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BIRMINGHAM will take a six-point lead to Eastbourne later this month for the second leg of the National League KO Cup Final.The Brummies won 48-42 at Perry Barr on Wednesday despite only providing five of the 15 race wins as Adam Ellis and Ellis Perks dominated that department for the Eagles.Ellis raced to a 15-point maximum against his old club whilst Perks was only beaten in Heat 15 by Tom Perry – but home reserves Jack Smith (14+2) and Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (13+3) both put in remarkable displays to keep their side in front.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “After being ten points up half way through the meeting, I'm a little disappointed to only be going into the second leg six up.“We threw away some silly points and there was a lot of panicking mechanical wise in the pits tonight as well.“Our two reserves were the difference in the end and they were absolutely superb.”Eastbourne chairman Martin Dugard said: “We would have been happy with an eight-point defeat, so six points down is better.“We know what we can do at home. If we can’t pull that back at Arlington, Birmingham deserve to win the trophy.“Nobody in our team had a bad night. We were racing against the league winners, last year’s champion and they built a fantastic team for this year. These are our hardest meetings of the year.”
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GLASGOW boss Stewart Dickson says Wednesday’s result and his team’s current form make their Premier League play-off clash with Sheffield an open contest.The teams meet at Ashfield on Thursday with the home side facing an eight-point deficit from the first leg of the semi-final at Owlerton, and Dickson is keen to see them get back to an all-round scoring effort.Sheffield have booked Stuart Robson and Cameron Heeps to guest for injured duo Jason Garrity and Dimitri Berge, with rider-replacement in operation for Simon Stead.Dickson said: “I would say it's evenly poised and we will need to get our gating boots on. I've been saying since June or July that we're still not getting the consistency. We're getting various results.“But it's a big team effort. From a supporters' point of view it keeps the tie alive and hopefully we'll get a big support out to cheer us on, and see if we can overcome that.“We need to start well and try to get the confidence going. If the supporters can get behind us and we do a job, we can get ourselves into the Final.”Sheffield co-promoter Damien Bates said: “Nobody thought we would put Newcastle out in the quarter-final and we did – so we can do it again over Glasgow.“We have a lead, it could have been more but then again it could have been less. We’ll go there and give it our best shot.”
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KING’S Lynn have confirmed the twice-postponed National League Pairs will not be re-staged this season.The meeting was initially scheduled for late-August but that and last weekend’s re-arrangement were both thwarted by the weather.Lynn co-promoter Dale Allitt said: “It’s not a decision that has been taken lightly, as a lot of work had gone into the staging of this event, we were proud to have it at King’s Lynn, and we apologise to all supporters.“It should be remembered that this meeting was originally to be run on a prime Saturday evening in the summer, and the weather was unfortunately against us on that day.“The situation now is that over the next two weekends Eastbourne and Birmingham are contesting the two major Finals, and there are also a number of other league matches scheduled to complete the season.“The Pairs is not the kind of event which can easily be run in midweek when you bear in mind travel and work commitments for riders and supporters, with clubs from throughout the league involved.”
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SHEFFIELD upset the odds once again by overcoming Glasgow to reach the Premier League Grand Final.The Owlerton side successfully defended their eight-point first leg semi-final lead in a tense encounter at Ashfield on Thursday.Their overall lead was four points with two races to go, and the home side’s Fernando Garcia crashed out in Heat 14 before Rene Bach kept them in with a chance by winning the re-run.Aaron Summers and Richard Lawson required a 5-1 in Heat 15 to take the tie into Golden Heats, but Kyle Howarth was the Sheffield hero as he split the home pairing.Co-promoter Damien Bates said: “It was fantastic and everybody played their part. Everyone stuck together, dug in and every point was important in the end.“Stuart Robson and Cameron Heeps did a good job as guests and we couldn’t have asked for much more from them.“Josh (Bates), Kyle and Arthur (Sissis) in particular were absolutely fantastic, and it was a superb result.”Summers said: “It's devastating, but you can't point the finger at anyone. We should have maybe been a bit closer after the first leg but Nike (Lunna) lost a chain yesterday in a scoring position and Rich lost a back chain tonight.“It’s little things like that which can cost you. Had we not had those two, we'd have been through.“With the way we started, though, we shouldn't have ended up where we were - we started so strong and then it fell apart a bit. It's gutting, really.”(SPEEDWAY 5)
EDINBURGH reach the conclusion of their Premier League campaign when they host Glasgow in a re-arranged fixture at Armadale on Friday.The Monarchs are forced into changes as the match was planned to take place two weeks ago before floodlight failure caused a postponement.Sam Masters is away at the Australian Grand Prix and Ryan Fisher has returned home, with 2014 Edinburgh title winner Steve Worrall booked to guest for Masters. Injured reserve Dan Bewley is replaced by Ben Basford.Edinburgh co-promoter Alex Harkess said: “It’s been one of our most difficult seasons mainly due to the weather, and our lights failure a fortnight ago just made things worse. “However, the riders who are turning out for us on Friday will do everything they can to ensure a good finish and hopefully retention of that unbeaten record.”Glasgow captain Aaron Summers has called on his team to bounce back from their play-off disappointment as they prepare to face Newcastle in the KO Cup Final.He said: “It needs to be a meeting where the boys bounce back and put us in form for Sunday and Monday's meetings.“I wanted all three trophies, but there's only one more to fight for now and it's our last two meetings, so we've got to go all out for them.”
