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Post by Merlin on Oct 6, 2005 20:33:55 GMT
Thursday 6 October
Tonight’s match at Sheffield was a Premier League fixture against King’s Lynn .
Premier League: Sheffield 56, King’s Lynn 40. Sheffield won the bonus point on aggregate by 95-92
Sheffield had Benji Compton back in the side at number 6 while King’s Lynn again used Darren Mallett at number 6 in place of Tommy Stange. King’s Lynn had a 13 point lead from the match at Saddlebow Road in the fight for the bonus point.
Sheffield got off to a good start with heat advantages in three of the first four heats. They started in perfect style with a 5-1 from the two Wilsons against Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones then the reserves race, won by Kyle Legault, was shared. The Tigers then won heats 3 and 4. Ricky Ashworth continued in winning vein from last week in heat 3 with Kevin Doolan second. Troy Batchelor suffered an engine failure so Sheffield took a 4-2. In heat 4 Andre Compton beat Tomas Topinka with Kyle Legault third for another 4-2 which took the score after the first four heats to 16-8.
King’s Lynn dug in after that. Ricky Ashworth won heat 5 for a shared heat then Tomas Topinka took a TR in heat 6. A win over the two Wilsons gave the Stars a 3-6 advantage and reduced their arrears to 7 points. Heat 7 was won by Andre Compton but Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan took second and third for a share of the spoils but in heat 8 Sheffield pulled two more points in front again when Ben Wilson headed Jan Jaros home with Kyle Legault third. This took the score after eight races to 30-21 and King’s Lynn were back in TR territory.
Tomas Topinka won again in heat 9 and ended Ricky Ashworth’s winning streak but Richard Hall and Ashworth followed him home for a 3-3. However Sheffield took a 5-1 in heat 10 as the two Wilsons headed home Kevin Doolan and Troy Batchelor. This heat win stretched the Tigers lead to 13 points which meant that the aggregate score was now all square. Andre Compton won heat 11 but Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones filled the minor places for another shared heat. King’s Lynn looked set to share heat 12 but Jaros lost third place to the chasing Kyle Legault. Ricky Ashworth won the race from Troy Batchelor with Legault in third place and the 4-2 put Sheffield in front by 45-30 on the night and by 84-82 on aggregate.
The bonus point looked well and truly wrapped up in heat 13 when the Sean Wilson/Andre Compton partnership scored a 5-1 ahead of Tomas Topinka and Oliver Allen taking the Sheffield lead to 19 points. But in heat 14 Kevin Doolan took a TR and won the heat from Kyle Legault. Jan Jaros backed him up with the third place point from Richard Hall so King’s Lynn scored a 2-7 which reduced their arrears to 14 points at 52-38 leaving them one behind on aggregate and needing an advantage from the last heat. As expected Sheffield tracked Sean Wilson and Andre Compton while King’s Lynn went with Tomas Topinka and Kevin Doolan in heat 15. It looked as though the Stars might do it when Tomas Topinka led Andre Compton with Kevin Doolan in third place. But it was not to be as Compton passed Topinka to win the race and complete his paid maximum guaranteeing the bonus point for the home side. King’s Lynn had the satisfaction of denying them a final race 5-1 as Tomas Topinka beat Sean Wilson, who passed Kevin Doolan, for second place resulting in a 4-2 to the Tigers.
Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Sean Wilson 12 (5), Ricky Ashworth 10+1 (4), Ben Wilson 8+3 (4), Kyle Legault 8 (5), Richard Hall 4 (4), Benji Compton 0 (3).
For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5) including a 6 point TR, Kevin Doolan 10+1 (5) including a 6 point TR, Oliver Allen 5 (4), Jan Jaros 5 (5), Troy Batchelor 4 (4), Darren Mallett 1+1 (3), Ashley Jones 1 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 7, 2005 23:28:37 GMT
Friday, 7 October
As happened last Friday, the only fixture tonight was at Edinburgh where the Monarchs brought their season to a close with a Premier League match against Newcastle .
Premier League: Edinburgh 53, Newcastle 40 Edinburgh won the bonus point on aggregate by 100-89.
Edinburgh were again without Ross Brady and used R/R in his place. Newcastle had Byron Bekker at number 6 replacing James Birkinshaw. The Diamonds had a slender 2 point lead from the earlier match at Brough Park in aid of the bonus point.
Newcastle relied heavily on Josef Franc and James Grieves to do most of their scoring and, while Franc won his first two races and Grieves his first three, they failed to maintain their threat. Edinburgh wound up their season by guaranteeing a top five finish with this win – a league position not thought possible by many at the start of the season.
Josef Franc gated to win the opening heat despite having Theo Pijper and William Lawson all over his back wheel for most of the race. Edinburgh took the lead in heat 2 won easily by William Lawson from Kristian Lund with Robert Ksiezak taking the third place point. A 5-1 from Matthew Wethers and Daniel Nermark ahead of Phil Morris put the Monarchs 6 points in front in heat 3 before James Grieves won heat 4 for a shared heat as Rusty Harrison and Robert Ksiezak filled the minor places. The score after these opening 4 heats was 15-9.
Edinburgh got a real shock in heat 5. Josef Franc made another jet-propelled start with Matthew Wethers chasing him. However Wethers got out of shape on the pits bend on the second lap allowing Jaimie Robertson to slip through to second place with Daniel Nermark tailed off at the back. This resulted in a 1-5 to the Diamonds who pulled back to 16-14. James Grieves won again in heat 6 after a great battle with Theo Pijper with Robert Ksiezak in third place for a shared heat. Then in heat 7 Edinburgh scored a 4-2 against the weak Morris/Tomicek pairing as Rusty Harrison won from Morris. They followed that with a 5-1 in heat 8. Kristian Lund broke the tapes and was replaced by Byron Bekker who took third place behind Theo Pijper and William Lawson after Jaimie Robertson had fallen on the second bend. This took the score after eight races to 28-20.
