital so the Comets were a man down. In the rerun Glenn Phillips beat Aidan Collins and the 2-4 for the Islanders levelled the scores again. The visitors were in front after heat 3 won by Ulrich Ostergaard from James Wright with Krister Marsh third for a 2-4 but Workington squared the match again with a 4-2 from Nieminen and Collins to make the score after four heats 12-12.

Craig Boyce won heat 5 for a 3-3 but a 5-1 from Stonehewer and Tacey put the Comets 4 points ahead in heat 6. Heats 7 and 8 were shared then Workington took another 5-1 in heat 9 from James Wright and Scott Robson to double the Comets’ lead to eight points at 31-23. A 4-2 from Stonehewer and Tacey increased the Comets’ lead to 10 points to take the score to 35-25 after 10 heats.

In heat 11 Craig Boyce took a TR but was beaten by Kauko Nieminen. However, since Steen Jensen picked up the third place point, the Islanders won the race 3-5 to cut the deficit to 8 points. A Marsh/Doyle 2-4 in heat 12 cut it again to 6 points at 40-34 then Craig Boyce won heat 13 from Nieminen and Stonehewer for a shared heat to keep the Islanders in touch. But James Wright won heat 14 from Ostergaard for a 4-2 in heat 14 which clinched both match and bonus point for the Comets. There seems no respite for Workington however as in heat 15 Craig Boyce collided with Carl Stonehewer which resulted in an arm problem and hospital visit for Stonehewer. Ostergaard won the rerun as Boyce was excluded. So once again Workington finished a match with two riders in hospital! There must be some sort of curse on the Comets this season.

Scorers: For Workington – James Wright 12 (5), Carl Stonehewer 11+2 (5), Kauko Nieminen 11 (4), Shaun Tacey 7+1 (4), Scott Robson 5+2 (4), Aidan Collins 4 (7).

For Isle of Wight – Ulrich Ostergaard 12 (5), Craig Boyce 12 (5) including a 4 point TR, Krister Marsh 5+1 (4), Glenn Phillips 4+1 (4), Steen Jensen 3+1 (4), Tomas Suchanek 3 (4), Jason Doyle 3 (4).



Alan Mogridge Testimonial Meeting at Stoke: Moggo’s Maniacs 47, Super Seven Select 43


It was fun and games at Stoke where Alan Mogridge enjoyed his testimonial night with a challenge match between two cobbled together sides with Stoke and Somerset strongly represented. The teams seemed to be fairly evenly matched and the result went to a last heat decider. There was also a three race challenge match between a side representing Scotland and one representing England which was won by the Scotland team by 11-7.

Scorers: For Moggo’s Maniacs – Alan Mogridge 11 (5), Shane Parker 10+1 (4), Robbie Kessler 8+1 (4), David McAllan 7 (4), Barrie Evans 6+1 (4), Paul Clews 4+1 (4), Adam Allott 1+1 (1), Arlo Bugeja 0 (4).

For Super Select Seven – Glenn Cunningham 12 (5), James Grieves 10 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 6 (5), Paul Fry 5+1 (4), Tony Atkin 5+1 (4), David meldrum 4 (4), Peter Carr 1 (4).

Scorers: For England Eric Monaghan 7, Rob Grant (senior) 0

For Scotland Kenny McKinna 7, Scott Lamb 4+3.



Vic Harding Memorial Trophy at Rye House :

Winner: Tommy Allen (Rye House)
Second: Chris Neath (Rye House)
Third: Edward Kennett (Rye House)
Fourth David Howe (Wolverhampton)

This match took the form of a 12 rider 16 heats qualifier during which all riders had five races. The top eight scorers went forward to two semi-finals with the winners and seconds in the semi-finals going forward to the final.

The scorers from the heats were as follows: Edward Kennett 13, Tommy Allen 12, Steve Masters 12, David Howe 11, Stuart Robson 9, Brent Werner 8, Chris Neath 8, Oliver Allen 6, Mathieu Tressarieu 5, Steve Boxall 4, Zdenek Simota 3, Luke Bowen 0.

