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BRITISH TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP BTC CONJURES UP SOME MAGICAL TIES - posted 18 January 2012 The draw for the preliminary first round proper of of the British team championship has produced some intriguing matches. In the only preliminary round, Sheffield have a plum draw at home against ten times winners Wednesfield Aces with another high-octane home match against Hull awaiting the winners. Reigning champions Poole begin their 2012 campaign against Exeter at Harbourside Park while beaten finalists Leicester face a difficult journey to South Wales where they take on East Newport on the tricky 'polo' track. Fast emerging Stockport will be pleased with their draw, a home match against Newport while Ipswich will not relish the trip to rejuvenated Swindon. The full draw is: Round One - 17th June 2012, 2pm start The draw was conducted by Competition Manager Pete Ward along with Tony Mann Bury, Louise Watson of Sheffield and Trevor Hulton from Stoke. Following gallant efforts to retain the national team championship trophy, the plight of Leicester cycle speedway club and their horrific injury list can now be revealed. Plagued by illness and injury, the East Midlanders really had to cobble together a team for yesterday's semi-final and final in Manchester. Injuries to Adam Peck (knee) and Carl Jarvis (back) have already been well documented. Mark Newey is due in hospital in three weeks time for an operation on his knee, Jason Ashford is still nursing a bad back, Leon Yelland made a surprise one-off appearance despite only a couple of weeks ago dislocating his shoulder while Kev Burns is still recovering from a cracked wrist which ruled him put of the game for seven weeks. Veteran Norman Venson was forced to race with fluid on his knee while Nicky Whitehead broke his hand in the first semi-final clash with East Newport. And to make matters worse, evergreen Mick Skinner, who was expected to be drafted in, was sidelined with flu and had to call off on Saturday. Earlier in the season, Lukasz Nowacki was oiut for three weeks following a head injury sustained during the top-of-the-table clash with Premier League pacesetters Horspath, young Chloe Whitehead broke her collarbone and Liam Davies was hospitalised with concussion. Despite his catalogue of rider injuries, Leicester team manager Wil Burns was full or praise for the victorious Poole side. "On the day Poole thoroughly deserved to win" Burns told Spokesman. "We matched them in the first half but after the break there was only one team in it" he added. "It might had been different if we had Adam and Carl racing but no excuses - that's cycle speedway for you" added Wil philosophically. Editor's Note - We certainly have seen more injuries this season than ever before, not just at Leicester but throughout the sport. So is cycle speedway becoming more dangerous? Is racing quicker than it was a few years ago? Are referees allowing the game to become more physical? Is a win at all cost mentality causing riders to take more risks? We'd love to hear you views on this. Just email us at editor@spokesman-online. Gin Pit was the venue for the 2011 British Cycle Speedway Team Championship Finals on Sunday. Hard work by Astley & Tyldesley club members in the weeks leading up produced an excellent racing track and venue for the top domestic team event of the season. J. Fisher & Sons, Heavy Haulage, of Atherton were the meeting sponsors. Heat 12 proved to be the turning point of the match, as both Leicester riders received race exclusions for different offences. This gifted Poole a 7-0 heat win and they moved into a six points lead. The match was effectively won for Poole when they took a 7-3 in heat 14, to move into a 10 points lead. As in the semi-final, the superior fitness of Poole's youngsters was decisive and they turned the screw as Leicester tired, to run out winners by 93.5 points to 79.5 points (there was a dead heat for second place in heat 16, hence the half points awarded). A tremendous second half performance by Poole saw them outscore Leicester by 20 points in the second half of the match. Mastermind behind this afternoon's live internet broadcast, Neil Howarth, was happy with the results, despite a couple of technical glitches. Speaking after the match Neil told Spokesman "The live internet broadcast from this afternoon's British Team "Only a couple of technical issues to apologise for this time. Filmed and simultaneously uploaded from a mobile, it has now been discovered that text messages interrupt the broadcast! So, firstly, sorry for missing the most dramatic part of heat 16 and special thanks "Secondly, sorry for lack of film of the presentation (second text message - thanks Steve Ward!) and by then the app had decided that I might have no data left. Hope the streaming added to the enjoyment of the championships and congratulations to Poole" Neil added. Poole delivered a scintillating second half performance to win the British team championship in Manchester this afternoon. Raced in blustery but dry conditions, Leicester edged the first half, going in 46-41 at the break but a double exclusion in heat 12 gifted Poole a 7-0 to establish a six point lead (54-60) from which Leicester never recovered. It all started so well for the East Midlanders. Despite the absence of Adam Peck and Carl Jarvis, both sidelined by injury, Leicester took the early initiative, a well-worked 7-3 in heat five through Mark Newey and Jason Ashford giving the Monarchs a 26-24 lead. Poole came bouncing back with a 7-2 of their own after Craig Marchant was excluded for using his head on the first turn, not in a thoughtfully tactical way but by 'head-butting' his opponent! Stranded on grid four, a tiring Norman Venson made little impact on fleeing Pete Young and Arron Morgan as Poole moved into a 28-31 lead. Poole's Sam Heard was excluded in heat seven for slow riding before Tom Reed executed a glorious pass on Leon Yelland to minimise the damage. Leicester edged back in front in race eight before a Craig Marchant/Mark Newey