James Grieves recorded his third consecutive heat win in heat 9 as he easily beat Nermark and Wethers for a 3-3 but the Morris/Tomicek pairing conceded another 5-1 in heat 10 to Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark which put the Monarchs 12 points ahead. It was now TR time and the unbeaten Josef Franc took the TR in heat 11. The Edinburgh pair of Harrison and Lawson shot off into the lead but the race was called back for an unsatisfactory start. In the rerun Josef Franc was fast away and in front but Rusty Harrison was having none of it. He wound the throttle on round the third/fourth bend for an outside pass of Franc. Meanwhile William Lawson was hard pushed to keep Jaimie Robertson at the back but did so which meant that the race resulted in a 4-4. Edinburgh looked like striking with another 5-1 in heat 12 but Lubos Tomicek finally got some reward for his sterling efforts on Newcastle’s behalf by passing a disappointing Daniel Nermark as William Lawson raced off for the win. The resultant 4-2 took the score after 12 heats to 44-30.
Newcastle’s last throw of the dice came in heat 13 when they gave James Grieves a TR hoping for the big 1-8 to bring them back into contention. Instead they lost a 5-2 as Rusty Harrison and Theo Pijper rode an excellent race to relegate Grieves to third place with Josef Franc tailed off at the back. Newcastle had some consolation by winning heat 14 by 1-5 from Kristian Lund and Phil Morris as William Lawson retired on the second lap while at the back. It looked as though Edinburgh were going to finish their season with a 5-1 in the last race as Rusty Harrison and Theo Pijper worked their way to the front down the back straight but Theo Pijper shed a chain on the third bend leaving Franc and Grieves to take second and third place for a shared race.
Scorers: For Edinburgh – Rusty Harrison 14 (5), Theo Pijper 12+1 (6), William Lawson 10+1 (6), Daniel Nermark 7+2 (5), Matthew Wethers 6+2 (4), Robert Ksiezak 4+1 (4).
For Sheffield – James Grieves 12+1 (5) including a 2 point TR, Josef Franc 12 (5) including a 4 point TR, Phil Morris 6+1 (4), Kristian Lund 5 (5), Jamie Robertson 2+1 (4), Lubos Tomicek 2 (4), Byron Bekker 1 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 9, 2005 16:20:54 GMT
Saturday, 8 October As the season draws to a close the number of meetings reduces day by day. Nonetheless four meetings were scheduled today although one of them, the Pride of the Potteries individual meeting at Stoke fell victim to the weather. At Berwick the Bandits faced King’s Lynn in the first leg of their semi-final tie in the Jack Young Shield while at Workington the Comets raced their final Premier League match of the season against Sheffield . The other meeting was the Brent Werner Testimonial held at Rye House Jack Young Shield (semi-final, first leg): Berwick 49, King’s Lynn 48 Berwick used R/R for the injured Tom P Madsen while King’s Lynn had Darren Mallett at number 6 in place of Tommy Stange. Berwick were left reeling after King’s Lynn made full use of the tactical options open to them, scoring an extra 7 points, then hit them with consecutive maximums in the last two heats to leave them with a one point lead to take to Saddlebow Road for the second leg. Berwick started well. In the opening heat Oliver Allen was excluded for bringing down Carl Wilkinson and, in the rerun, the Bandits took a 5-1 but in heat 2 Jan Jaros made the gate and held on to win holding off Scott Smith’s challenge for a shared heat. Berwick took a 4-2 in heat 3. The race was won by Adam Pietraszko and Troy Batchelor just managed to ward off the challenge of Carl Wilkinson for second place but the Bandits scored another 5-1 in heat 4. Jan Jaros made the gate for the Stars but was soon passed by Michal Makovsky and Scott Smith who were out in front before Tomas Topinka had an engine failure. This took the score after the opening four races to 17-7. Immediately King’s Lynn responded by giving a TR to Oliver Allen in heat 5. Allen won the race and was followed home by Pietraszko and Schramm so the Stars scored a 3-6 to reduce their arrears to 7 points. Berwick stretched their lead to 9 points with a 4-2 in heat 6 as Adrian Rymel beat Tomas Topinka with Carl Wilkinson in third place then Kevin Doolan made the gate in heat 7 for a win and a shared heat. Berwick struck again with a 5-1 in heat 8 from Carl Wilkinson and Scott Smith and the Bandits had opened up a 13 point lead with the score at 32-19. It was time for King’s Lynn to play their second TR card and Tomas Topinka was given the job in heat 9. He won the heat from Pietraszko and Smith so King’s Lynn scored their second 3-6 of the match to cut the gap to 10 points. The Stars clawed another two points back with a 2-4 in heat 10. Kevin Doolan won the race from Carl Wilkinson and Troy Batchelor picked up the third place point as Adrian Rymel was tailed off badly at the back. Oliver Allen won heat 11 for a shared heat ahead of Makovsky and Schramm then the Stars piled more misery on the Bandits with another heat advantage in heat 12. Kevin Doolan replaced Darren Mallett as a Tactical Substitute starting from 15 metres back. It looked as though the Berwick pair of Pietraszko and Smith were heading for a 5-1 but Troy Batchelor passed Scott Smith who then slipped to the back as Kevin Doolan passed him on the last lap. This turned the heat round to a 3-4 for King’s Lynn and the score after 12 heats was 43-36 with Berwick now just 7 points ahead. Heat 13 resulted in a 4-2 to Berwick as Michal Makovsky beat Oliver Allen with Adrian Rymel taking third place after a hard first two bends which saw Tomas Topinka relegated to the back but the last two heats ended in disaster for the Bandits and may well have ended their chances of winning through on aggregate. In heat 14 Kevin Doolan and the fast starting Jaros hit the front. On the last lap Jaros and Pietraszko crashed on the first bend and Chris Schramm did well to lay down his bike to avoid the two stricken riders. The referee excluded Pietraszko and awarded the race as a 1-5 to King’s Lynn. The Stars struck hard with another 1-5 in the final heat as Doolan and Allen raced away from Makovsky and Wilkinson to leave the home side with a slender one point advantage. Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 11 (5), Adam Pietraszko 10 (5), Carl Wilkinson 9+1 (6), Scott Smith 7+3 (5), Adrian Rymel 7 (4), Chris Schramm 5+4 (5). For King’s Lynn – Kevin Doolan 14+1 (6) including a 2 point GDTS from 15 metres back, Oliver Allen 13+1 (5) including a 6 point TR, Tomas Topinka 8 (4) including a 6 point TR, Jan Jaros 7+1 (4), Troy Batchelor 5 (4), Ashley Jones 1 (4), Darren Mallett 0 (3). Premier League: Workington 55, Sheffield 40 Sheffield won the bonus point on aggregate by 99-91 Workington had Magnus Zetterstrom at number 1 in place of Carl Stonehewer and used R/R for Scott Robson at number 2. They also had Scott James at number 6. Sheffield . Sheffield had a 23 point lead from the match at Owlerton in search of the bonus point. Workington looked not only like winning the match but also the bonus point when they led 34-14 after the first eight heats. The meeting was then held up for a while due to heavy rain. On the resumption Sheffield used Andre Compton as a TR in heat 9 and the Tigers’ rider took second place to Shaun Tacey but Sean Wilson did even better two races later, in heat 11, when he produced the full six points from a TR as Sheffield ended up cutting Workington’s 20 point lead to finish 14 points in arrears. Scorers: For Workington – Tomasz Piszcz 15+1 (7), Magnus Zetterstrom 14 (5), Shaun Tacey 13 (5), James Wright 7+3 (5), Kauko Nieminen 4+1 (4), Scott James 2+1 (4). For Sheffield – Sean Wilson 13+1 (5) including a 6 point TR, Richard Hall 8 (5), Kyle Legault 7 (4), Andre Compton 6 (4) including a 4 point TR, Ricky Ashworth 4+1 (4), Ben Wilson 2+1 (4), David McAllan 0 (4). Brent Werner Testimonial: at Rye House Winner: Morten Risager
Second: Hans Anderson
Third: Sam Ermolenko
Fourth: Brent Werner The meeting was run on the basis of a 16 rider, 20 heats, five rides each formula with the top four point scorers qualifying for the final. After the qualifying heats Hans Anderson, Morten Risager, Sam Ermolenko and Brent Werner qualified for the final. Morten Risager won the event. Hans Anderson was second and Sam Ermolenko finished in third place ahead of the testimonial man himself, Brent Werner. The rain arrived right on cue, less than an hour before the start, making the track very slippery although it improved as the night wore on. Each rider had five rides with the top four scorers advancing to the final. In the early heats, Hans Anderson rode well to pass Edward Kennet at the start of lap 3 and 'Rocket' Ronnie Correy looked great in heat two, winning in the fastest time of the night. On his previous visit to Rye House, all of fifteen years ago, Correy had racked up 18 points and he was at it again, racing clear from Daniel King and effortlessly extending his lead each lap. The young Danish rider, Patrick Hougaard, led heat 3 but had to give way to Risager at the end of lap 3. However, neither of them could keep up with Steve Boxall who came through from third to first. Chris Neath won heat 4 and Werner took heat 5 ahead of Risager and Correy. Track record holder Chris Harris was out in heat 6, winning from Shawn McConnell, and Billy Janiro beat Steve Johnston in heat 7. Hans Andersen won heat 8 but Daniel King kept his hopes alive with another second place. The next four heats went to Leigh Lanham, Boxall, Ermolenko - his first win so far - and Werner, his second win from three rides. With two races each to come, Edward Kennett at last scored three points from heat 13 but only because of leader Steve Johnston's engine failure. Boxall took second place to add to his two race wins. Werner made it three wins on the trot in heat 14, Ermolenko won again in heat 15 and Hans Andersen led all the way in heat 16 to beat Lanham. The leading scores were now : Andersen and Werner (9), Boxall and Risager (8), Ermolenko, Correy, King, Janiro and Neath (7). Kennett won again in heat 17 to finish with 9 points. Behind him was Janniro (also 9) and King, now out of it. Risager took heat 18 from Johnston and Tommy Allen. Neath's last place ended his chances. Ermolenko's win in heat 15 put him through to the final. Lanham was second, Boxall third and Werner last. Andersen won the last heat to advance to the final although Correy was given a rough ride on the back straight. When he dropped back to third place, he could never regain the ground. It was Denmark v America in the final : Andersen, Risager, Ermolenko and Werner, whose three race wins put him through ahead of Janiro, Boxall and Kennett. Ermolenko appeared to break the tapes at the start but the referee generously invited him back. It was Risager who got away first, chased by Andersen, but Risager held on to make it a 1-2 for Denmark. Scorers – Hans Anderson 12, Morten Risager 11, Sam Ermolenko 10, Brent Werner 9, Edward Kennett 9, Steve Boxall 9, Billy Janniro 9, Ronnie Correy 8, Leigh Lanham 8, Daniel King 8, Chris Harris 7, Chris Neath 7, Steve Johnston 6, Tommy Allen 4, Shan McConnell 2, Patrick Hougaard 1. (Report by Candyman)
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Post by Merlin on Oct 11, 2005 16:35:20 GMT
Monday, 10 October The only meeting held tonight was the last ever meeting to be staged at Exeter’s County Ground County Ground Farewell Meeting (End of an Era): at Exeter Winner: Leigh Adams
Second: Adam Shields
Third: Lee Richardson
