(SPEEDWAY 1)
RYE House made it a hat-trick of SGB Premiership home wins with victory over Poole at Hoddesdon on Saturday.
The Rockets secured a 49-44 success in a competitive encounter in which the Pirates collected a league point courtesy of a last-heat 4-2.
Edward Kennett (11+1) and Chris Harris (10+1) led the way for the home side, whilst Brady Kurtz piled up 16 for the visitors including a victorious tactical ride, from which they collected an 8-1.
The mid-meeting comeback saw Poole reduce the gap from ten points to one, but the Rockets regained control and clinched the win in Heat 14 before Kurtz and Krzysztof Kasprzak did enough for the Pirates to take their point in the finale.
Rye House star Stuart Robson said: “It was a really tough meeting. Poole kept us on our toes all night.
“That 8-1 off the black and white messed us up a bit. If it had been a 5-1, it wouldn’t have been so bad; we could have handled that, but we kind of lost our way for a couple of races before we managed to pull it back together.”
Poole promoter Matt Ford said: “We saw flashes of the old Krzysztof tonight, and
you can't take it away from him with that ride in Heat 15.
“We knew this was going to be a tough old night and it proved just that, they certainly are a good team around here so I am pleased that we clawed something out of it in the end.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SCUNTHORPE collected their first away win of the SGB Championship season to pile on the misery for bottom club Berwick.
The Scorpions won 48-42 at Shielfield Park despite a stunning 16+1 haul at reserve from Dany Gappmaier for the Bandits.
But the home side were hampered by the absence of Claus Vissing and numerous mechanical issues, whilst the visitors scored solidly throughout, led by skipper Michael Palm Toft with 13+2, although Lewis Kerr suffered mild concussion in a Heat 13 crash.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It was an excellent performance from the team. It went all to plan from the moment Ryan Douglas and Carl Wilkinson banged in a 5-1 in the first race.
“There were times during the evening when you would have mistaken us for the home team – we were riding that well.
“Berwick threatened to come back at us, but we showed character in holding on to take the win. Michael Palm Toft had another great meeting, but all the lads rode well.”
Bandits boss Gary Havelock said: “When you're already down, luck has a habit of working against you, and tonight luck kicked us fair and square in the gut.
“But there's still worries in the team. When your reserve scores paid 17 at home you shouldn't get even close to losing, but when only three of your team are scoring decent points there's problems.”
Ipswich maintained their strong home form with a 54-38 win over Redcar at Foxhall, as British Champion Danny King roared to six straight wins.
King’s 18-point haul was backed up by guest Josh Bates – in for the unwell Cameron Heeps – on 12+1 with Rory Schlein adding 11+1 in a comfortable Witches victory, whilst Jonas B Andersen top-scored for the Bears with 9+1.
Ipswich promoter Chris Louis said: “Going in with only five of your own men and R/R at No.3 is always difficult to cope with. It is all a little unknown and you just hope everything comes together and it did.
“Josh was a fantastic guest and the one thing you know with Josh is you will always get 100 per cent. You don’t know how many points that will mean but it was good points tonight.
“I was really pleased with the effort and the outcome and it was just what we needed. “
Workington and Newcastle must replay their Knockout Cup tie after a 49-41 home win for the Comets produced a 90-90 aggregate draw.
Craig Cook completed a 15-point maximum in the final race but Robert Lambert and Steve Worrall secured a 3-3 for the Diamonds ahead of Thomas Jorgensen, ensuring the sides must do it again.
Workington boss Tony Jackson said: “It was a terrific match, and we kept eating into our first leg deficit only for something to happen when we got within touching distance and open the gap up again before we eventually got level going into the last heat; but then that was shared so we have to do it all again.
“There are always ‘what might have been’ moments in any two-legged tie such as this, and ours was definitely when race leader Thomas Jorgensen had a problem with his throttle cable when comfortably leading heat 7 with just over a lap to go. That turned a shared heat into a maximum heat advantage for Newcastle, which made all the difference in the end.
“We must now find dates to fit the replay in, and I can’t believe we are already looking at potential fixture congestion in April!”
Newcastle manager George English said: “If this had been later in the season we can use ‘Golden Heats’ to decide drawn ties on the night of the second leg - but as it is this early in the season, we have to go to a replay, home and away.
“Our lads fought well to pull it back after a few hiccups in the opening few heats. Once our top five got to grips we hauled ourselves back into the match and kept the aggregate score in reach, but sadly only one more point would have clinched it for us as we now look to search out dates for the two-legged replay.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BELLE VUE opened their Travel Plus National League campaign with a dramatic 45-44 away win at Stoke.
The Potters led by nine points with five heats to go but the meeting turned against them in the closing stages.
Skipper Tony Atkin was disqualified from Heat 14 after a clash with Jack Smith, whilst No.1 Mitchell Davey fell in Heat 15 as Dan Bewley completed a 15-point maximum for the Colts with Lee Payne in the vital third place.
Payne said: “We kept our heads up because we knew we needed to help each other as much as we could. We were just struggling a bit to begin with but as we settled down we were able to keep our cool going into the later stages, while they started to lose it.
