Cycle Speedway Reports Round-Up
Week Ending 17 August 2008
Current League Tables
_____________________________________________
Leicester v Wednesfield
Images: Magda Bogucka (more in gallery above)
Wednesfield came to Glover Park with a weakened team due to injury and prior commitments are were no match for the Monarchs. Matters were only made worse by a tape exclusion for Lee Aris, who had a very poor match by his standards and two a piece for Doherty and Timms, the latter unfortunatly falling in his second ride whilst leading and causing the stoppage.
Nowacki, Wadhams and Whitehead all raced unbeaten by an opponent but there will be stiffer tests ahead for Leicester.
Leicester 113 (M Wadhams 20, L Nowacki 17+3, M Whitehead 16, M Newey 15+1, D Hemsley 15, D Pike 11+3, K Burns 10+1, C Marchant 9+1)
Wednesfield 62 (C Jewkes 13, T Haddock 11, M Winwood 10+2, C Timms 8, L Aris 7, R Ellis 7, S Doherty 4, W Aris 2)
The combination match looked like being a closer affair, however the Monarchs were in a class of their own, Venson, Sensicall, Jarvis and Hunt all remaining unbeaten. For the Aces Mark Griffiths was the only race victor against the home reserves in heat 13.
Leicester 79, Wednesfield 50
_____________________________________________
East Newport's Results
South West Div 1 East Newport 94 Exeter 85
Combination match East Newport 24 Exeter 56
Under 18 conference match - East Newport 50 Exeter 100
_____________________________________________
Northern Fours League
Bury, 17-8-08
Stoke made sure of The Northern Four's League title with a clean sweep of all four rounds. The Midland's side started well and opened up an 4 point lead over Heckmondwike by the Interval. Both Hull and home side Bury were a rider short, but were still in the thick of the action with Hull 2 points behind the Saints and Bury improving as the meeting progressed.
The match had started 30 minutes late with Stoke held up in traffic, and the meeting was held in heavy showers with the track holding up well. Stoke maintained their advantage in the second half with Erroll Thaw unbeaten while Heckmondwike took second place with James Carter on top form. Hull were unable to maintain their record of second places in the series despite good displays from Adam Stephenson and Matt Beharrell and Bury slipped to fourth place overall with Neil Howarth finishing second in all his rides.
Bury 28: Tom Doyle 9, John Whiting 7, Neil Howarth 12
Hull 34: Adam Stephenson 14, Matt Beharrell 13, Lewis Aylmer 7
Stoke 48: Erroll Thaw 16, Leighton Bates 8, Simon Munden 10, Richard Harrison 10, Adam Ellis 4.
Heckmondwike 41: James Carter 15, Andy Bradshaw 7, Darren Kent 12, Jordan Ellis 6.
In the Northern Pairs League Stockport's Jack Lush and Matt Lush tied with team mates Ali Lam and Jake Read in the under 13's while Ben Higham and Dylan Radcliffe, also from Stockport, won the under 16 meeting. The senior's was won by Bury's Neil Howarth and Tom Doyle, while Hull's Adam Stephenson and Lewis Aylmer continued to dominate the under 19 category. Jeff Radcliffe and Graham Johnston from Stockport comfortably won the combination event.
Scores (Unadjusted):
Under 13's: Jack Lush / Matt Lush (Stockport) 9+11=20, Ali Lam / Jake Read (Stockport) 13+7=20, Joe Pickford / Sophie Pickford (Stockport) 9+4=13.
Under 16's: Ben Higham / Dylan Radcliffe (Stockport) 16+12=28, Matt Beharrell (Hull) / Mike Kennedy (Bury) 12+6=18
Under 19's: Adam Stephenson / Lewis Aylmer (Hull) 11+13=24, Dave Hancock / Kelvin Williams (Stoke) 6+8=14
Combination : Jeff Radcliffe / Graham Johnston (Stockport) 11+9=20, Jordan Ellis / Andy Bradshaw (Heckmondwike) 4+10=14
Senior: Neil Howarth / Tom Doyle (Bury) 12+16=28
_____________________________________________
Norwich v Poole
Premier League
On an Eaton Park track that had been underwater three times during the week before this match could go ahead, a disappointed Money Centre Stars who were confident of breaking their home run of Premier League defeats against Poole took an early lead in the sunshine of Eaton Park.
Norwich opened their lead to 6 points by Heat 5 (28 - 20), but by the interval, Poole had come back into the match (45 - 42). There were two exclusions to Poole and one to Norwich in the first half, but it was far from being a dirty match, and in the second half, Poole took control to go ahead after Heat 12 by 57 - 60. The excitement was mounting as Norwich scored two 6 - 4 heat wins to retake the lead (69 - 68), but Heats 15 & 16 were the heats that turned the match around for Poole, with the former Norwich rider and Match winner Andre Cross showing that he was back to his best form after a lengthy lay-off.