Fourth: Magnus Zetterstrom The meeting was run on the basis of a 16 rider, 20 heats, five rides each formula with the top two point scorers being seeded directly to the final race. The next four top scorers contested a ‘semi-final’ with the first and second joining the top two scorers in the final. After five rides each Lee Richardson had scored 13 points and Leigh Adams 12 so they were seeded straight to the final. Lee Richardson had dropped points only to Bjarne Pedersen and Simon Stead while Leigh Adams dropped points to Lee Richardson, Jason Doyle and Bjarne Pedersen. The semi final was between the four riders all of whom scored 11 points and finished: Zetterstrom, Shields, Stead, Pedersen so Magnus Zetterstrom and Adam Shields joined Richardson and Adams in the final with £7,000 worth of prize money at stake. The final finished: Adams, Shields, Richardson, Zetterstrom It is with great sadness that the County Ground stadium at Exeter is now lost to Speedway. The site will be levelled to the ground like so many others in the past in order to make way for housing development. It was not the favourite track of all riders being the longest track in British speedway with banked bends and a steel safety fence but it was an unforgettable one which had survived as a speedway venue since 1929, no less than 76 years! Although speedway took place in only 59 of these years the Exeter Falcons had enjoyed an uninterrupted period of racing since 1960 a total of 46 consecutive years. As yet the future of the Falcons is in limbo although optimism reigns that they will be back next year at a different venue. Perhaps the famous old County Ground was missing Colin Hill, the Exeter promoter, after his untimely death last year. Colin had been involved with speedway at Exeter for over 20 years. All speedway supporters will hope that the Falcons are not lost to speedway along with the track. The last night’s action was, fittingly enough, played out in front of a capacity crowd although it was perhaps surprising that the field consisted of only two riders who rode for Exeter this season – Mark Lemon and Seemond Stephens – and only four others who rode in the Premier League. However, three famous Falcons of years gone by were introduced to the crowd – Former World Champion Ivan Mauger, Vaclav Verner and Scott Autrey. The final 6 laps round the track were ridden by Ivan Mauger before a fireworks display consigned the stadium and its memories to the history books. Scorers – Lee Richardson 13, Leigh Adams 12, Bjarne Pedersen 11, Adam Shields 11, Simon Stead 11, Magnus Zetterstrom 11, Chris Harris 10, Mark Lemon 8, Seemond Stephens 7, Billy Janniro 7, Craig Boyce 6, Jason Doyle 5, Roman Povazhny 4, Daniel Warwick 3, Dave Watt 1, Shawn McConnell 0.
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Post by Merlin on Oct 13, 2005 20:59:00 GMT
Thursday 13 October
Tonight’s match at Sheffield was a semi-final first leg match in the Jack Young Shield between the Tigers and Rye House . The aggregate winners will meet either Berwick or King’s Lynn in the final.
Jack Young Shield (semi-final, first leg): Sheffield 59, Rye House 36. .
Sheffield had David McAllan at number 6 while Rye House used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Stuart Robson and nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8. Having won the league and the Premier Trophy, Rye House are out to add the Jack Young Shield and KO Cup to their list of trophies but, of all the teams in the league, the opponents they would most want to avoid were probably Sheffield given the Rockets poor record round Owlerton. In their least two league matches there they lost 64-30 (2005) and 69-25 (2004) although they did slightly better in the semi-final of the Premier Trophy this year when they lost 50-39. On that occasion though, they were indebted to a 14 point return from Stuart Robson who was absent tonight. On the other hand Sheffield are one of the worst teams round the Rye House track having lost there twice this season by 66-26 (Premier Trophy) and 61-32 (League) so they were likely to need a sizeable lead for the second leg.
What a start Sheffield made to this match dropping only one point in the opening six heats to leave the Rockets dreading another Owlerton nightmare. Only Tommy Allen managed as much as a second place over these six heats finishing ahead of David McAllan in the reserves race. Even when the Rockets made the gate they were passed. In heat 2 Boxall and Allen led from the tapes but conceded a 4-2 and in heat 5 Edward Kennett was fast away only for Ricky Ashworth to pass him on the second lap with Richard Hall following suit on the third lap. The score after these opening six heats was 29-7. It was incredible to believe that they added only one more point to that lead over the next 9 heats!
In heat 7 Rye House at last made their mark. Andre Compton provided Sheffield’s seventh successive race winner but Daniel King and Brent Werner relegated the chasing David McAllan to last place for a shared heat. Then, after all that had gone before, Rye House produced a 1-8 in heat 8. Edward Kennett took a TR and won the heat. He was followed home by Tommy Allen ahead of Kyle Legault and Ben Wilson to almost double Rye House’s total. This took the score to 33-18 after the opening eight heats.
In heat 9 the previously unbeaten Richard Hall fell and was excluded from the rerun. Ricky Ashworth won the rerun, passing Chris Neath on the first lap in the process, but the Rye House pair of Neath and Steve Boxall were guaranteed three points by finishing the race to take the interval score to 36-21, a score which had looked highly unlikely three heats earlier. After the interval Sheffield were back on song with a 5-1 from the two Wilsons in heat 10 heading home King and Werner from the gate but things went wrong for the Tigers in heat 11 when Andre Compton suffered an engine failure at the gate leaving Daniel King and Edward Kennett to take a maximum from David McAllan who fell on the third lap in his attempt to pass Daniel King. This pulled the Tigers’ lead back to 15 points and guaranteed that the Rockets would pass the 30 point mark in the tie with the score now reading 42-27.
