(SPEEDWAY 1)

LAKESIDE have taken the final Elite League play-off place with an emphatic 58-35 win over fellow contenders Swindon at Purfleet.The Hammers gave a dominant display in Friday’s crunch clash to move themselves above the Robins on race points difference, and extend their season.Kim Nilsson headed the Lakeside scoring on 13 points with guest Scott Nicholls chipping in with 10+3, whilst Jason Doyle piled up 15 for a disappointing Swindon side – whose boss Alun Rossiter expects to make changes in 2017.Lakeside co-promoter Jon Cook said: “The boys deserve all the credit, every one of them performed exceptionally.“Understandably, everyone was nervous but as it turned out we produced some of our best form of the year.“We are delighted and can’t wait for the play-off on Wednesday. Over two legs, we feel we can be strong because of our ability at home.“With the strength we have in our six-man team alongside whoever comes in for AJ (Jonsson), I think we have every opportunity to win.” Rossiter said: “It was a massive disappointment and we were not good enough. To be honest, we were lacking in support at second string and heat leader to back up Doyley all year and our reserves struggled towards the end of the season. “One rider would have a good meeting, another would have a poor one and it would swap around from week to week. We didn’t click all at once and if we had, we would have battered teams.“It is all very raw at the moment but we are already starting to work on building a team around Doyley for next season. He will have a say and we will get our heads together to see what we can bring to Swindon.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

KING’S Lynn moved into sixth place in the Elite League table with a 48-41 win at Coventry on Friday.Stars’ No.1 Niels-Kristian Iversen piled up 16+1 for the visitors, dropping his only point to Danny King, whilst Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen impressed at reserve with 12+1.The Bees led by four points with five races to go, thanks to two mid-meeting wins for Adam Roynon, but a good finish from the visitors saw them take the points.King’s Lynn team boss Rob Lyon said: “It was nice to experience that winning feeling once again and that's two successful visits to Coventry this season.“We certainly know how Coventry feel having to run without a recognised number one but we had a job to do and the team responded in a positive manner.“Another away win at Leicester when it's re-arranged will send everyone into the winter break in a more positive frame of mind.”Roynon said: “It’s very disappointing to lose, you never want to come to a home meeting and get beaten, and with the season the Bees have had it would have been nice to cement that sixth place in the table.“But that’s the way it goes. It’s been a really tough season, but personally it was good to get some heat wins, albeit against Premier League riders!“The incentive was still there to win races because I’d love to have a team place here next year, and I gave it my best and came out of it with a good night.”In the Premier League, Edinburgh collected maximum points against a much-changed Somerset side with a 50-43 win at Armadale.Sam Masters (12+1) and Ryan Fisher (11+3) were both in the major points for the Monarchs, with Ricky Wells top-scoring on his guest appearance for the Rebels win 11+1Monarchs team manager Alex Harkess said “I was very happy to keep our 100% home league record against a good team, but some of our side were not at their best. We made much harder work of it than we should have.”Rebels team manager Garry May said: “It is always a tough ask to come to Edinburgh and get something from the match, but after a slow start, the boys got themselves back into things, and if Jake [Allen] hadn’t been forced to withdraw from the meeting, who knows what the final outcome might have been.“Unfortunately, Jake suffered from concussion as a result of the incident, which means a mandatory nine-day spell on the side-lines, during which time the only facility available to us will be rider replacement.“On the positive side of things, we do have the Premier Shield back residing at the Oaktree Arena after a year away, and at the end of the day we were already guaranteed top spot in the Premier League table, so the defeat hasn’t affected anything as far as that is concerned.”Meanwhile Coventry Storm dealt Belle Vue Colts’ play-off hopes a massive blow with a 51-39 win at Brandon in the National League.The home side made a flying start and although they were briefly pulled back, they prevented the visitors from gaining ground on fourth-placed Cradley.Liam Carr (13+1) and guest Tom Perry (11+1) were well backed by reserve Conor Dwyer with 10+3 for the Storm, whilst Lee Payne collected 12+1 for the Colts.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “victory.Manager Laurence Rogers said: “It was a superb win, and a great all-round team performance. I’m really pleased for all of the lads, they rode their socks off.“A big start with the two 5-1s gave us the start we needed against a strong Colts side, and it was great to see Conor Dwyer back on-form with paid-13.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

PLYMOUTH will be without number one and top scorer Jack Holder for their final match of the season when they meet Scunthorpe at the St Boniface Arena on Saturday.The Devils will operate the rider replacement facility to cover the absence of the 20-year-old Australian, who raced in the World Under-21 Final at Pardubice on Friday. Plymouth team manager Lee Trigger admits: “It is very tight at the bottom of the table. It is not where we wanted to be, but it makes it all the more important that we finish the season on a winning note with a victory over Scunthorpe.”Meanwhile Workington race their penultimate home league fixture of the campaign as leaders Somerset visit Derwent Park.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: “After last week’s home defeat against Glasgow I daresay that we could have picked an easier fixture to try and bounce back to winning ways, especially as we will be without reserve Matt Williamson this evening due to the NLRC at Leicester. However at this stage of the season it is all about getting the league fixtures raced.“We will take heart from the fact that back in May we only lost out to the Rebels by two points in the KO Cup on a night where we had a lot of mechanical misfortune, so hopefully it will be a different story this evening!”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

ALL twelve clubs will be represented in the National League Riders’ Championship at Leicester on Saturday.Beaumont Park is a new venue for the event, with Rye House’s Ben Morley defending the title he won when in Kent colours last year.Cradley skipper Max Clegg will be going for two major individual wins in four days, having become British Under-19 Champion on Wednesday.He said: “It was an awesome night for me at Birmingham, and I was really happy to win it in my last year. To win it with a maximum was an incredible feeling, and I’ll take loads of confidence from that into the NLRC on Saturday. “I’ve done a season at Leicester in the Elite League, so I should know my way around there and I’m feeling pretty good at the moment.“I’m going there believing I can win, but I know it’s going to be tough and I’ll need to ride well if I’m going to do it.”

(FIXTURES)

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.15, Workington v Somerset 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Leicester 7.30

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Glasgow v Workington 3pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 2pm, Eastbourne v Belle Vue (follows previous fixture), Mildenhall v King’s Lynn 3.30, Rye House v Isle of Wight 6pm, Stoke v Kent 3pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Scunthorpe 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Kent 7.30