The first semi final was won by Kennet from Allen, Robson and Werner while the semi-final result was a win for Neath from Howe, Allen and Masters. The final was perhaps surprisingly won by Tommy Allen from Neath, Kennett and Howe.

[Merlin]

Sunday, 24 July

With the match at Newport where the Wasps were due to race Reading in a Premier League match being called off by the weather there were only two matches raced today. At Glasgow the Tigers met Rye House in the second leg of their Quarter-Final KO Cup tie while at Newcastle the Diamonds met the Isle of Wight in a Premier League match.



Premier League KO Cup (Quarter Final, second leg): Glasgow 33, Rye House 57 Rye House won through to the Semi-Final on aggregate by 105-75


Glasgow faced a 6 point deficit going into the second leg of this tie and were at full strength for the visit of Rye House who were also at full strength. Glasgow had done well to contain the Rockets to a 6 point lead at Hoddesdon and looked well placed to overturn their opponents’ lead since they came into this match on the back of a string of excellent results. They could hardly have expected to lose at home by 24 points in the second leg. Rye House were in awesome form and simply outclassed the Tigers who were a demoralised outfit long before the end.

A sign of things to come arrived in the first heat when Robson and Kennett streaked to a 1-5 lead to open the aggregate lead to 10 points but Glasgow hit back immediately with a 5-1 from their young reserve pairing of Roynon and Cockle to square things. Claus Kristensen made a fast start to heat 3 but was soon relegated to the back as Werner beat Ekberg with King third for a 2-4 which put the Rockets ahead again in heat 3. Shane Parker won heat 4 for a shared heat to take the score to 11-13.

When Kennett and Robson took a second 1-5 in heat 5 ahead of Ekberg to put the Rockets 6 up in the match and 12 on aggregate the writing was on the wall for the Tigers. Neath and Parker won heats 6 and 7, both heats being shared, then Rye House stretched their lead to 8 points with a 2-4 from the on-fire Kennett and Tommy Allen who got up to pip Leverington on the line for third place. The score after 8 heats was 20-28 and Glasgow needed a miracle to get them back into contention for the tie.

Chris Neath won heat 9 for a shared heat then Glasgow crumbled completely. Danny King and Brent Werner took another 1-5 in heat 10 from Leverington with Stancl relegated to last place before Shane Parker, fighting a lone battle, won heat 11 for a share of the spoils. In heat 12 there was a collision between Tommy Allen and Stefan Ekberg and the crowd were unhappy with the referee’s decision of all four back. Ekberg withdrew from the heat injured as Rye House ran up their fourth 1-5 of the match from Werner and Allen. This took the score after 12 heats to 28-44 and Rye House had already won the tie on aggregate.

Heat 13 produced another 1-5 for the Rockets, their fifth of the match, when Chris Neath passed Shane Parker to join his partner Stuart Robson up front as George Stancl pulled out at the back. Daniel King won heat 14 but the race was shared as Steve Boxall finished without a point then the Rockets completed Glasgow’s misery by winning heat 15 by 1-5, their sixth of the match, when Edward Kennett and Stuart Robson headed Shane Parker home for what must be a record away win between Premier League sides.

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

For Rye House – Stuart Robson 12+2 (5), Edward Kennett 12+2 (5), Chris Neath 10+1 (4), Brent Werner 9+2 (4), Daniel King 9 (4), Tommy Allen 5+2 (4), Steve Boxall 0 (4).



Premier League: Newcastle 56, Isle of Wight 36 .


Both sides went into this match at full strength. It turned out to be a comfortable win for Newcastle as the Isle of Wight moved across country after their match at Workington last night.

Josef Franc won the opening heat in a very fast time to get the Diamonds off to a 4-2 winning start. Then they were gifted a 5-0 when Jason Doyle and Glenn Phillips both suffered engine failures in heat 2. The Islanders struck back with a 1-5 from Ulrich Ostergaard and Krister Marsh ahead of Richard Juul in heat 3 but James Grieves and Jaimie Robertson replied in kind with a Newcastle 5-1 in heat 4 which brought the score to 15-8.

