FINAL CLIPS

Clips and snippets from the finals weekend.  Lots more to follow

Williamson ruled out for Rest of Season

Richard Williamson will miss the rest of the season after crashing in Sunday's semi-final at Southampton.  The popular Norwich Star broke his big toe after colliding with the fence following an accidental on-track clash with another rider.  He was taken to the local hospital where x-rays were taken and the fracture diagnosed.  Richard now faces the prospect of further visits to Ipswich Hospital following his return home but specialists have already warned him that he will not race again this season.  His absence will be a major blow for Norwich who are hoping to lift themselves off the bottom of the Premier League table before the end of the season.

Heard also Hospitalised

Another rider in the wars this weekend was Sandwell's Paul Heard.  One of the favourites for Monday's under-16 championship, his title challenge ended after less than 25 yards.  Going into the first bend in his very first race, he clipped a wheel and fell heavily, cutting his leg.  Immediate first aid was applied but so serious was the gash, that unlucky Paul had to go to hospital where the wound was cleaned and stitched.  Happily he was able to return to Harbourside Park later in the day to pick up his championship medal.

Better Late Than Never

On the subject of late presentations, young Matthew Mildon finally received the national under-13s trophy which he won at Newport earlier in the season.  Unfortunately the original perpetual trophy was lost, so Matthew  never received his cup.  Touched by Matthew's plight, local businessman Dave Sanford of Shoe Repairs Plus, stepped in to provide a handsome new cup, with Matthews's name proudly engraved on it as the first winner. The new trophy was presented to Matthew by England team manager Pete Barnes.

Proud Matthew with his new trophy (photograph Brian Barnett)

Nice Touches

A couple of nice touches by Poole's events team over the weekend. Anyone who bought a souvenir programme received a supplement on Monday with all the finalist names printed in.  Great for those who couldn't spell Marcus Szyszlyk!  Nice too to see Steve Harris receive a bottle of champagne to mark his record-breaking 19th final.  Even more appropriate that the bubbly was presented by none other than cycle speedway legend Derek Garnett whose record Harris surpassed.

Legends

And talking of legends, how good it was to see several former champions in the spectators' gallery at Monday's final, among them Kevin Greenhalgh, the first man to successfully defend the national crown.  Dennis Hubble was there too and of course four times winner Derek Garnett.  Also present were formal number ones Roger Ellis, Martyn Hepworth, Andre Cross and Pete Young, who has just returned to the saddle for Southampton in regional league racing.  Good too to see Josh Gleave making his annual pilgrim to finals weekend.  Reformed hell raiser Josh was no match for Garnett on a bike - but he could still teach youngsters a thing or two - about partying!

Party Time

So on to Sunday's night pre-finals social at Poole Speedway.  A great night was had by all.  Several good sports, amongst them Tom Reed, Sam Hearn and Mick Aris, did karoke with their own special renditions, some good, some .. well, let's say, not so good!!  But all were eclipsed by Steve Copping whose unique presentation of Bohemien Rhapsody is now as much part of finals night as the draw.

Asset Rob

Talking of finals weekend fixtures takes us nicely on to Rob Sensical.  What a great asset to cycle speedway is the mike-man from Midlands.  Always informative and entertaining, he certainly whipped up the crowd on finals day, encouraging supporters to cast off their inhibitions and cheer on their favourites. Over to Happy Harry ...

Salesman Archie

That man Archie Wilkinson could sell snow to the eskimos!  Interviewed by Rob Sensical during the interval, Archie explained his involvement in cycle speedway and speedway stretching back to the early days, how he became involved in the bike industry and how his almost obligatory Archie Wilkinson frameset took two years to research and develop.  When asked by our  intrepid interigator, Archie let it slip that he only has two years stock of tyres left - and was nearly killed in the stampeed to his stand!  Once a salesman - always a salesman!

In the Money

Newly crowned British champion Gavin Wheeler picked up over £250 in prizes and race bonuses over the weekend - for less than ten minutes effort.  Nice work if you can get it and if you live in Southampton, like Gavin does, there's no hefty hotel bills to pay either.  Gavin's round I reckon!

So Where Next Year?

Lots of talk already about next year's finals.  With the new knockout formula seemingly proving a success, regions no longer need to rely on four venues.  Tradition dictates that the finals are rotated around the regions, so look to early bids from Leicester, who last staged the finals in 1997 or Wednesfield who hosted the event in 2002.  Mind you, we are told August in South Wales is always good!

Many Happy Returns

How good it is to see the national finals return to the picturesque Harbourside Park after a break of 21 years.

Visitors couldn't fail to be impressed by the club's superb facilities, including the revamped clubhouse which has been

completely remodelled to provide an office, first-aid room, bicycle store and temporary dormitory in addition to the usual changing, toilet and catering facilities.  The walls are adorned by a glittering array of trophies, posters and colourful photos - modern and retro.  And to round it all off, the club have installed a sophisticated track watering system fed by a massive pump.  Impressive stuff.

Numbers Up Again

What a great pity cycle speedway's top brass no longer insist that riders wear numbers at national finals. 

Even seasoned announcer Graham Sutton had difficulty in identifying who was who in the ladies final, stumbling over which Whitehead was which in heat one and confusing Hethersett's Tiff Collins and Carly Grimes in race five.  Don't think for a moment that eloquent Graham has suddenly become the David Duffield of cycle speedway.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  His delivery and informed comment was as good as ever - but the lack of rider identication couldn't have helped.

...and Finally

We cannot end Final Clips without saying a big "thank you" to three people who helped make our weekend reporting second to none.  Firstly to Steve Copping and Carol Carmichael who pulled out all the stops to bring us the results minutes after racing ended and the draw virtually live from Poole Speedway.  And of course, as always, to Brian Barnett who made the journey by train from his London home to Poole, entirely at his own expense, to take photos for spokesman-online. We hope to include more of Brian's terrific pics on line in the next few days.