There was a strange occurrence in heat 12. Rye House called on Luke Bowen, their number 8, to take a Tactical Substitute ride going from 15 metres back. With the Sheffield pair of Kyle Legault and Ricky Ashworth out in front, Tommy Allen slowed down to let Bowen through for the two points much to the annoyance of the Sheffield team manager (although why I have no idea because it’s been happening all season) for a 5-2 to the Tigers. The home side followed that with the predictable 5-1 from Andre Compton and Sean Wilson but Rye House took another heat advantage in heat 14. In this heat Daniel King took a TR and, when Richard Hall fell for the second time in the match, the race was stopped and awarded. At the time of the stoppage Tommy Allen was ahead of King with Kyle Legault leading so Rye House took a 3-4 with King’s third place point being doubled.
In the final race Sheffield went with Sean Wilson and Ricky Ashworth against Rye House’s Tommy Allen and Edward Kennett. Although Sean Wilson won the race Tommy Allen chased him all the way and, by finishing second, prevented Sheffield from reaching the 60 point mark as Ricky Ashworth too the third place point from Edward Kennett for a 4-2. This left Sheffield with a 23 point lead to take to Hoddesden but, going on previous results, this does not look like being enough.
Scorers: For Sheffield – Sean Wilson 13+2 (5) (paid maximum), Ricky Ashworth 13 (5), Kyle Legault 11+2 (5), Andre Compton 9 (4), Ben Wilson 7+2 (4), Richard Hall 4+2 (4), David McAllan 2 (3).
For Rye House – Daniel King 9+1 (5) including a 2 point TR, Edward Kennett 9+1 (6) including a 6 point TR, Tommy Allen 9+1 (6), Chris Neath 4 (5), Steve Boxall 2+1 (3), Luke Bowen (No.8) 2 (1) a 2 point Tactical Substitute Ride from 15 metres, Brent Werner 1+1 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 15, 2005 19:49:07 GMT
Friday, 14 October
The only fixture tonight was the second leg of the semi-final tie between King’s Lynn and Berwick for a place in the final of the Jack Young Shield. Berwick arrived with a one point lead from the first leg last Saturday which never looked like giving them much of a chance to win through and so it transpired.
Jack Young Shield (semi-final, second leg): King’s Lynn 57, Berwick 35 King’s Lynn won through to the final on aggregate by 105-84.
King’s Lynn again had Darren Mallett at number 6 in place of Tommy Stange. Berwick were again without the injured Tom P Madsen and used R/R at number 3 in his place.
The tie had effectively been won and lost at Berwick last Saturday night when the Bandits lost two late 1-5s to end up with a single point advantage but it took until heat 4 of tonight’s match before King’s Lynn took an aggregate lead. The first three heats were all shared with wins for Oliver Allen in heat 1 and Chris Schramm and Adam Pietraszko for the Bandits in heats 2 and 3. In heat 4 Tomas Topinka beat Michal Makovsky with Jan Jaros in third place for a 4-2 which gave the Stars a 13-11 lead and a one point advantage.
The next three heats killed off any slender hope Berwick might still have nurtured. Kevin Doolan and Troy Batchelor took a 5-1 in heat 5 ahead of Adrian Rymel and this was followed by a 4-2 in heat 6 when Oliver Allen headed home Michal Makovsky with Ashley Jones in third place. The last thing Berwick needed was to concede a 5-0 but that’s exactly what they did in heat 7. Tomas Topinka won the race from Adam Pietraszko with Darren Mallett finishing third after Scott Smith had retired with an engine failure. However Pietraszko was subsequently excluded for having a defective silencer which meant that Berwick did not have a legal finisher. Thirteen points in arrears, the Bandits gave Carl Wilkinson a TR in heat 8. He finished second to Ashley Jones but with Chris Schramm picking up the third place point after Jan Jaros had retired the Bandits took a 3-5 from the heat which took the score after eight heats to 30-19.
Michal Makovsky was next up for a TR in heat 9 but he was less successful following Batchelor and Doolan home for a 5-2 which stretched the Stars’ lead to 14 points. Another maximum for the home side from Allen and Jones ahead of Pietraszko threatened an early finish to the match as a contest but Berwick kept it alive mathematically by winning heat 11 with a 1-5. This was a surprising heat for the Bandits to produce such a score since, to do so, Adrian Rymel and Carl Wilkinson, having made the start, had to team ride cleverly to keep Tomas Topinka back in third place. Adam Pietraszko then won heat 12 to share the points and take the score to 44-30.
Oliver Allen and Tomas Topinka finally put the aggregate win out of Berwick’s reach with a 5-1 in heat 13 from Rymel and Makovsky but Adam Pietraszko won again in heat 14 for another shared heat before the Stars predictably took a 5-1 through Oliver Allen and Troy Batchelor in the last race.
Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Oliver Allen 15 (5) (full maximum), Troy Batchelor 10+3 (5), Kevin Doolan 9+1 (4), Tomas Topinka 9+1 (4), Ashley Jones 6+1 (4), Darren Mallett 4+3 (4), Jan Jaros 4+1 (4).