Craig Boyce won heat 5 to share the points but Newcastle scored a 5-1 in heat 6 from Franc and Tomicek against the weak Suchanek plus reserve pairing (in this case Doyle) to stretch the home side’s lead to 23-12.In heat 7 Ulrich Ostergaard was nominated for a TR but he finished third behind Christian Henry and James Grieves for a 5-2 to put the Diamonds into the comfort zone. In heat 8 Steen Jensen who had run two lasts up till then suddenly burst into life by winning the race for a shared heat which took the score after 8 races to 31-17.

In heats 9 and 10 the teams exchanged 4-2s. For Newcastle Morris and Juul were split by Jason Doyle in heat 9 and in heat 10 Ostergaard beat Josef Franc with Marsh third. In heat 11 the Isle of Wight nominated Craig Boyce for a TR but he fared no better than Ostergaard had done in heat 7 finishing behind the same pair of James Grieves and Christian Henry. The 5-2 put Newcastle 17 points ahead but the Islanders pulled two points back in heat 12 when Krister Marsh beat Jaimie Robertson after Richard Juul had retired for a 2-4 to move the heat 12 score to 44-29.

Heat 13 produced a Newcastle 4-2 with James Grieves beating Craig Boyce then, in a last throw of the dice and aware of the value of the bonus point, Jason Doyle was given a tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back. With Morris and Henry (who completed a paid maximum) winning the race this produced an extra point in a 5-2 win for Newcastle with 20 points between the teams going into the last heat. Craig Boyce ruined James Grieves paid maximum hopes by winning heat 15 for a shared heat to leave the Islanders needing to pull back a 20 point deficit on the Island for the bonus point.

Scorers: For Newcastle – James Grieves 13+1 (5), Josef Franc 10+1 (5), Christian Henry 9+3 (4) (paid maximum), Jaimie Robertson 8+2 (4), Phil Morris 8 (4), Lubos Tomicek 5+1 (4), Richard Juul 3+1 (4).

For Isle of Wight – Craig Boyce 12 including a 2 point TR, Ulrich Ostergaard 8 (5) including a 2 point TR, Krister Marsh 6+1 (4), Jason Doyle 6 (5) including a 2 point GDTS ride from 15 metres, Steen Jensen 3 (4), Tomas Suchanek 1 (4), Glenn Phillips 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Monday, 25 July

The Premier League match at Reading saw the Racers take on Rye House while at Exeter the Falcons met Glasgow.



Premier League: Exeter 57, Glasgow 37 Exeter won the bonus point on aggregate by 95-92


It was a weakened Exeter side which took to the track tonight against Glasgow . Exeter’s new signing, Sebastian Tressarieu, failed to turn up apparently after missing his flight and the Falcons had no option but to use a Conference League guest, Sam Hurst, in his place. To make matters worse they were also using R/R for Ray Morton at number 4. Glasgow were at full strength and were defending a 17 point lead for the bonus point.

The opening heat was shared with Lee Smethills winning and Mark Lemon finishing last then Exeter took the lead with a 5-1 in the reserves race. Back came Glasgow with a 1-5 from Claus Kristensen and Stefan Ekberg against Ben Barker and Sam Hurst to level things but another Exeter 5-1 from Seemond Stephens and Pavel Ondrasik ahead of Shane Parker put the Falcons ahead by 14-10 after 4 heats.

Again Glasgow took a 1-5 against the weak Exeter middle pairing in heat 5 this time from George Stancl and Trent Leverington. However Exeter replied in heat 6 with another 5-1 from Lemon and Smethills ahead of Parker for a four point lead. Seemond Stephens beat Kristensen and Ekberg to keep it that way but another home 5-1 in heat 8 from Smethills and Ondrasik after Trent Leverington suffered an engine failure had the Tigers in trouble with the heat 8 score reading 28-20.

