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MATCH REPORTS
Week commencing Saturday 30 June 2012 GLASGOW RE-OPENING - posted 3 July 2012
The visitors were slow to get started and it took until heat five before The second half witnessed a great start by the Falcons with Jake and Calum Slight grabbing victories and with three races to go the match score was tied at 75 points each. The last three races decided the meeting and it was fitting that a second place by Chic Mackie all but sealed the match for the home side. Chic has been instrumental in re-introducing the sport to Glasgow and the large crowd greeted his match winning ride with loud cheers.
Photos from Glasgow courtesy of Deek Lee appear on WOMEN'S PAIRS RACE DAY A BIG SUCCESS - posted 2 July 2012
The girls have really got better since they started in competitions a few years ago and there was some very entertaining racing with no quarter given by some of the very talented young women racers. The full results were: Division Two Division Three Sheffield CRA Rockets welcomed British Vet 40 champion Chris Turner for his first match of the season for the home Northern League fixture against near neighbours Heckmondwike. Turner came in for the injured Radek Handke and how the Rockets were indebted to his availability as his unbeaten score saw the Sheffield club home by 84-64. Turner started in fine style inflicting the only defeat on Darren Kent in heat one, and with Kyle Holland third Sheffield led 6-4. Heat two brought a 5-4 win for the visitors as for the third match running Louis German saw his first race end before it began with a tapes exclusion. The new surface at Cookson Park is producing some thrilling racing, which was again evident in heat five. Kent stalked Sheffields Aiden Owen (riding despite having knee ligament damage) for three laps before swooping on turn four to out sprint the Sheffield youngster to the finish line. Pawel Idziorek suffered a tapes exclusion in heat six and Sheffield profited with a 7-2 win. Another maximum in heat seven from Liam Webster/Zak Smurthwaite had Sheffield well in control by 46-32 at the interval. Heat nine saw Turner and Webster combine for another Sheffield 7-3, but then Kent and Idziorek won the next three races for the visitors (the young Pole taking a brilliant win in heat 12 after being left at the tapes looking for a Sheffield exclusion before giving chase to pass both Richard Hudson and German). Sheffield Rockets 84 CLOSE ENCOUNTER - posted 2 July 2012 The Sheffield Rockets then won the first of a double header Northern Combination match against Astley & Tyldesley by 79-71 in a very close and entertaining encounter. Astley took the lead in heat two when the Heslop family scored a maximum 7-3 over the Morton family. Roy and Becky Heslop team riding perfectly to keep Niall Morton at bay after Luke Morton had taken a first lap fall. Sheffield levelled matters with a maximum 7-3 in heat three from Richard Hudson and Matt Parrott (making a very encouraging debut). The next four races were all drawn before Astley regained the lead going into the interval with a 6-4 from Reece Pollitt and Ron Makin, with Pollitt making a stunning outside pass on Luke Morton. Sheffield hit back immediately after the interval with a 7-3 maximum from Parrott and Rob Mawhood to lead by 46-44. Another 7-3 maximum from then Hudson/Parrott pairing in heat 11 saw Sheffield increase their lead to 58-52. Heat 12 saw the visitors reduce the deficit with a 6-4 from Joel Partington, who was really beginning to enjoy himself on the wide open raceway, and Max Evans. The next two races were drawn, with Becky and Roy Heslop again showing great team riding technique to get the better of James Unwin. The last race brought another 7-3 maximum for Sheffield as Hudson completed his maximum but Kyle Holland was very fortunate not to get an exclusion for a blatant drift of Partington on the very last corner. Sheffield Rockets 79 PHANTOMS TRACK STRONG TEAM - posted 2 July 2012 For the third match of the day Sheffield named a very strong line up for the Phantoms Combination encounter with Astley, who in reverse named three under-10s in the team. Not surprisingly the Phantoms prevailed by an 82-68 scoreline. Sheffield took three of the first four heats by maximum margins to streak into a 26-14 lead. Then heat five probably brought the race of the day as Astleys Ron Makin and Joel Partington took a 7-3 maximum over Zak Smurthwaite and Vicky Brown. From the gate there was never more than a couple of bike lengths between the four riders with the visitors leading for the first two