For Berwick – Adam Pietraszko 11 (6), Carl Wilkinson 7+2 (5) including a 2 point TR, Adrian Rymel 7 (5), Michal Makovsky 6 (4) including a 2 point TR, Chris Schramm 4+1 (6), Scott Smith 0 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 17, 2005 20:32:09 GMT
Saturday, 15 October The big match tonight was the second leg of the semi-final In the Jack Young Shield at Rye House where the Rockets faced Sheffield. There was another meeting held at Workington – the Cumberland Classic. Jack Young Shield (semi-final, second leg): Rye House 62, Sheffield 30 Rye House won through to the final on aggregate by 98-89 Rye House went into this match without Stuart Robson, for whom they used Rider Replacement at number 1, attempting to pull back a 23 point deficit. Sheffield had David McAllan guesting at number 6. Sheffield took far too long to warm up for this return leg – 12 heats too long in fact. By that time they trailed by 55-19 and were 91-78 in arrears with the tie a forlorn hope. They did rally over the last three heats winning them 7-11 which served to put a better face on the overall score. Over the opening four heats Rye House dropped only two points scoring two 5-1s and two 4-2s to lead 18-6. During that spell Sean Wilson took a second place behind Chris Neath after leading briefly in the opening heat and Kyle Legault did likewise behind Neath, again, in heat 4. Sheffield gave Sean Wilson an early TR in heat 5 but he was stuck at the back until his partner, Ben Wilson, let him through for the extra point and a 5-2 to the home side. This was the first of five successive maximums for the Rockets during which spell Andre Compton took a TR in heat 9 only to finish third after leading Daniel King and Brent Werner both of whom sailed past him before the end of the first lap. The score after these opening nine heats was 43-13 and Sheffield were already 7 points down on aggregate. Things improved after that for the Tigers mainly due to Sean Wilson who won three of the last five heats. In heat 10 Richard Hall finished behind Edward Kennett but pegged Brent Werner back in third place for a 4-2. After Ben Wilson fell and was excluded in heat 11, Sean Wilson passed Chris Neath to supply the visitors’ first race winner all match and first shared heat. Another Rye House 5-1 from Brent Werner and Tommy Allen was followed by a unique 1-5 to Sheffield as Sean Wilson and Andre Compton beat Edward Kennett and Chris Neath. Daniel King fell in heat 14 won by Steve Boxall for a shared heat then another 3-3 resulted in heat 15 when Sean Wilson won from the gate to beat Brent Werner and Chris Neath. Surprisingly Andre Compton was not nominated in this race after his heat 13 success and it was left to Kyle Legault to partner Wilson. Rye House now meet King’s Lynn in the final. Scorers: For Rye House – Brent Werner 13+2 (6), Chris Neath 12+1 (6), Edward Kennett 11 (5), Daniel King 10+2 (5), Steve Boxall 8+3 (4), Tommy Allen 8+2 (4). For Sheffield – Sean Wilson 13 (5) including a 2 point TR, Kyle Legault 6 (6), Andre Compton 5+1 (4) including a 2 point TR, Richard Hall 4 (4), Ricky Ashworth 1 (4), Ben Wilson 1 (4), David McAllan 0 (3). Cumberland Classic: at Workington Winner: Simon Stead
Second: James Wright
Third: Rusty Harrison
Fourth: Shaun Tacey The meeting was run on the basis of a 16 rider, 20 heats, five rides each formula. There was no semi-final or final heat. The places were determined on total points scored. David Howe, injured the previous night did not take his place and there was no rider in the number 12 spot – the gap being filled by the two reserves. One of them, Charles Wright, crashed into the fence on the fourth bend on the opening lap of heat 8 and was taken to hospital for precautionary X-rays. Garry Stead withdrew from the meeting after falling in his fourth ride in heat 14. The winner, Simon Stead, dropped only one point – in the opening heat to Shaun Tacey. James Wright finished second but won his opening three rides before losing to Sean Tacey in heat 15 and Simon Stead in heat 20. Rusty Harrison dropped points to James Wright in heat 2 and to Simon Stead and Kauko Nieminen inn heat 16 but took third place ahead of Shaun Tacey. Although both riders finished with three heat wins each Harrison’s victory over Tacey in heat 19 was decisive. Scorers – Simon Stead 14, James Wright 13, Rusty Harrison 12, Shaun Tacey 12, Kauko Nieminen 10, Mark Lemon 10, Jason Lyons 10, Henning Bager 9, Ronnie Correy 6, Craig Branney 5, Garry Stead 5 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 5, Norbert Magosi 4, Andreas Lekander 3, Scott James (reserve) 1 (3), Artur Boginczuk 0, Charles Wright (reserve) 0 (2).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 20, 2005 21:45:30 GMT
Thursday, 20 October Tonight’s meeting was at Sheffield where the event was the Northern Riders Championship. Northern Riders Championship: at Sheffield Winner: Simon Stead
Second: Magnus Karlsson
Third: Sean Wilson
Fourth: Andre Compton As Speedway limps towards its October conclusion, Sheffield brought the curtain down on their season this evening with this individual event which included a number of current and former Tigers’ riders. The meeting was run on the basis of a 16 rider, 20 heats, five rides each formula. The top two point scorers were seeded directly to the final with the next four point scorers contesting the semi-final from which the first two also went through to the final heat. At the interval after 12 heats had been raced and all the riders had had 3 rides each, Andre Compton led the field with an unbeaten 9 points and was being chased by Mark Lemon on 8 and Sean Wilson, Simon Stead Ben Wilson and Magnus Karlsson all of whom had scored 7 points. Ricky Ashworth withdrew after blowing his engine in heat 5 and similarly Rusty Harrison withdrew after blowing his engine in heat 10. Over the last eight heats Andre Compton went on to complete a five ride maximum to go directly through to the final by winning his last two races. Sean Wilson also won his last two races, after dropping points to Compton and Magnus Karlsson earlier in the meeting, to join Compton in the final. Andre Compton’s winning time in heat 1 was two and a half seconds faster than and other rider managed all night. The next four scorers were Ben Wilson, Simon Stead, Magnus Karlsson and Mark Lemon and they made up the semi-final. Simon Stead won this race from Magnus Karlsson, Mark Lemon and Ben Wilson so Stead and Karlsson joined Compton and Stead in the final. In the final Andre Compton, the red hot favourite, fell and was excluded from the rerun. There was then a second rerun with the three remaining riders called back to the start. In the third attempt to complete the race Sean Wilson fell and the race was awarded to the leader at the time, Simon Stead, with Magnus Karlsson declared second. Scorers – Andre Compton 15, Sean Wilson 13, Simon Stead, Magnus Karlsson 11, Mark Lemon 9, Ben Wilson 9, Robbie Kessler 9, Adam Skornicki 6, Richard Hall 6, Sam Ermolenko 5, Kyle Legault 5, Rusty Harrison 4 (3), Adrian Rymel 4, Scott Smith 4, Luke Priest (reserve) 3 (2), James Birkinshaw 2, Benji Compton (reserve) 1 (3), Ricky Ashworth 1 (2).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 21, 2005 21:02:10 GMT
Friday, 21 October
Tonight the first leg of the Premier League KO Cup final was raced at King’s Lynn . The Stars were up against the Rye House Rockets who were looking to add this trophy to their other successes this season.