Glasgow fell out of it completely by surrendering three maximum heat wins to Exeter in heats 9, 10, and 11. Shane Parker had an engine failure at the start of heat 9 as the Exeter reserves, Barker and Ondrasik, headed home Adam Roynon. Rather surprisingly perhaps Glasgow gave a TR to Stefan Ekberg in heat 10 when he was faced by Exeter’s top pair of Mark Lemon and Lee Smethills. It backfired as the Exeter pair took a 5-2 then in heat 11 Stephens and Barker beat Stancl for another maximum. Exeter were now two points ahead on aggregate but in heat 12 George Stancl took a GDTS from 15 metres back. Ekberg won the heat from Ondrasik and Stancl passed Sam Hurst to double his one point for third place to give Glasgow a 2-5. Now Glasgow were one point up on aggregate as the score after 12 heats was 45-29.

Shane Parker had another engine failure at the start of heat 13 as Stephens and Lemon wrapped up another 5-1 ahead of Stancl to lead on aggregate by 3 points in their search for the bonus point. Glasgow played their last card by giving Claus Kristensen a TR in heat 14 but he could only finish second to Lee Smethills who completed his paid maximum for a 4-4. However, Glasgow were still in with a chance of winning the bonus needing a 1-5 in the last heat but Mark Lemon ended their hopes by winning the race although Stancl and Ekberg had the satisfaction of ruining Seemond Stephens’ maximum hopes.

Scorers: For Exeter – Lee Smethills 13+2 (5) (paid maximum), Pavel Ondrasik 12+3 (6), Seemond Stephens 12 (5), Mark Lemon 11+1 (5), Ben Barker 9+2 (6), Sam Hurst 0 (3).

For Glasgow – George Stancl 11 (6) including a 2 point GDTS from 15 metres, Stefan Ekberg 9+3 (5) including a 2 point TR, Claus Kristensen 9 (4) including a 4 point TR, Trent Leverington 3+2 (4), Adam Roynon 2 (3), Shane Parker 2 (4), James Cockle 1 (4).



Premier League: Reading 44, Rye House 46 Rye House won the bonus point on aggregate by 103-80.


Having redeclared their team without Danny Bird, it could be said that Reading were at full strength. Rye House , too, had a full strength side and were defending a 21 point lead for the bonus point.

Fresh from their annihilation of Glasgow at Ashfield last night, Rye House were expected to beat lowly Reading. They opened by sharing the first heat, won by Simota, after Andre Appleton had suffered an engine failure. The Reading reserves put the home side four points up with a 5-1 in heat 2 and it remained that way when Werner won heat 3 with Daniel King falling. Matej Zagar won heat 4 for another shared heat and the heat 4 score was 14-10.

Rye House levelled the scores with a 1-5 from Kennett and Robson in heat 5 then Chris Neath won heat 6 as Steve Boxall fell to keep the scores tied. Matej Zagar got up to pip Brent Werner on the line in heat 7 and, with Chris Johnson taking third place, the Racers went back in front with a 4-2. They repeated the 4-2 winning score in heat 8 when Simota won with Kennett rather surprisingly finishing last. This took the heat 8 score to 26-22.

Heat 9 was awarded as a 2-4 to the Rockets as Steve Masters crashed into the fence with Neath beating Tressarieu to cut the gap to two points but an easy 5-1 from the gate by Appleton and Simota in heat 10 put the Racers in the driving seat, 6 points ahead. Matej Zagar kept it that way by winning heat 11 ahead of Stuart Robson and Edward Kennett but the match was back in the melting pot when Brent Werner and Tommy Allen scored a 1-5 for Rye House ahead of Richard Wolff in heat 12 to make the score 37-35.

Matej Zagar kept on winning by taking heat 13 from Neath and Robson so there were still two points between the sides with only two heats to go. After heat 14 there were still two points between the sides but now it was Rye House who were in front as Tommy Allen and Daniel King took a 1-5 from Richard Wolff leaving it all to a last heat decider. In the last heat Zdenek (Sam) Simota fell and was excluded from the rerun which meant that Rye House had won the match provided they had a finisher! Zagar completed his maximum in the rerun but it was Rye House who went home with all three points.

