(SPEEDWAY 1)
JACK Parkinson-Blackburn wrapped up his first ever full maximum as Birmingham beat King's Lynn 54-36 in Norfolk.
The 16-year-old won all six of his outings for an 18-point haul as Brummies began their National League title defence with a convincing away win.
Former Young Stars rider Layne Cupitt (11+1) scored double figures against his old club whilst Danyon Hume was only denied a maximum by a blown engine. Josh Bailey top-scored for the home side on 10+1.
Parkinson-Blackburn said: “I'm so happy to finally get my first full max and it couldn't have been timed much better!
“The last few days have been so frustrating and a little bit disheartening to be honest because I wrote one bike off and severely damaged my other at the weekend.
“I'm just glad that the hard work rushing to put a bike together has paid off. Obviously I'm so happy with how my own night went, but more importantly it was a great result for the whole club as well.”
King’s Lynn captain Danny Phillips said: “Against these sorts of teams you have to be at your very best, and we didn't help ourselves by having four fallers in the first four races.
“From that moment on we were always chasing our tails and it was always going to be even tougher.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter has warned his side to guard against complacency in the second leg of their Knockout Cup tie with Rye House at the Abbey on Thursday.
The Robins roared to a sensational 49-41 success in the first leg at Hoddesdon last weekend to seize the upper hand of the tie and will now look to finish the job at home, again operating rider replacement for the injured Adam Ellis.
Rossiter said: “We’re in a good position heading into the second leg, but we can’t take anything for granted if we want to reach the next round of the Cup.
"There is obviously a lot of experience there, so you can’t take them lightly. Guys like Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris and Edward Kennett are all capable of very good performances at Swindon, so it’s going to be a tough meeting at and we’ll need to be at our best.”
The Rockets are at full strength and boss Peter Schroeck insists the tie is still salvageable with Robert Branford returning to the line-up.
Schroeck said: “We know the size of the challenge at Swindon on Thursday, but this gives us a fighting chance.
“Our other doubling-up rider, Ellis Perks, will be with us too, which means that we will have our full one-to-seven. We want to stay in this competition, and we are capable of pulling it back. Most of the boys are very familiar with the Blunsdon circuit, so we will get stuck in and give it our best shot.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead is determined to see his side respond to defeat last weekend when they host Ipswich on Thursday.
The Tigers crushed Berwick 61-30 in their first SGB Championship home fixture but were beaten at Workington on Saturday, and also lost out when they visited Foxhall earlier in the season.
Sheffield have drafted in Edinburgh man Mark Riss to guest for Robert Branford at reserve, whilst Ipswich name a full-strength line-up.
Stead said: “It was a disappointing night for us on Saturday, so we'll need a vast improvement this week against Ipswich.
"We're desperate to keep our strong form at Owlerton going, but we'll need to be at our best to get three more points on the board.
“Ipswich will bring a strong side, but after losing out at their place in our first meeting of the year we'd love to turn them over in front of our home fans.”
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “It’s going to be very tough on Thursday and we need to be looking to take points from all of our away matches. To go to there and bring a point back would be acceptable.
“I remember when I first came to Ipswich I was told we were never going to be any good at Sheffield or that we were notoriously bad there. However, since I have been part of the side we have had good results there and with Danny (King), Nico (Covatti) and Rory (Schlein), they know the place well and they’ll all enjoy it.”
Meanwhile Redcar have a ten-point deficit to pull back when they take on Peterborough in the KO Cup at the Media Prima Arena.
The Bears are set to include new signing Fernando Garcia with Tobias Bush on the sidelines, whilst Josh Bailey replaces the unavailable Ellis Perks. The Panthers have Nike Lunna guesting for Bradley Wilson-Dean.
Redcar manager Jitendra Duffill said: “Ten points is definitely salvageable and it sets the second leg of this tie up nicely from a spectator’s point of view.
“Our boys are fired up for this one and we will see them give everything Thursday to see us progress to the next round of the Cup.
“We can consider ourselves very unlucky that the scoreline was not a lot closer in the first leg. Engine failures whilst in scoring positions for both Ellis and Richard (Hall) cost us at least four points.”
Panthers boss Carl Johnson said: “We know that if we win the meeting at Redcar, we'll go through to the quarter-finals. That's what we'll set out to do. The fact we have a 10-point cushion won't be in our minds.
“Redcar made no secret of the fact they expected to turn us over at the Showground on Sunday. The fact that didn't happen will make them even more determined to turn the tie around at their place.
“It got a bit tasty at times in the first leg, and that may well be the case again, but we need to focus solely on the job at hand.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
ISLE of Wight captain James Cockle will defend the Vince Mapley Memorial Trophy in the Warriors’ season-opener on Thursday.
Cockle faces opposition from all of his 2017 team-mates including Ben Wilson and Nathan Greaves, whilst Nathan Stoneman who rode for the club last year is also included.
The line-up also features Stefan Nielsen and Joe Jacobs, who are without team places at the start of the season and will be keen to impress.
Isle of Wight manager Jackie Vatcher said: “We have put together an entertaining line-up to excite the crowd at our first home meeting.
“It is important to give all our boys a full run out before the National Trophy match at Plymouth on Good Friday evening, and with a strong line-up on parade I am sure we will be in for a night of thrilling on-track action and off-track fun.”
(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY APRIL 13:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg: Swindon v Rye House 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield v Ipswich 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg: Redcar v Peterborough 7.30
VINCE MAPLEY MEMORIAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight 7pm
FRIDAY APRIL 14:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 1pm, King’s Lynn v Rye House 7.30, Poole v Somerset 11am, Somerset v Poole 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v King’s Lynn 7.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Plymouth v Isle of Wight 7.15
EASTER CHASE 1st leg: Kent v Mildenhall 6.30
LEE RICHARDSON MEMORIAL TROPHY: Lakeside v Eastbourne 1pm, Eastbourne v Lakeside 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 15:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Rye House v King’s Lynn 7pm
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg: Leicester v Somerset 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, Workington v Scunthorpe 7pm
SUNDAY APRIL 16:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Swindon v Poole 5pm
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Berwick 3pm, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30, Scunthorpe v Redcar 3pm
EASTER CHASE 2nd leg: Mildenhall v Kent 3pm
YOUTH CHALLENGE: Scunthorpe Stags v Halifax Dukes (follows SGBC fixture)
Results Wednesday April 12, 2017
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
King’s Lynn 36 (Josh Bailey 10+1)
Birmingham 54 (Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 18)
National League points: King’s Lynn 0 Birmingham 4