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BELLE Vue complete their first season at the National Speedway Stadium with a double-header for the Colts against Birmingham and Coventry.The home side bring in Nathan Greaves to guest for the injured Dan Bewley, with rider-replacement in operation for the unavailable Lee Payne.Their opponents both make use of each other’s riders as Coventry’s Mitchell Davey guests for Birmingham, who are still without Zach Watjkencht and Danyon Hume, and the Brummies’ Jack Parkinson-Blackburn will then line up for the Storm as they cover for Dan Greenwood and Ryan Terry-Daley.Belle Vue co-promoter George Carswell said: “It’s our last chance this season to see speedway in Manchester so it’s an excellent time – for anyone who’s not seen the Colts in particular – to come down and enjoy a night of racing.“We’ve 30 heats of speedway on offer against two very exciting teams, Birmingham and Coventry. It will be an extremely entertaining evening and one which we are very much looking forward to.”Birmingham reserve Jack Smith said: “We were looking for more than a six point lead against Eastbourne (in the KO Cup Final) and unfortunately a few things didn’t quite go to plan.“But the Belle Vue meeting gives everyone a chance to put things right again ahead of the first leg of the play-offs on Sunday.“We want to go there and get another win and personally I’d love to keep my run of scores going on a track that’s great to ride on.”Coventry manager Laurence Rogers said: “Jack fits in perfectly for Dan, he’s really in-form at the moment and I’m sure he’ll do a good job for us.“It was a great performance from the boys at home to Belle Vue last month, and it would be nice to go up there and get another good result in our last away match.”
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LEICESTER have cancelled their final Elite League match of the season against King’s Lynn on Saturday.The fixture has twice been postponed due to rain and was again put back earlier in the month due to rider unavailability, but it will now not take place.Lions co-promoter Dave Darcy said: “It is no secret that the club is in financial difficulty and to stage the meeting will incur additional costs which will only add to the present situation we find ourselves in. “After careful consideration of the facts the only sensible option was to cancel the meeting much to our regret. "The decision has not been taken lightly and on behalf of the management team I offer our sincere apologies to our fans, sponsors, business partners, riders and staff. “Our fans have supported the team brilliantly throughout the season and I am sure that the news will be a huge disappointment to them as much as it is to everyone within the club.”
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BIRMINGHAM have confirmed Danyon Hume will miss the remainder of the season due to his broken collarbone.Hume crashed at the Isle of Wight last month and has now been ruled out of the Brummies’ National League Grand Final against Eastbourne after an aborted practice attempt.Hume said: “Two laps into my first spin back, I could barely hold on to the bike and I was in agony. I hoped a few more days rest would help but all of a sudden now it looks like I’m going to need an operation on it.“I’m absolutely gutted because I’ve had a brilliant year and to miss out on these last few big meetings is quite hard to take.“I really hope the boys can go on and win the play-offs as well as the Knockout Cup because we deserve it for how we’ve performed all year.”(FIXTURES)
FRIDAY OCTOBER 21:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7pm, Belle Vue v Coventry (follows previous fixture)
SATURDAY OCTOBER 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v King’s Lynn OFFTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v King’s Lynn 5.30, Stoke v Mildenhall (follows previous fixture)
SUNDAY OCTOBER 23:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 1st leg: Newcastle v Glasgow 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 1st leg: Eastbourne v Birmingham 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Rye House 3pm