Scorers: For Reading – Matej Zagar 15 (5) (full maximum), Zdenek Simota 10+1 (5), Richard Wolff 6 (5), Mathieu Tressarieu 5 (4), Andrew Appleton 4+1 (4), Chris Johnson 3+1 (3), Steve Masters 1+1 (4).

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

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 27 July

Tonight was given over to the prestigious Premier League Champions Chase at King’s Lynn .



Premier League Champions Chase at King’s Lynn :

Winner: Magnus Zetterstrom (Somerset)
Second: Chris Neath (Rye House)
Third: Tomas Topinka (King’s Lynn)
Fourth: Shane Parker (Glasgow)

It’s a strange formula for this tournament but in short all 15 Premier League teams had two representatives and the 30 rider field was increased to 32 by the addition of two ‘wildcards’, in this case Adam Allott (now with Stoke) and Chris Neath (Rye House).

The first eight heats were little more than a warm up. Each rider had a race without the prospect of elimination. The results of each of these heats were to determine nothing other than the gate positions when the tournament started in earnest at heat 9. This way every rider had a minimum of two rides.

It was unfortunate that there were, as usual, some missing names from the list of riders particularly Craig Watson, last year’s winner, Carl Stonehewer, Sean Wilson, Theo Pijper, Jan Staechmann, Garry Stead and James Grieves, all top average riders at their respective tracks. Nonetheless it was a good quality field which assembled.

The elimination stage started at heat 9 with only the first and second in each heat moving on to the next round. Between heats 9 and 16 half the field went out - Newport lost Neil Collins and Tony Atkin and Berwick lost Adrian Rymel and Michal Makovsky which meant that they had lost interest in the tournament. Other casualties were Cameron Woodward (Edinburgh), Emil Kramer (Hull), Ricky Ashworth (Sheffield), Seemond Stephens (Exeter), Brent Werner (Rye House), Kauko Nieminen (Workington), George Stancl (Glasgow), Oliver Allen (King’s Lynn), Craig Boyce (Isle of Wight), Paul Fry (Somerset), Matej Zagar (Reading) and Phil Morris (Newcastle).

The next stage over heats 17 to 20 saw a further eight casualties – Ulrich Ostergaard (Isle of Wight), Rusty Harrison (Edinburgh), Josef Franc (Berwick), Andrew Appleton (Reading), Shaun Tacey (Workington), Mark Lemon (Exeter), Paul Thorp (Hull) and Alan Mogridge (Stoke).

This led on to the semi finals with only six tracks represented. Stoke had Adam Allott and Robbie Kessler, Rye House had Chris Neath and Stuart Robson while Glasgow had Shane Parker, King’s Lynn Tomas Topinka, Somerset Magnus Zetterstrom and Sheffield Andre Compton.

In the first semi-final Shane Parker remained the only unbeaten rider by winning it from local hero Tomas Topinka although Topinka was perhaps fortunate that Stoke’s Robbie Kessler had an engine failure while lying second. The other rider to go out was Adam Allott.

In the second semi-final Maagnus Zetterstrom passed Chris Neath to win it although both riders went through to the final. At the back Stuart Robson passed Andre Compton but still went out.

In the final Chris Neath made the early running but he was passed by Magnus Zetterstrom who went on to win from Chris Neath with Tomas Topinka taking the other rostrum spot as Shane Parker finished last.

[Merlin]

Thursday, 28 July

Tonight’s scheduled Premier League match between Sheffield and Berwick was called off early in the day due to a waterlogged track but there was still action to be found. On the Isle of Wight the Islanders rode the first leg of their semi-final Premier League KO Cup match against Reading .



Premier League KO Cup (semi-final, first leg): Isle of Wight 46, Reading 44.


It was an off-race night fixture for the Isle of Wight who went into this match as firm favourites against Reading . The Islanders were at full strength while Reading were back again using R/R for Steve Masters who was injured in the Racers’ home defeat by Rye House on Monday night.

What a shock the Islanders got tonight from Reading. The faster gating Racers took an early lead, were pulled back by the home side and found themselves 10 points down with two heats to go. However two 1-5s in heats 14 and 15 reduced the Isle of Wight’s winning margin to two points setting up a finely balanced second leg with the Racers strong favourites to reach the final.