laps. Smurthwaite then produced a stunning pass to take both Astley riders on the same bend. Makin then nudged back in front on the last bend and with Smurthwaite caught in two minds Partington shot past to get the verdict right on the line. The teams then traded 6-4 wins to the interval which arrived with Sheffield in front by 45-35. The next four races were all drawn heats but each had there own piece of action. Roy Heslop team rode well to see that Max Evans beat Amber Webster. Then Partington and Reece Pollitt relegated a subdued Sandra Tamborska to last place. Makin took a heavy fall after clipping wheels with Amber Webster. Then Matt Snell produced a great pass to get the better of Billie Owen. Sheffield Phantoms 82 HORSPATH JUSTIFY FAVOURITES TAG - posted 2 July 2012 Already most people's favourites for the cup this season with an all-star, predominantly British look to their squad, Horspath shortened the odds considerably with a predictable win against their South Coast rivals Poole although there was little to suggest the eventual margin of victory in the opening exchanges. A Bates/Osborne 6-4 doubled the advantage in heat six and there the match ended as a spectacle and a contest after a controversial seventh race. Poole 72 BRETFORD NARROWLY BEAT EAST PARK - posted 2 July 2012 Bretford cycle speedway hosted a very entertaining meeting against East Park Wolves. The first heat saw the Wolves get a heat advantage. 6-4 to Wolves. The second race set the tone of the rest of the meeting with Bretford's Lee Kemp coming of gate two and Jamie Whetton, East Park's top man, coming off grid one. Lee gated over Jamie into the first bend only for Jamie Whetton to get inside of Lee on the third bend. Then Whetton left no room for Kemp to race and put Lee into the fence. The ref didn't see it that way (Jamie Ball, East Park who was reffing the meeting) and said it was a tight circuit and this is what was expected. The heat went East Park's way again 6-4. The third Heat was drawn. The manager spoke with Mason Phillips and Jason Ryan Dunn explaining a pull back of points was required which they obliged with a In Heat 10 the manager's team talk must have done the trick as Jimmy Wassal and Jason Cleaver flew from the gate giving Bretford a 7-3 heat win. Heat 11 saw Lee Kemp take Will Cartwright from the Wolves Dan Price and Mason Phillips from Bretford made sure this heat was drawn. Will Cartwright from East Park won the race but Dan and East Park were not going to let Bretford win this match if they had anything to do with it. Heats 14 and 15 went Bretford's way with some great team racing. Scores Bretford 79 East Park 71 with thtee heats left. Heat 16 saw Dan Price getting over the East Park rider only to be run wide and unfortunately taking a last place, 6-4 to East Park. Heat 17 was drawn as Bretford all they had to do was keep the racing close. The racing was very close. The next meeting at Bretford is Thursday 12th July 7.15pm start against Leicester. Like their hosts, the Stockport team have some fine young talent in the shape of Dylan Radcliffe and Ben Higham who could call upon experience from riding in the Elite League for Wednesfield while Jake Read was riding against Ipswich for the second week running, having rode against them for Sheffield. As for Ipswich they had to make a late change after Leon Mower had to pull out of the team so there was a call-up for young Matthew Hill to ride at number eight. Ipswich laid down the marker in the first two heats with a 7-3 from Josh Brooke and Ash Hill. This was follow by a 6-4 from Williamson and Chittock and a six point cushion. Stockport didn't panic and Ben Higham and Dylan Radcliffe produced a fine 7-3 heat win in the third to bring them back within two points. Ipswich responded well in the fourth with Brooke and Stant securing another 7-3 to move the hosts six points clear again. Heat five was shared. In the sixth heat Ian Grange and Lewis Roberts were able to increase Ipswich's lead to eight points with a 6-4. Higham and Radcliffe again recorded a 7-3, this time seeing off Brooke and Ash Hill to close the gap to four points. Heat eight saw an exclusion to Chittock for use of the leg and though team mate Williamson managed to win the re-run, the heat result saw Stockport pull another point closer. In heat nine things got even better for the visitors when Matt and Jack Lush got the better of Grange and Stant to claim a 6-4 advantage to The second half stared with heats ten and eleven been shared. Then Ipswich stepped up a gear in the next two heats winning 6-4 on both occasions to open up a five point