Premier League KO Cup (final, first leg): King’s Lynn 63, Rye House 27.
King’s Lynn had Simon Lambert at number 6 as a guest for Tommy Stange. Rye House were without Stuart Robson and used Rider Replacement at number 1 in his absence. They also nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8 for this match. Tactical Rides and Tactical Substitutes were not allowed for this tournament.
Rye House won the toss and went from gates 1 and 3 but if they hoped that would help them in the opening heat they were mistaken. Although Chris Neath and Edward Kennett made good starts for the Rockets they were soon passed by Oliver Allen. Ashley Jones had joined him in second place before the first lap was finished as the Stars opened with a 5-1. Jan Jaros led heat 2 before falling at the end of the second lap while leading and was excluded. In the rerun it looked as though Rye House might take a 1-5 to square the score but Simon Lambert passed Steve Boxall to limit the damage to a 2-4. After the race Steve Boxall, who had also fallen in the first running of the heat, was examined by the medics and was withdrawn from the meeting suffering from concussion. In the third heat Daniel King was next to be excluded for falling. In the rerun the riders were called back after an unsatisfactory start with Brent Werner warned for moving at the start. At the third attempt Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan took a 5-1 to put the Stars six points ahead and things got worse for Rye House in heat 4. Tomas Topinka and Jan Jaros added another four points to the home side’s lead with another 5-1 ahead of Chris Neath which took the score after the opening four races to 17-7.
King’s Lynn made it three 5-1s in a row when Doolan and Batchelor left Kennett in their wake in heat 5 and it became four in a row with another maximum heat win for Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones ahead of Chris Neath. At this stage Rye House had managed only 9 points from six heats. In heat 7 Daniel King had barely made it off the start line before his bike packed up. Tomas Topinka beat Brent Werner with Simon Lambert picking up the third place point for a 4-2 stretching the Stars’ lead to 20 points. However things improved for the Rockets in heat 8. Tommy Allen won the race from Ashley Jones while Edward Kennett eventually won the third place point after a hard fought battle with Jan Jaros. This 2-4 took the score after 8 races to 33-15.
Chris Neath who had yet to beat an opponent touched the tapes in heat 9 and, with Tommy Allen, Rye’s sole reserve, already replacing Steve Boxall, had little alternative other than to go from 15 metres back. Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan ran up their third consecutive 5-1 as a pairing in the rerun to stretch King’s Lynn’s lead to 22 points. Then in heat 10 Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones scored King’s Lynn’s seventh 5-1 by heading home Brent Werner and Daniel King and the lead was now 26 points. Tomas Topinka won heat 11 but Edward Kennett and Daniel King filled the second and third places ahead of Simon Lambert for a shared heat. In heat 12 Brent Werner burst into life by passing Troy Batchelor on the first lap to go on and win the race. It looked as though Rye House might take a 2-4 but Jan Jaros passed Tommy Allen on the third lap to share the points. The score after 12 heats was 49-23.
The expected 5-1 from Tomas Topinka and Oliver Allen materialised in heat 13 with Chris Neath taking the third place point from Edward Kennett. Then King’s Lynn made it nine 5-1s in 14 heats in the next race with Kevin Doolan and Jan Jaros awarded first and second places after Tommy Allen had fallen and been excluded. In the last race Brent Werner denied Oliver Allen his maximum by finishing second to Tomas Topinka but ahead of Allen for a 4-2 which gave the Stars a healthy 36 point lead for the second leg tomorrow night at Hoddesdon.
Rye House have had some massive wins at home this season but they’ll have to go some to overturn King’s Lynn’s first leg lead although they won’t have to contend with TRs in their efforts to do so.
Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5) (full maximum), Oliver Allen 12+1 (5), Kevin Doolan 10+2 (4) (paid maximum), Troy Batchelor 10+1 (4), Ashley Jones 8+3 (4), Jan Jaros 5+3 (5), Simon Lambert 3 (3).
For Rye House – Brent Werner 9 (6), Tommy Allen 7 (7), Edward Kennett 4 (5), Chris Neath 4 (6), Daniel King 2+1 (5), Steve Boxall 1 (1).