The home side were given an early warning that this match was going to be no walk in the park when Andrew Appleton won heat 1 from Craig Boyce for a shared heat. It would have been a 2-4 but for an engine failure for Zdenek Simota coming off the last bend with third place in the bag. The Islanders’ reserves took a 5-1 in heat 2 but Reading handed out a double shock with consecutive 1-5s in heats 3 and 4. Tressarieu and Appleton gated to win heat 3 and Wolff and Zagar did likewise to win heat 4 taking the score to 10-14.

Andrew Appleton remained unbeaten in his third ride which he won for a shared heat in heat 5 then Craig Boyce won heat 6 which was also shared. The scores were levelled by a 5-1 to the home side in heat 7 from Doyle and Suchanek with Tressarieu having an engine failure at the start. Another 5-1 in heat 8 from Phillips and Jensen gave the Isle of Wight a four point advantage in heat 8 with the score standing at 26-22.

In heat 9 Krister Marsh beat Matej Zagar and broke the track record (67.7) in the process. With Ostergaard collecting third place the Islanders stretched their lead to six points. Heats 10, 11 and 12 won by Boyce (who equalled the new track record in the process), Suchanek and Marsh were all shared as Reading dug in to protect their position and the score after heat 12 was 39-33 as the interval arrived.

After the interval Boyce and Suchanek hit Reading with a 5-1 in heat 13 ahead of Matej Zagar and Andrew Appleton and the Islanders’ lead reached 10 points at 44-34 but the next two heats were a disaster for the home side. In heat 14 Mathieu Tressarieu and Richard Wolff took a 1-5 ahead of Jason Doyle and the off-form Ulrich Ostergaard to reduce the gap to six points then, in the last heat, Craig Boyce touched the tapes and had to go from 15 metres back. This was all the help that Andrew Appleton and Matej Zagar needed to land what could turn out to be a killer 1-5 for Reading as the Racers reduced the deficit to only two points for the second leg.


Scorers: For Isle of Wight – Craig Boyce 12 (5), Krister Marsh 9 (4), Tomas Suchanek 7+2 (5), Jason Doyle 7 (4), Glenn Phillips 6+1 (4), Steen Jensen 3+2 (4), Ulrich Ostergaard 2+1 (4).

For Reading – Andrew Appleton 12+2 (6), Richard Wolff 10+2 (7), Matej Zagar 9+2 (5), Mathieu Tressarieu 7+1 (4), Zdenek Simota 5 (5), Chris Johnson 1+1 (3).

[Merlin]

Friday, 29 July

Four Premier League matches were due to be raced tonight but the match between Edinburgh and Newcastle fell victim to the weather early in the afternoon. The big match was at Rye House where the Rockets faced league leaders Berwick. In the other matches at Workington the Comets raced against Stoke while at Somerset yet again the Rebels faced Newport .



Premier League: Rye House 65, Berwick 25.


Well, what can you say about this one ? A desperately disappointing Berwick side were completely outclassed as the Rockets won 14 of the 15 heats. Rye House were at full strength. Berwick used rider replacement for Scott Smith.

Berwick were ahead in the match for all of twenty seconds when Adrian Rymel led from the tapes in heat 1 but he was passed in turn by Stuart Robson and Edward Kennett. Chris Schramm made no impression and trailed in last. Tommy Allen, fresh from his excellent win in the Vic Harding Memorial meeting, took heat 2 ahead of Steve Boxall and then the Brent Werner/Daniel King partnership easily won heat 3, winning unchallenged from Tom Madsen and Schramm. That made it 15-3 after the first three heats and Rye House just kept pouring it on.

Chris Neath was in imperious form all night. His first of five race wins came in heat 4, ahead of Carl Wilkinson and Tommy Allen, before Werner & King notched up another 5-1 in heat 5. Berwick got a break in heat 6 when Robson suffered a mechanical problem when leading and had to drop out, leaving Kennett to win easily from Michael Makovsky and Adam Pietraszko. Neath won heat 7 in a canter but Madsen and Wilkinson managed to share the points.

