(SPEEDWAY 1)
SOMERSET took the advantage in the League Cup Final with a 48-42 win at Glasgow on Sunday.The Rebels collected their second victory of the season at Ashfield, with a spectacular display from guest reserve Josh Bates who scored 14+2 standing in for the injured Bradley Wilson-Dean.Josh Grajczonek added 11+1 for the Rebels, whilst double-figure scores for Richard Lawson (14) and Aaron Summers (10) were not enough to prevent a home defeat.Somerset boss Garry May said: “The boys were absolutely superb this afternoon. Even when Glasgow pulled out that early lead they didn’t panic, and showed great character in hitting back with those 5-1’s to put ourselves in front.“After that it was just a case of taking it race by race and not doing anything silly. We may have only had six heat winners, but five of those produced heat advantages, four of which were maximum heat wins.“Although Rohan [Tungate] had a very rare off day for us, the other boys rallied round, with our guest reserve, Josh Bates putting in a brilliant performance, and I would like to thank him, and our other guest, Connor Coles, for their efforts today.”Glasgow star Rene Bach said: “It was very frustrating. I didn't really make any starts and I made some stupid mistakes in the first corners.“With the way the track turned out today it was pretty hard to pass, but I made hard work of it for myself.“But we're only half-way there. We were leading last time we were at Somerset when the meeting got abandoned - I know they were unlucky that time - but as we've seen today, anything can happen, and we'll see what happens on Friday.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
NEWCASTLE are through to the Premier League KO Cup Final after securing aggregate victory over Rye House over the weekend.The Diamonds faced a four-point deficit from the first leg but turned that around at Brough Park with a 56-34 win on home shale to go through by 18 points overall.Robert Lambert and Steve Worrall both raced to 14+1 paid maximums for the home side with skipper Ludvig Lindgren adding 11 as the Rockets were limited to just one race win, coming from Cameron Heeps in his first outing.Newcastle boss George English said: “A great performance tonight from the lads after the first leg was such a trial to say the least.“The way they bounced back and fought for their Final place was excellent, and to be honest with this attitude I think we will give Glasgow a serious run for their money in a couple of weeks’ time.”Rye House boss Peter Schroeck said: “We hung in there for a long time. Everybody gave his all, and we always kept believing in ourselves, but then it finally went away from us from the middle of the second half, so to speak. “We needed 5-1s from those last few races, and we were capable of it, but Newcastle proved just too strong in those closing stages.“But I’m really proud of the boys. They gave it their best shot against very tough opponents, and you can’t ask for more than that.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BUXTON experienced mixed fortunes with one win and one defeat from their Sunday double-header at the D&P Raceway.The Hitmen were hammered 33-57 by Isle of Wight in the first meeting, in which Shelby Rutherford crashed out, but a revised line-up then raced to a 51-39 win over King’s Lynn.Guests Tom Woolley (11+1 and 11+2) and reserve Joe Lawlor (11 and 10+1) scored double figures in both meetings, whilst the Warriors’ win was led by Nathan Stoneman on 16+1. Nathan Greaves scored 13 for King’s Lynn in the second fixture.Buxton boss Jason Pipe said: “It just shows what can be achieved with three true heat leaders. In the first meeting Isle of Wight had three dominant heat leaders in Stoneman, (Mark) Baseby and (James) Cockle.“In the second, although it looked like a bit of a Belle Vue select team, we had Tom, Rob (Shuttleworth) and Lee (Dicken) who led from the front.“I have to be happy with the second result and hope now we can take that form to Stoke next week and our final league match against Rye House in a fortnight.”King’s Lynn captain Scott Campos said: “On the whole we’re a bit disappointed with the result as we thought we could get a win there. “Buxton made some late changes to their team which made them stronger and a couple of our guys had off days, which is highlighted more when you're missing a couple of key riders. “Tony Atkin came in and did a great job for us. Nathan started a bit slow but got his set up right later on and young Taylor (Hampshire) rode extremely well and got his race win in heat 14.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
CRADLEY and Birmingham stage the second leg of their National League play-off semi-final at Monmore Green on Monday.The Brummies are 16-points up from last week’s clash at Perry Barr, with Eastbourne awaiting the aggregate winners in the Final.Richard Andrews returns for the Heathens, who continue track Ben Hopwood as a guest for the injured Luke Chessell, whilst Danny Ayres steps in for Zach Wajtknecht at No.1 for Birmingham.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “A 16-point deficit is a big margin to pull back but it's not impossible. We're certainly the underdogs but if we can start the meeting well then you never know! “The supporters have been brilliant in sticking by the team again this year and the lads in particular appreciate their backing.“We need as many fans possible to come and get behind the boys on Monday and we need to give them plenty of encouragement right from the start of the night.”Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “We're going to Monmore confident, but not over-confident.“We need to make sure we don't concede any early heat advantages and we need to keep the gap as big as we possibly can.“There's no way we're going there just to defend our 16-point advantage though - we want to keep our run going and we want a win on the night for our supporters too.”
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY OCTOBER 10:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Cradley v Birmingham 7.30
TUESDAY OCTOBER 11:RECYCLED AGGREGATE SERVICES OLYMPIQUE: Wolverhampton 7.30
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 12:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30
THURSDAY OCTOBER 13:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30; 1st leg: Sheffield v Glasgow 7.30
