(SPEEDWAY 1)
WORKINGTON made a winning return to Derwent Park after a gap of five weeks by defeating Rye House 55-35 - with every team member being paid for at least eight points in a solid team performance.The Comets’ scorechart ranged from Ricky Wells on 9+2 to Matt Williamson on 6+2 with strong contributions throughout, whilst Simon Stead picked up 14 as a guest for Edward Kennett for the Rockets.Workington boss Tony Jackson said: “That was a proper team effort, with everyone playing their part and it was the perfect way to return from our enforced break in fixtures.“As a match we were always in control, but there was some excellent racing from both teams that made the score-line feel much closer than it was.“Before the meeting I told the riders to look upon this match as the start to the second part of the season and that it was important that we made it a winning start, which we did perfectly.”Rye House manager Peter Schroeck said: “Heat wins weren’t the problem. It was consistency and conversion that were. Workington were very consistent tonight; they out-gated us and they were very sharp.“The track was catching us out. It is very different to just about every other circuit in this league. But that’s not an excuse, it was the same for everyone out there.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
DAN Thompson won the British 125cc Championship at Berwick on Saturday.Thompson dropped just one point in the qualifying races, ironically to his brother Joe, but turned the tables in the Final as the twins finished ahead of Jordan Palin in third place with Harry McGurk fourth.The event was run of part of Berwick’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ meeting which was won by Bandits reserve Liam Carr, who defeated Danny Ayres and Jye Etheridge in the Final with Tobias Thomsen falling on the third lap.Berwick boss Scott Courtney said: “Some said we never stood a chance of getting 27 races of this standard completed in the time allowed, but we knew it could be done.“With the co-operation, efficiency and determination of the staff here at Berwick, as well as the referee, Willie Dishingon pushing the races on all night, we succeeded in putting on a massive, full programme of good racing that certainly put some new riders' names in the shop window.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
GLASGOW can take over at the top of the Premier League table with a win over Rye House at Ashfield on Sunday.The home side have declared Plymouth’s Ellis Perks as a guest at reserve in place of the injured Nike Lunna.The Rockets are without No.1 Edward Kennett due to an elbow injury sustained when racing for Lakeside on Friday, and Workington’s Ricky Wells comes in to guest.At the Eddie Wright Raceway, Scunthorpe are bidding for a third straight home win when they welcome champions Edinburgh.The Scorpions are currently in a confident mood, having won three of their last four PL matches, including a fantastic 46-44 away win at Peterborough on Tuesday, which was inspired by a brilliant 15 paid 16 tally from reserve Michael Palm Toft.Scunthorpe will again use rider replacement for the injured Alex Davies, who is recovering after fracturing two broken vertebrae in his back in a crash last Sunday which is set to rule him out for six weeks.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We won’t be taking anything for granted, but the lads have really picked up their game during the last couple of weeks, and we’ll be looking to continue that against Edinburgh.“The Monarchs have been the kings in the Premier League over the last couple of seasons, but they are beatable this season. It will be interesting to see how they fare on Sunday, because they’ve got one of the best heat-leaders trios in the league, but they’ve also got three riders who have never seen our place before.”Meanwhile Sheffield chief Eric Boocock has set his side a 10-point target as they head to Newcastle for the first leg of their Knockout Cup quarter-final.With the return at Owlerton on Thursday, where they have been in dominant form, Boocock believes leaving Brough Park within 10 points would be a solid result.He said: “If we keep it within 10 then I think we can get the job done on Thursday at Owlerton, but it’s going to be a tough one.“I’ve never been to Newcastle with these Sheffield riders so I’m not sure who goes well there, but I’m told Jason (Garrity) goes extremely well there so it’s a shame we won’t have him.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
BUXTON boss Jason Pipe is tipping reserves Shelby Rutherford and Lee Geary to be the key men in Sunday’s Travel Plus National League encounter with Belle Vue at the Hi-Edge Raceway.The Hitmen are still looking for their first home league win of the season and bring in former favourite Tony Atkin to guest at No.1 as they continue to battle on without recent retirees Oliver Greenwood and Jade Mudgway.Pipe said: “Belle Vue have a team of riders who can all ride the Buxton track well on their day. Even though we unfortunately have to go into another meeting a heat-leader short, I genuinely believe that this meeting will be won at reserve. “Our reserves need to start producing the points they were brought into this team for, on a more consistent basis. They are much better than their averages and on paper I would say we have the second best reserve pairing in the league. “But unfortunately meetings are not won on paper. Currently both are not hitting a 3.00 point average. This area of the team is a big concern at the moment.”Colts reserve Joe Lawlor said: “I’m feeling confident about the match on Sunday. Buxton is a track I know very well. I’ve ridden there a few times with Belle Vue in the MDL and I’ve scored quite a few decent points.“Hopefully I can repeat that kind of performance in the National League. The team is feeling good and obviously we’re going there with the intention of getting more league points on the board.”Meanwhile Mildenhall race on home shale for the first time in six weeks when they face the Isle of Wight at West Row.The Fen Tigers hope Danny Halsey will be fit to return after missing their defeat at Cradley with a knee injury, whilst the Warriors have named Zach Wajtknecht as a guest at No.1 for Benji Compton.Mildenhall promoter Kevin Jolly said: “It will be great to see lads back on track again after the recent break. “Sunday is the start of a busy few weeks both home and away as we look to secure as many points as possible to maintain our hopes of a play off place. Hopefully Dan will be fit and we can line up with our full seven.”
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JULY 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Rye House 3pm, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Belle Vue 3pm, Mildenhall v Isle of Wight 3.30
MONDAY JULY 18:ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Birmingham 6.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 20:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Coventry 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Stoke 7.30