Normal service was resumed in the next three heats. Kennett and Allen took heat 8 ahead of Wilkinson and Schramm to make the match score 35-13. Berwick tried to stem the tide in heat 9 when Pietraszko took a tactical ride, only to be excluded when he ran into the boards coming out of the second bend. Werner and King scored an easy 5-1 in the re-run.

Heat 10 was the pick of the evening. Robson broke the tapes and started the re-run 15 metres back. The home fans settled down to watch the chase and Robson did not disappoint them. While Kennett blazed off in front, Robson passed Pietraszko first and set off after Madsen. Two laps later and Rye racked up another 5-1 - a superb ride from Robson.

It was Rymel's turn to take a tactical ride in heat 11. Neath led throughout and Wilkinson held off Boxall for second place. Rymel trailed in last - another waste of a tactical ride.

Berwick, at last, managed a heat win in heat 12 thanks to a spirited ride from Tom Madsen. The main interest occurred after the race when Tommy Allen and Adam Pietraszko had an exchange of views, Pietraszko no doubt unimpressed by Allen's forceful pass on the third bend. Once the fists had stopped flying, Neath and Robson made short work of Michael Makovsky and Rymel in heat 13. Berwick managed another 3-3 in heat 14. King won it easily, ahead of Pietraszko, but Boxall couldn't quite get on terms with Wilkinson.

Neath and Robson came out in heat 15 alongside Makovsky and Wilkinson. While
Neath once again flew out of the gate and won easily, Robson gave himself some work to do. He passed Makovsky easily enough and trailed Wilkinson for two laps, taking an outside line. Then, on the third lap, he suddenly cut inside coming out of the second bend and Wilkinson could only watch as Robson raced off to join Neath for another 5-1.

Although Madsen and Wilkinson offered some token resistance, Berwick were simply blown away. For Rye, Chris Neath recorded an immaculate full maximum, Kennett and King managed paid maximums but it will be Robson's masterful ride in heat 10 that will linger in the home fans' memories.

Scorers: For Rye House – Chris Neath 15 (5) [full maximum], Edward Kennett 11+1 (4) [paid maximum], Daniel King 11+1 (4) [paid maximum], Stuart Robson 9+3 (5), Brent Werner 8+3 (4), Tommy Allen 8+1 (4), Steve Boxall 3+1 (4).

For Berwick – Carl Wilkinson 8+2 (7), Tom Madsen 7 (4), Adam Pietraszko 4+1 (6) [including a 0 point tactical ride], Michael Makovsky 4 (5), Adrian Rymel 1(4) [including a 0 point tactical ride], Chris Schramm 1 (4).

(Report by Candyman)


Premier League: Workington 45, Stoke 44.

Workington had Sean Wilson at number 1 as a guest for Carl Stonehewer while for Stoke Adam Allott changed sides to ride for the Potters at number 2. Stoke also had Ricky Ashworth at number 5 for Jan Staechmann.

The Workington fans must have had a feeling of déjà vu about this match as for the second week running they scraped home by one point and had a reserves race crash – this time, luckily enough, without serious repercussions.

The Comets got off to a 4-2 winning start from Shaun Tacey and Sean Wilson but in heat 2 they were soon behind as both Jaimie Courtney and Aidan Collins crashed gifting a 0-5 to the Potters who went into a 3 point lead. Stoke then went further ahead with a 2-4 from Alan Mogridge and Paul Clews. Another 2-4 in heat 4 from Ricky Ashworth and Jack Hargreaves took the score to 8-15 and Workington were struggling.

The Comets hit back with a 4-2 in heat 5 from Wright and Robson which improved things for them but Ashworth had his second win in heat 6 for a shared heat. Another 4-2 went the Comets way in heat 7 when Kauko Nieminen beat Alan Mogridge as Paul Clews fell and was excluded. However, Adam Allott shot from the gate to win heat 8 and, since Shaun Tacey retired from the heat, Stoke pulled out another two points to their lead and the heat 8 score went to 21-26.

