(SPEEDWAY 1)
GREAT Britain will face Australia, Poland and Sweden in Saturday’s World Cup Final at Belle Vue.Alun Rossiter’s side already knew the identity of two of their opponents prior to the Race-Off on Friday, which saw Australia edge out Denmark for the remaining place.Swindon skipper Jason Doyle scored a 15-point maximum to see his side through, winning a crucial Heat 20 after they had gone into the last race just one point ahead of the Danes.GB will be represented by skipper Tai Woffinden, Danny King, Robert Lambert and Craig Cook at the National Speedway Stadium, with Adam Ellis in the reserve berth.Rossiter said: “It’s going to be a special occasion and I’m really proud to be able to be in charge of the team for a World Cup Final in our own country.“I’m happy with the selections, the team are feeling good and we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do.“Yes, the other nations are strong and it’s going to be tough but we should be targeting a medal, which is something we haven’t done for a decade.“We know we’re going to get incredible support from a sell-out crowd, it’s going to be quite some atmosphere, and we’re all backing the boys to deliver.”(SPEEDWAY 2)
SOMERSET maintained their unbeaten Premier League run in 2016 with a convincing 56-34 win over Berwick.Rohan Tungate scored a paid maximum from five rides for the Rebels, who also had Josh Grajczonek (11) and Charles Wright (10+1) in double figures, as they limited the Bandits to three race wins, although after seven races the gap had been just four points.Somerset boss Garry May said: “Berwick made it difficult for us early on, but once the boys got into their stride, then it was a different story.“I knew that we had the greater strength in the latter half of the meeting, and that is exactly what happened.“I think we were well worth our win, though credit to Berwick for making it another exciting match, the final score-line perhaps not doing justice to the racing seen tonight by both sets of riders.”Berwick boss Scott Courtney said: “We may not have won tonight, but we rediscovered our fight and spirit again and that counts for an awful lot. “Somerset are favourites for the title this season and for us to hold them as well as we did for so long until they turned the screws in the latter heats which made the score look worse than reality was, is pretty creditable and a something to be proud of.”Meanwhile a much-changed Edinburgh team still got the better of Sheffield – themselves forced into changes – 56-36 at Armadale.Stand-in Monarchs skipper Kevin Wolbert scored 12+1 with reserves Max Clegg and Dan Bewley starring on 11 apiece, whilst Richie Worrall collected 13 on a guest appearance for the Tigers.Edinburgh manager Alex Harkess said: “I wasn’t sure what to expect and hadn’t been looking forward to the match with four of our usual team missing.“It went very well though, the guests did fine, Kevin gave a captain’s display and the reserves were simply brilliant.”Sheffield boss Marc Bates said: “I think our top five matched their top five, but it’s obvious the main problem was at reserve where they got a lot more points than us, and that’s something we need to have a look at. “Kyle (Howarth) and Josh (Bates) tried extremely hard for their points, and I can’t thank Ricky Wells and Richie Worrall enough for coming in at short notice and doing such a good job for us. “It’s another meeting we’ve got nothing out of, so we’ll have to regroup now and get back on track against Ipswich on Thursday.”
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY JULY 30:WORLD CUP FINAL: Belle Vue 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 31:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Redcar 6.30, Rye House v Somerset 4pm, Workington v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Mildenhall 3.30, Rye House v Birmingham (follows PL fixture)BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 5: Leicester 3pm
MONDAY AUGUST 1:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Leicester 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Isle of Wight 6.30
