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Report: Cyclespeedway - Poole V Wednesfield

Posted September 5 2010
Words Graham Sutton | Photography John Burge

When these two long term members of the cycle speedway establishment clash, spectator interest always increases at Harbourside and a crowd of around 250 witnessed another tactical battle with Poole gaining revenge for their defeat at Wednesfield earlier in the season.

Opening heats were shared as Thomas Reed jetted from gate 2 to win the curtain raiser and Lee Aris did the same by outfoxing Gavin Wheeler in heat 2. Pressure by Artur Poprawski on newly crowned British junior champion Matt Beherral in heat 3 caused both riders to fall with the Polish star first to remount. Meanwhile Pete Young scooted through ahead of Mark Griffiths to give the hosts a 6 - 4, a result they repeated in heat 4 as Thomas Reed earned the narrowest of verdicts over Chris Jewkes with Ben Donohue capturing the all important 3rd place.

The 4 point margin was reduced to just one in the next heat after an Arron Morgan tapes offence handed the Aces a 6 - 3. Scott Docherty was guilty of the same offence a heat later but Lee Aris geared up to damage limitation mode as he powered away from the Young/Poprawski pairing to put the scoreline on to 30 - 28. Then followed a truely remarkable ride by Thomas Reed in heat 7 as he expertly fended off the strong Griffiths/Beherral combo to team ride home with Sam Hearn for a 7 - 3 which rightly drew generous applause from home fans.

Hardly had the crowd got its breath back when Gav Wheeler and Tom Colling chalked up the same score in the next race to open up a gap of ten points. It was a lead which looked to be held at the break as Artur Poprawski shot away in heat 9 but Lee Aris reeled him back in the closing stages of the race to win by a close margin and with Roger Cox outbattling Ben Donohue, the interval scoreline was pegged back to 48 - 40.

Pete Young took an awkward first bend tumble under pressure from Scott Docherty at the start of heat 10 but after receiving treatment he bounced back to win the re-start with young Arron Morgan taking an important 3rd place. A hard challenge by Gavin Wheeler on the Griffiths/Beherral pairing saw the home star take a heavy tumble in heat 11when Wednesfield were on to a 7 - 3. Wheeler's exclusion from the re-start allowed Tom Colling to steal a 2nd but the 6-3 narrowed the margin to 7.

Thomas Reed and Lee Aris were unbeaten from their 3 first half rides and it was the home favourite who lowered the colours of the visiting rider with Sam Hearn getting the better of Scott Docherty who was not able to match his British Open form. Chris Jewkes secured his first race win in heat 13 but with Roger Cox replacing injury victim Dylan Radcliffe, Poole were able to share the heat.

There was a further disappointment for the visitors in heat 14 as Ben Donohue and Tom Colling accelerated away from Mark Griffiths for a 7 - 3 and a potentially match winning scoreline of 75 - 62. Arron Morgan and Gavin Wheeler were content to sit behind Matt Beherral for a shared heat 15 before a late scare in heat 16 saw Wednesfield capitalise on a 4th lap exclusion to Artur Poprawski which saw them net a 7 - 2.



The penultimate heat was a really tough affair as Wednesfield sensed a potential drawn match if they could secure two 7-3's. With Aris and Beherral they had the pairing to do it but the Poole "Tom Tom" pairing clinched the valuable league points as Reed expertly kept Aris in 4th place. The final heat was shared and both sets of riders then completed a lap of honour to appreciative applause from the crowd.

Poole 92
Thomas Reed 17+2 Pete Young 15 Tom Colling 14+3 Gavin Wheeler 13 Sam Hearn 12 Artur Poprawski 10+1 Ben Donohue 7 Arron Morgan 4+1
Wednesfield 84
Lee Aris 16 Matt Beherrall 14 Chris Jewkes 14+2 Mark Griffiths 13 Scott Docherty 9 Dylan Radcliffe 8 Roger Cox 5 Luke Draisey 5
Referee Robin Spicer

Div 2
Poole 66
Matt Mildon 12 Rob Haywood 12+1 Luke Armes 10+1 Arron Smith 10+1 Dean Hook 8 Harry Boucher 8 Jake Williams 4 Alex Lane 2
Wednesfield 55
Mick Aris 11+3 Miki Bassi 11 Matt Turley 9 Charlie Ellits 9+2 Ben Harper 8+2 Harry Everiss 7.
Referee Mike Legge