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Post by Merlin on Oct 25, 2005 20:17:01 GMT
Saturday, 22 October It was Premier League KO Cup final night at Rye House where the Rockets faced a massive hurdle attempting to pull back a 36 point deficit from the first leg against King’s Lynn. In the other meeting Berwick wound up their season by hosting the Northumbrian Open Championship. Premier League KO Cup (Final, second leg): Rye House 56, King’s Lynn 34
King’s Lynn won the trophy on aggregate by 97-83 Rye House used Rider Replacement for Stuart Robson at number 1 and again nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8. King’s Lynn had Benji Compton as a guest at number 7 in place of Tommy Stange. With the equivalent of nine 5-1s to pull back it looked like mission impossible for the Rockets. In the end the Stars won comfortably to deny Rye House one of the season’s major honours. With such a big deficit to overcome it was crucial for Rye House to get off to a good start but it didn’t happen. In fact King’s Lynn all but secured victory by supplying the race winners for each of the first three heats. Although there was little between Chris Neath and Oliver Allen in the opening heat it was Neath who won it for the visitors to share the points. Jan Jaros made the gate to win heat 2 then Troy Batchelor headed Daniel King and Brent Werner home in heat 3 to ensure another two shared heats. Finally Rye House scored one of the 5-1s they needed in heat 4 as Tommy Allen hit the front with Chris Neath making an excellent pass on Tomas Topinka to follow him home. The score after the opening four heats was 14-10 with King’s Lynn still 32 points ahead on aggregate. Heat 5 gave the home fans some hope as the Rockets took another 5-1 this time when Daniel King and Brent Werner beat the heat 1 race winner, Oliver Allen. In heat 6 the Rockets pulled another two points back with a 4-2 when Tomas Topinka could only split the Kennett/King pairing but heat 7 really killed off any lingering hopes for the home side when King’s Lynn took a 2-4. Troy Batchelor beat Chris Neath by a distance and Kevin Doolan passed Steve Boxall for the third place point. The Stars looked like following this up with a 1-5 but Tommy Allen passed first Jan Jaros then Ashley Jones to win the race while Edward Kennett relegated Jan Jaros to the back for a 4-2. This took the score after 8 races to 29-19 with King’s Lynn still 26 points ahead with seven races left needing only to share one of the remaining heats for overall victory. Heat 9 produced another 4-2 to Rye House with Brent Werner beating Tomas Topinka and Daniel King third. In heat 10 the Rockets kept the match mathematically alive by scoring a 5-1 through Edward Kennett and Brent Werner as Troy Batchelor pulled up after being passed. It was all over in heat 11, though, as King’s Lynn took the three points they needed. Chris Neath won the heat but Tommy Allen fell chasing Oliver Allen for second place which meant that the race was shared 3-3. Troy Batchelor fell and was excluded from the rerun of heat 12 which resulted in a 5-1 to the home side thanks to Brent Werner and Tommy Allen. This took the score to 46-26 on the night and to 73-89 on aggregate. King’s Lynn took a 2-4 in heat 13 with Oliver Allen beating Chris Neath and Tomas Topinka leading Edward Kennett home. Rye House responded with a 5-1 from King and Boxall from Kevin Doolan but the last heat was shared when Chris Neath had an engine failure as Brent Werner beat Oliver Allen and Troy Batchelor. Congratulations go to King’s Lynn. The two teams have it all to do again next week in the final of the Jack Young Shield where the only difference will be that Tactical Rides and Tactical Substitutes will be allowed. Scorers: For Rye House – Brent Werner 14+3 (6), Chris Neath 11+1 (6), Daniel King 10 (5), Tommy Allen 9+2 (5), Edward Kennett 8+1 (5), Steve Boxall 4+1, Luke Bowen DNR. For King’s Lynn – Oliver Allen 11 (5), Troy Batchelor 7+1 (5), Tomas Topinka 6 (4), Jan Jaros 4 (4), Ashley Jones 3+1 (4), Kevin Doolan 3 (4), Benji Compton 0 (4). Northumbrian Open Championship: at Berwick Winner: Hans Andersen
Second: Michal Makovsky
Third: Sean Wilson
Fourth: Mark Lemon The meeting was run on the basis of a 12 rider, 12 heats, four rides each formula. The top two point scorers were seeded directly to the Final with the next four point scorers contesting a Semi-Final from which the winner and second took the remaining two Final places. In the qualifying heats Hans Andersen was clearly the class act in the field and sailed to an untroubled maximum. Along with Andersen, Mark Lemon also comfortably made the Final dropping his only point to the Grand Prix rider. The next four were miles ahead of the rest of the field and took their place in the Semi-Final. Michal Makovsky made the gate chased by Sean Wilson. Theo Pijper passed Adrian Rymel round the outside of the opening two bends but couldn’t quite get up on Sean Wilson. This resulted in Makovsky and Wilson joining Andersen and Lemon in the final. It took four attempts to run the final. Firstly Hans Andersen off gate one moved out to block Michal Makovsky on the first bend which caused Makovsky to fall. The referee called all four back but in the rerun the same thing happened. Andersen, Wilson and Makovsky, off gate 4, were fast away. Andersen repeated his move of the first running of the heat by moving out to shunt Makovsky into the fence. Again the referee called all four back. In the third attempt to run the heat Sean Wilson touched the tapes and had to go from 15 metres back. However, after discussions, with all and sundry, it was determined that all four riders would start from the tapes, it being the last race of the season at Berwick. In the fourth running Hans Andersen finally made the gate. Michal Makovsky cut back on the second bend but did not have the speed to take him past Andersen. At the back an outside drive on the 3rd/4th bend by Mark Lemon failed to get him past Sean Wilson as the riders settled into their final positions. Scorers – Hans Andersen 12, Mark Lemon 11, Sean Wilson 9, Adrian Rymel 8, Michal Makovsky 8, Theo Pijper 8, James Wright 4, Chris Schramm 4, David Meldrum 3, Scott Smith 3, Artur Boginczuk 2, Carl Wilkinson 0 (3).
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