one-two in heat nine saw Leicester with their tails up and a 46-41 interval lead. Ironically it was their last heat win of the match. Immediately after the break, Poole took control, a 7-3 by Tom Colling and Arron Morgan in the tenth closing the gap to just one point (49-48). Then came that fateful heat twelve as Leicester gifted Poole a 7-0 after Jason Ashford was excluded at the gate and Leon Yelland recklessly tried to dive inside his opponent on the pits bend, crossing the line in the process, incurring the wrath of referee Bob Prince. From then on was all Poole. Another maximum heat win in race 14 through Tom Colling and Tom Reed extended the gap to ten points as Poole happily shared the spoils in the run-in. There was however, a most remarkable incident in race 16 when Craig Marchant and Arron Morgan collided and fell on the last bend. In flash, Matt Mildon was through to take the chequered flag. Referee Prince decided to award second place to both Marchant and Morgan, despite neither rider finishing the race! Poole, the younger and fitter team, thoroughly deserved their victory, their 13th title in total, surprisingly their first since 2003. Leicester, dogged by the absence of Jarvis and Peck didn't have the resiliance, especially in the second half. In truth they are an experienced but now old team. The likes of Mark Newey, Jason Ashford and Norman Venson have been wonderful servants to the club but if Leicester hope to challenge for honours again, they'll have to build a new and much younger squad - much as Poole have done over the last couple of years. The final was screened live on the internet, attracting 115 viewers. British Team Final Semi-Final A Semi-Final B Leicester have been dealt a double blow ahead of today's team finals in Manchester. Two of their top riders, Adam Peck and Carl Jarvis, have been ruled out by injury. It's a massive blow for the East Midland club in their bid to retain the title they won last season. Peck, who was injured during the national individual championships at Norwich two weeks ago, has not responded to treatment. Meanwhile, despite being in light training for three weeks, the pain of racing is proving too much for Carl Jarvis, so much so that the physio has On Sunday Astley & Tyldesley host the semi-finals and finals of the 2011 British team championship - and a wonderful day's racing is in prospect. Racing starts at 11 am, with the first semi-final between East Newport and Leicester. This is followed by the second semi-final, at 12.45 pm, between Wednesfield and Poole. The winners of each semi-final will meet in the final, starting at 3 pm. On paper, the first semi-final between Leicester and East Newport looks academic. When the clubs met at Glover Park in the Premier League earlier in the year, Leicester thrashed the Welsh outfit by a massive 115-60 scoreline in the most one-sided PL match of the season. However, things will be different on Sunday. British Cycling rules prevent non-UK nationals and second-claim riders completing in national competitions, so Leicester will be considerably weaker in comparison with the side they tracked in mid-June. To compound matters, they have been really struggling with injuries as they fight an uphill battle to get their riders fit for Sunday's showdown. Having said that, the BTC is always high on the Leicester agenda. The reigning champions, have appeared in seven of the last nine finals, winning the title on three occasions (2004, 2006 and 2010). Despite their worrying injury list, wily team manager could yet have a trump card up his sleeve. A surprise return on Leon Yelland should not be ruled out. The second semi-final promises to be a corker, Poole and Wednesfield have been the fiercest of rivals since they met in the BTC final at Bristol way back in 1981. On that occasion three extra races were needed before the West Midlanders edged home by two points. It could be just as tight on Sunday. These two giants have dominated the finals over the past 30 years. Poole have won the title 12 times against Wednesfield's 10 victories, so the Aces will be keen to close the gap. TEAM FINALS - LIVE! - posted 9 September 2011 Live cycle speedway broadcasting is back! Neil Howarth's team that brought you the British Individual Final last year is back with the 2011 British Team Final, live from Astley and Tyldesley this Sunday. The live feed will be available on the Ustream website as the action happens, as well as being recorded to the site for a second viewing later. ASTLEY GEAR UP FOR TEAM FINALS - posted 6 September 2011 Astley & Tyldesley Cycle Speedway Club are gearing up for their biggest event of the season this forthcoming Sunday (11th September). The Gin Pit raceway will host the British Team Championship finals, featuring four of the top teams in the country, who will battle it out to win the magnificent British Team Cup, a huge cup that has been contested annually since 1950. In a statement issued late last night, club secretary Mel Perkins announced the Norfolk club's surprise decision. "I regret to have to inform you that Hethersett Hawks will be unable to RED-FACED OFFICIALS MISS CLOSING DATE Red-faced Horspath officials have acknowleged that they were late in submitting their entry for the British team championship. Although they made a verbal entry 24 hours after the official closing date, they had hoped to be entered in the draw which took place four days later. It is the first time in 37 years that Horspath have not been in the championship. Sensational news! Premier League champions, Horspath are not in the British team championship draw, published earlier today. Whether this is due to an oversight by the club or they are purposely not targeting cycle speedway's top team event, remains to be seen. We hope to have a statement from the club shortly. Horspath are not the only top team missing. Premier League newcomers, Ipswich, are also absent. The full draw is: Hull v Norwich Birmingham, East Newport, Poole and Sheffield have byes. All first matches will be on Sunday 12th June.
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