(SPEEDWAY 1)
BELLE Vue seized control of their Elite League play-off semi-final with a 49-41 win in Wednesday’s first leg at Lakeside.Aces skipper Scott Nicholls scored a paid maximum from five rides with reserve Richie Worrall contributing a vital 15+2, whilst Craig Cook won his last three outings as the visitors finished the meeting with three successive 5-1s.Lewis Kerr top-scored for the Hammers with 9+1 but promoter Jon Cook admits they now face the biggest of uphill tasks in Manchester on Monday.Cook said: “Those last three heats killed us off. After going from four up to eight down like that, it would take a foolish person to back us to recover.“Before that, the teams were pretty evenly matched and we felt we had a slight edge.“I think the wobbles were more to do with the track than any nerves. There was tension, of course, but you would expect that to be the case for both teams and our boys were in good spirits. “It will be difficult to come back but speedway is a funny game. You would think Belle Vue might be quite relaxed and we need to be ready to take advantage if that happens.”Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “It was important to keep things as tight as possible. Some of the boys were struggling but that's part of the charm of these Belle Vue Aces. They unite and push on. “As far as this meeting was concerned, it's job done. We knew that no matter who we chose in the semi-finals it was going to be tough and early doors the Hammers gave us plenty to think about.“But in classic style, the boys rallied to the cause and really knuckled down. We'd have been happy with just a four-point lead going into the home leg so to have extended that to eight is tremendous.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
POOLE No.1 Chris Holder scored a paid maximum as the reigning Elite League Champions raced to a 51-39 first leg win in their semi-final against Wolverhampton.The Pirates opened the meeting with two successive 5-1s but Wolves rallied to remain in contention ahead of Monday’s return at Monmore Green.Holder was well backed by reserve Kyle Newman with 12+2 for the home side, whilst Jacob Thorssell was the top scorer for Wolves on eight as both Fredrik Lindgren and Tai Woffinden experienced mixed nights.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It's obviously not the result we were looking for, but you have to remember that Wimborne Road is a difficult place to go to.“This tie is far from over and we'll be looking to make the most of our own home track advantage on Monday and we've got riders who are capable of scoring very heavily at Monmore.“We had a talk as a team at the end of the meeting and you can see just how much they want to make the Final.“They're certainly not ready for their seasons to be over just yet - they're well up for the second leg and there's no reason why we can't reverse that scoreline on Monday.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
KING’S Lynn Young Stars raced to a convincing 55-35 win over Rye House at the Adrian Flux Arena on Wednesday.Nathan Greaves scored 14+2 for the Young Stars with guest Jon Armstrong piling up 14 whilst in-form skipper Scott Campos collected 12+1. Robert Branford scored 11 for the Raiders.King’s Lynn boss Dale Allitt said: “It was a good performance, Jon came in and did a great job at No.1, and it was good to see a solid team effort again.“Nathan, Scott and Ryan (Kinsley) all scored well again and the reserves chipped in with some points too, so it was a good win over a top-heavy side – and obviously they were hampered by being without Ben Morley and deciding to go with rider-replacement.”Rye House boss Peter Schroeck said: “We are not going to allow ourselves to get too disappointed over this one because King’s Lynn are pretty strong at home and make this a fairly tough place to come to. “Even Branny (Branford) struggled a bit with the track tonight as they had to pull all the dirt off because the tide was in, although it was obviously the same for both sides.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
IPSWICH meet Edinburgh at Foxhall on Thursday as the Premier League play-off quarter-finals get underway.The Witches will have James Sarjeant and Joe Jacobs back after missing the trip to Newcastle last Sunday, but require a guest at reserve for the injured Danyon Hume.Boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We need to carry on our own good form and ride the way we have been. We need to build as big a lead as possible and try and make life easier but I believe we should do well in both legs. “We want a good solid performance on Thursday like we have been doing at home the last two months “Everyone has been under a lot of pressure to win meetings and get us in the play-offs, but we just want to carry on our good form because we've been riding so well. “In a sense we are underdogs in the play-offs because we were written off a long time ago. We're in very good form and we are confident, so we will go out there and do our thing and we are capable of getting a very good result.”In the League Cup semi-finals, Sheffield chief Eric Boocock says there’s no pressure on his riders as they go into their second leg with Somerset at Owlerton.The Tigers are 18 points down from the opener at the Oaktree Arena and have booked Richard Lawson to guest for injured skipper Simon Stead, with rider replacement still in operation for Jason Garrity.Boocock said: “It certainly won’t be easy, Somerset have some very good riders and finished top of the league for the season, but on our day we are capable of doing it.“If everyone performs as well as they can around our place then we know we can do some serious damage, but we’ll need everyone on form on the night.“The pressure is off I suppose because not too many people expect us to get through, so that might suit us and we’ll try to pull it off.”Somerset use rider replacement for Jake Allen, who is out with concussion, whilst Tom Bacon stands in for Zach Wajtknecht at reserve.Rebels boss Garry May said: “It has never been my way to go and try to defend a lead, but with the more positive attitude of trying to win the match.“We put in a good performance when we were recently at Sheffield in the league and were a bit unlucky that night, so we aim to put that knowledge to good use in Thursday’s match and hopefully that will see us through to the Final.”Meanwhile Redcar stage the Teesside Silver Helmet at the Media Prime Arena with 16 riders competing over 16 heats, a semi-final and a Final.Current Bears riders Hugh Skidmore, David Bellego, Lee Payne, Jye Etheridge and Lasse Bjerre are joined in the line-up by the likes of Kenneth Hansen, Ricky Wells, Ulrich Ostergaard and Aaron Summers.
(FIXTURES)THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF Q/F 1st leg: Ipswich v Edinburgh 7.30LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Sheffield v Somerset 7.30TEESSIDE SILVER HELMET: Redcar 7.30
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Somerset v Glasgow 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Cradley 7.30, Coventry v Stoke 7pm, Coventry v Rye House (follows previous fixture)KENT COUNTY FOURS: Kent 6.30
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24:LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Workington v Glasgow 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v King’s Lynn 7.30
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Glasgow v Somerset 3pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Eastbourne 3pm