lead. Heat fourteen was shared. Once again Stockport showed they weren't going to lay down. With Higham the pick of the visitors and supported by Matt Lush they brought the match to within one point with a 7-3 over Matt Hill and Williamson So after a few scares along the way, it was the host club who DRAMA AT WEDNESFIELD - AGAIN! - posted 1 July 2012 There was drama again for the second day running as Wednesfield Aces faced local rivals Birmingham Monarchs in the quarter final of the British Team knockout cup. With the Ashmore Park race track back to near perfect conditions, the stage was set for a mouth-watering battle between two of cycle speedway's top teams and both sets of riders delivered the goods in a classic KO cup thriller. The match started with Birmingham bringing in one of their subs Paul Heard who obliged with a win over Aces Lee Aris for a 6-4. The next two heats were drawn but a 7-3 in heat four swung the advantage in Wednesfield's favour after some fine work from Aces' pair of Jewkes and Aris against Monarchs' Wadhams and Groves, Birmingham's Chris Timms showed why he is classed as one of the country's top riders when he won the next heat against Aces' Johnson and Aris but it only produced a 5-5. Wednesfield seized the opportunity in heat eight to extend their lead bringing in sub Mark Griffiths to replace youngster Matt Haddock. Paired with team partner Gavin Wheeler they strolled to another 7-3 win against the visitors partnership of Stu Bentley and Nathan Groves putting the home team seven points up. Heat nine was a 5-5 with the score at the halfway stage 48-41 to Wednesfield. In the first race after the interval, Wednesfield gained a 5-5 after a classic start from Griffiths gave him the four points first place against Brum's fast starter Paul Heard but Aces normally alert Ben Mould suffered a lack of concentration allowing Harrold past and ended up in last place. The next heat was also a 5-5 with another win for Brum's Chris Timms. The following race saw referee Mr Robin Spicer give two exclusions. First to go was Birmingham's Jack Harrold for moving at the start tapes and then Lee Aris did the same thing in the re-run leaving Chris Jewkes, who had been brought in as sub, to go out and take the win against Mark Winwood extending the Aces lead to eight points, Well Birmingham knew they had to do something to try and salvage this match and they had saved the use of their two reserves until the end. They brought in Wadhams in heat 17 and he took the race win with Aces Wheeler and Aris just happy to pick up the minor places - happy in the fact that they knew all that was needed was for the same thing to happen in the final heat and the match would be won. Both teams made substitutions in the final race, the Aces bringing in Mark Griffiths to team up with Ben Mould and Birmingham drafting in Paul Heard to partner Chris Timms. The race got under way and as expected the Aces pair let the Birmingham lads take the lead but Under the rules of the competition the first three heats have to be re-run to decide a winner. In tie-break heat one, the Aces used reserve Mark Griffiths to good effect. Capitalising on his gating skills and paired with Lee Aris, they took a 7-3 win against Birmingham's Nathan Groves and Marcus Wadhams. In the second tie-break race, Wednesfield used their other reserve Chris Jewkes along side Gavin Wheeler. Birmingham responded by using their sub Paul Heard with Jack Harrold. Heard as expected shot into the lead the Aces pair making sure there was no way past for In race three, Birmingham knew they had to secure a maximum heat advantage to level the score again. The Aces had on the start grid Luke Draisey and Ben Mould up against Chris Timms and Scott Millward. The pressure was on for the Birmingham lads to be first out the gate but the pressure cooker valve blew when Millward, eager to get a good start, moved under starters orders at the tapes and was excluded. Wednesfield 104 IPSWICH OUTGUN GALLANT STOCKPORT - posted 1 July 2012 The visitors made the worst possible start as Ashey Hill and a rejuvenated Josh Brooke, back to something like his best form, relegated former national champion Terry Norman into third place to give the Suffolk side a morale-boasting 7-3 in the opening race. Shaken but not stirred, Stockport came back with a maximum heat win of their own in the third, Ben Higham and Dylan Radcliffe combining brilliantly to head home Ian Grange. From then until the interval it was nip and tuck, each side counter-acting any advantage, as the teams went into the interval with the score Ipswich 45 Stockport 44.