“Everybody dug deep. I think the 2-4 that Dan and Andy [Mellish] got in Heat 11 was the turning point. It got us all buzzing and being only 7 points down, we still believed we could win.”
Davey said: “It’s a little bit hard to take now but it’s speedway. I’ll be honest, I don’t normally look for my partner on the first lap, I get my head down, and if I had then I may not have made the mistake I did.
“A lot of people have under-estimated us, saying we were going to get absolutely hammered tonight, and if I’m honest we probably lost it rather than Belle Vue winning the meeting.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
GLASGOW skipper Aaron Summers says he's relishing the challenge of facing sensation Craig Cook as Workington visit Ashfield today (Sunday).
Cook is in the form of his life, bagging a 15-point SGB Premiership maximum at King’s Lynn on Wednesday – and he repeated the feat for the Comets in the Championship KO Cup at Derwent Park on Saturday.
But Summers said: “He's been beaten around Glasgow before, it's not like he's unbeatable around there. There's no reason why he can't be beaten.
“He is good on a bike and he is talented, but anyone could come there and win a race if they've got the skills. It's definitely going to be hard but it is possible.
“We need to be setting our stall out at home. We did so well around there last year and we need to carry on from that. No match is easy - you can't go into a match thinking that - so all the boys have to be on top form. If they are, we should do it.”
Scunthorpe have called up Dimitri Berge for a guest booking as both Josh Auty and Lewis Kerr have been ruled out of their home clash with Edinburgh.
Auty is missing with whiplash whilst Kerr suffered mild concussion in a crash at Berwick on Saturday. It means the Scorpions are without three of their regulars, as Richard Hall stands in for the injured Fritz Wallner.
Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Our riders showed great spirit to win at Berwick last night, and we’ll be doing our upmost to upset the applecart against Edinburgh this evening.
“The quality of racing for the first three meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway has been excellent, with hard-fought meetings. We may have won only one of those meetings, but no-one has taken the points from here without a battle.
“We’re still the only team to have defeated Glasgow in the league. Edinburgh will fancy their chances, but we’d love to become the first team to beat them in 2017. I think it’s going to be another great meeting at the EWR.”
Ipswich have named an unchanged team for their trip to Newcastle, with Josh Bates continuing as a guest for Cameron Heeps.
The Witches are two men down from their normal line-up with Heeps’s illness adding to Nico Covatti’s broken wrist, but Bates impressed with double figures at home to Redcar on Saturday.
Promoter Chris Louis said: “It’s going to be tough as Newcastle are a good side, it is as simple as that. They have a strong heat-leader trio that is well backed up.
“We go there with the same team as Saturday. Generally you can cover Rider Replacement at home but it gets more difficult away from home so it is not ideal.
“We got there with confidence and we know Josh will give 100 per cent as he always does, and we will see what we can come up with.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
Mildenhall are hoping to build on a positive start to the season when they host Eastbourne in the National Trophy today (Sunday).
The Fen Tigers won at Cradley in the league on Easter Monday, but the Eagles are also on a high after their victory at Plymouth on Friday.
Danny Ayres guests for Connor Mountain (SGBC commitment) for the home side, whilst the visitors call on Jack Parkinson-Blackburn to replace ex-Fen Tiger Connor Coles. Matt Bates has been declared fit, but Charley Powell is absent due to a grasstrack meeting.
Mildenhall promoter James Easter said: “The National Trophy is an important competition to us and we will be going all out to win it.
“In a small group of only three sides you must win your home meetings convincingly and look to pick up points away, with just one team from each group qualifying straight to the final.
“The last two meetings have been much more like what we expect from the team on and off the track, and this must become the benchmark for us if we are to succeed this year and achieve the goals the clubs management have set. We will keep pushing this message to the boys and there must be no letting off of these standards.”
Eastbourne boss Connor Dugard said: “It is never easy at Mildenhall but we want to win the Trophy again, like we did in 2015. We are still improving and there’s more to come.”
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY APRIL 23:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 5.30, Glasgow v Workington 5pm
NATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Eastbourne 3pm
MONDAY APRIL 24:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Wolverhampton v Rye House 7.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 26:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Poole 7.30
ResultsSaturday April 22, 2017
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Rye House 49 – Edward Kennett 11+1
Poole 44 – Brady Kurtz 16
Premiership points: Rye House 3 Poole 1
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP
Berwick 42 – Dany Gappmaier 16+1
Scunthorpe 48 – Michael Palm Toft 13+2
Championship points: Berwick 0 Scunthorpe 3
Ipswich 54 – Danny King 18
Redcar 38 – Jonas B Andersen 9+1
Championship points: Ipswich 3 Redcar 0
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg
Workington 49 – Craig Cook 15
Newcastle 41 – Robert Lambert 10
Aggregate scores level 90-90 – Tie to be replayed.
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Stoke 44 – David Wallinger 10+2
Belle Vue 45 – Dan Bewley 15
National League points: Stoke 0 Belle Vue 3