Heat 9, won by James Wright, was shared as was heat 10 won by Alan Mogridge. In heat 11 Workington clawed back 2 points with a 4-2 from Nieminen and Courtney and heat 12 was shared after a win from Scott Robson. The score after 12 races was 34-37. Sean Wilson touched the tapes in heat 13 and had to go from 15 metres back. He couldn’t pass Kessler and Ashworth in the rerun as Nieminen won the heat for a share of the spoils but Workington were still 3 points down and running out of races.

Heat 14 proved to be the turning point of the match. Jaimie Courtney and James Wright made the start and, try as he might, Alan Mogridge couldn’t get past either of them so Workington took a surprise 5-1 to get their noses in front by one point at 42-41 with just one heat to go. In the last heat Alan Mogridge was fast away to win the race but at the back Nieminen and Wright kept Ashworth out until Stoke’s guest retired on the third lap and Workington were home and dry.

Scorers: For Workington – James Wright 11+2 (5), Kauko Nieminen 11 (5), Sean Tacey 5+2 (4), Sean Wilson 5 (4), Jaimie Courtney 5 (4), Scott Robson 4 (4), Aidan Collins 4 (4).

For Stoke – Alan Mogridge 12 (5), Ricky Ashworth 9+1 (5), Robbie Kessler 8 (4), Barrie Evans 5+2 (5), Jack Hargreaves 4+1 (3), Paul Clews 3 (4), Adam Allott 3 (4).



Premier League: Somerset 64, Newport 30.


Somerset were at full strength for this meeting but Newport introduced their new signing, Henrik Vedel, at number 1 and, with no Mads Korneliussen, who is now number one in their averages, had Seemond Stephens as a guest at number 5. They also used R/R for Michael Coles at number 4.

Somerset wrapped up their biggest win of the season against a Newport side in disarray. New signing, Henrik Vedel will take time to adjust to the pace of British racing and can perhaps be excused his lowly score while Seemond Stephen suffered from engine problems and, with such a poor return, Newport’s cause was a lost one.

The opening heat was shared as Jaimie Smith fell but Somerset took the lead with a 4-2 in heat 2 when Trevor Harding beat Karlis Ezergailis with Chris Mills third. A Paul Fry/Ritchie Hawkins 5-1 in heat 3 put them six ahead then Glenn Cunningham won heat 4 with Ezergailis again beating Mills for another 4-2 which took the score to 16-8.

Somerset then banged in two 5-1s in heat 5 and 6 from Fry/Hawkins then Zetterstrom/ Smith to stretch their lead to 16 points and leave the Wasps with a mountain to climb. Unfortunately they didn’t have their climbing boots on as they conceded a 4-2 in heat 7 with Neil Collins splitting the Cunningham/Harding pairing. In heat 8 Tony Atkin took a TR but finished behind Jaimie Smith and Chris Mills for a Somerset 5-2 and a score of 35-14.

Another Fry/Hawkins 5-1 was followed by a bit of respite for Newport in heat 10 as Jaimie Smith ran out of fuel and the two Newport riders, Neil Collins and Tony Atkin, took the minor places behind Zetterstrom for a shared heat. They shared the next heat too as Atkin and Vedel relegated Trevor Harding to the back behind Cunningham. Then, in heat 12, Neil Collins took a TR and he gave the Wasps score a huge boost by beating Hawkins and Mills for a 3-6 and a score of 49-27.

No doubt overwhelmed by this success Newport were unable to improve their position further as they conceded 5-1s to Somerset in each of the three remaining races which saw Glenn Cunningham complete a full maximum and Magnus Zetterstrom and Paul Fry paid maximums.

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Paul Fry 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Glenn Cunningham (full maximum), Ritchie Hawkins 8+3 (4), Trevor Harding 6+1 (4), Chris Mills 5+2 (4), Jaimie Smith 5+1 (4).

For Newport – Neil Collins 12 (5) including a 6 point TR, Tony Atkin 8+1 (6) including a 2 point TR, Karlis Ezergailis 5 (5), Henrik Vedel 3+2 (4), Seemond Stephens 1 (4), Lee Dicken 1 (6).