Norman aside, Stockport are an exciting young team who, if they can stay together as a unit and add another top notch rider, could well see a return to glory days of Offerton, Vic Hinchliffe, Derek Garnett et al. Meanwhile Ipswich move on to the semi-finals against Leicester, and who knows possibly the finals, at Hull in mid-July. Ipswich 93 Full credit to Bury who put everything into their British team championship match but in truth they never looked likely to trouble the Leicester Monarchs. Chris Parish was the only heat winner for the visitors, riding a superbly controlled race to take the penultimate heat from a hard pressing Adam Peck. Most of the heats were over by the first bend but there were a few decent races with Carl Jarvis passing Chris Parish in the fourth and Kev Burns and Jason Ashford both picking their way through traffic Stephenson, Whitehead, Jarvis and Marchant all rode unbeaten for Leicester whilst Howells and Ashford had their scores restricted by tape infringements. Leicester now face Ipswich in the semi final and the Monarchs can expect a stern test from the Suffolk team. Leicester 117 In front of the television cameras, the Elite League cycle speedway meeting between Wednesfield and Birmingham had everything the film crew could have wished for, tense races, exclusions galore, race drama - and a last heat decider! With the flash floods only days before, the track had been submerged in water but the surface held up for the scene of some action-packed racing. Heat one got off after a tapes malfunction for a five-all shared heat with Aces' Ben Mould taking the chequered flag. Wednesfield looked like they had a 7-3 in the bag in heat two as Scott Doherty squeezed under Jack Harrold just coming out of the last turn to join his partner Gavin Wheeler to cross the finish line but the referee adjudged that Wheeler had impeded the Birmingham rider by slowing and team riding his partner through. Wheeler was excluded giving the Brummies a 6-3. Birmingham went further in the lead in the next heat when Lee Aris was excluded after Chris Timms tried to pass on the inside and ended up on the centre green. Birmingham won the re-run 6-3 and they then banged in a 6-4 in the next race with a win from Marcus Wadhams. Another five-all after the break after Heard won the clash with Aris to take the race win. Wednesfield then suffered a major setback with a double exclusion in race eleven with Scott Doherty moving whilst under starters orders and Gav Wheeler in the rerun for taking the Birmingham rider to the extreme of the track. The race was re-run again to gift the Monarchs a 7-0 heat win putting the Aces ten points in arrears. A 5-5 in the next meant the Aces were still seven behind with two heats left. Wednesfield made a substitution bringing in CJ for a reserve ride, teaming up with former British champ Gavin Wheeler, a super 7-3 against Millward and Wadhams setting it up for a possible fight back victory in the final heat with just three point in it, 80-83. In the final race both the teams made changes by bringing in their reserves, Aces using Griffiths paired with Lee Aris and Birmingham having saved Paul Heard for the last heat with Chris Timms. From the start it was Aris and Heard shoulder-to-shoulder around the first turn but Heard managed to just squeeze in front down the back straight and from that point their was no catching him, a 6-4 to Birmingham taking the league points from the Aces. A good win for Birmingham but disappointment for Wednesfield the Aces their own worst enemy! Simply too many exclusions! Wednesfield Aces 84 |
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