Heat 16 was a shared heat and Norwich rounded off what was a very good Cycle Speedway match to watch by winning Heat 18 with a 7 - 3 heat win from Ian & Lee Grange. Overall, this turned out to be a big, big disappointment for Norwich as Poole, no disrespects to them, were there for the taking. It just goes to show that not everything is what it is.
THE MONEY CENTRE / NORWICH STARS 87 (Richard Williamson 13, Richard Hunt 11+1, Ian Grange 17, Jazz Abbott 10+1, Nnick Myhill 12, Lee Grange 14+2, Chris Cullum 5, Gary Colby 5+1)
POOLE / SEA VIEW COACHES COMETS 89 (Richard Clanfield 10+1, Dave Murphy 16, Kevin Lowman 9, Artur Poprawski 16+1, Sam Hearn 11, Aaron Lowey 12+3, Andre Cross 14+1, Luke Armes 1)
In the Combination match, the young Norwich side were soon into their stride, hitting Poole with three 7 - 3 heat wins early on in the match. This only helped with their confidence, with the elder statesmen in the side taking on the responsibility of being heat leaders. It was improvements all round for Norwich, but the Poole side were always in the thick of the action with some good performances, especially from Aaron Morgan and Matt Elston.
THE MONEY CENTRE / NORWICH STARS B 70 (Kieran Parr 15+1, Rob Warminger 9, Joshua Colby 10+2, Danny Wright 9+1, Lewis Conner 10, James Wakefield 14+1, Adam Osborne 2)
POOLE / SEA VIEW COACHES COMETS B (59 Jessica Lamb 9 +3, Matt Elston 12, Leyton Glover 9+1, Michael Buczak 9, Aaron Morgan 11, David Buszak 6+1, Luke Armes 3+1.
_____________________________________________
Gt. Blakenham v Sheffield
Gt. Blakenham 73: Jason Ashford 13 +1, James Studd 12, Josh Brook 13+1, Leon Mower 13+2, Adam Peck 6, Dan Osborne 7, Lee Ridgewell 9+1, Chris Osborne 0 match ban
Sheffield 87: Andy Angell 17, Marcyn Szymanski 18+2, Mitch Spear 12+2, Pawel Kozlowski 16+1, Darius Pilas 11, Ryan Hoyland 10, Leon Wild 3, Radek Sigradski 0 Match Ban
Combination
Gt. Blakenham 92 (65 + 27): Andy Turnbulll 8+1, Marcus Szyszlyk 15+1, Paul Brinkhoff 9, Phil Day 9, James Day 11+1, Ray Pyke 7+2, Michael Blackwell 4+1, Terry Ashford 2+1
Sheffield 65: Ryan Hoyland 19+1, William Gamble 4, Martin Gamble 9+1, Leon Wild 9, Mitch Spear 20, Richard Hudson 4
_____________________________________________
Glasgow Olympique Individual
17 August 2008 Cathkin Park
Cycle Speedway returned to Glasgow today (17th Aug) with the running of the Glasgow Olympique Individual event at Cathkin Park. This event was run to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first ever Individual Cycle Speedway tournament to be held in Glasgow. A field of 16 Scottish based riders competed for the Olympique trophy kindly donated by former Cycle Speedway and Motorcycle Speedway rider Jack ?Red? Monteith. After several days of heavy rain preceding the event the track turned out to be extremely tricky which leveled the playing field.
With five rides scheduled for each rider over the 20 heats, racing was close throughout with pre-tournament favourites Alan Smith, Mikey Hewitson, and Craig Newsome all near the top of the leader board as the field all completed three rides. However, an eventful Heat 16 saw Mikey Hewitson?s challenge disappear as he fell whilst challenging Alan Smith on the last bend. Referee Alan Hewitson whilst initially excluding Alan Smith as the cause of the accident relented and let the heat win for Alan stand.
A further win for Alan Smith in heat 20 saw him take the title from Craig Newsome with young Jake Slight taking advantage to pick up third place. A good day was had by all and thanks go to the Glasgow Cycle Speedway History Society. Let?s hope this is the start of a revival in Glasgow.
Photos can be found here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/57243403@N00/
Back in Edinburgh the return of a revised local league returns to Redbraes Park on 24th August. 1pm start. Everyone welcome.
_____________________________________________
Northern League
Weds 13 August 2008
Astley & Tyldesley visited Stoke for a Northern League match, on a bright but windy day. Stoke were missing injured top rider Lewis Bates, who refereed the match. A & T had plenty of riders missing on holiday, but welcomed the inclusion of Przemek Binkowski and Tomasz Szwajorek for their second appearances of the season.
Stoke moved into a 7 points lead after heat 2, but A & T fought back to take a 3 points interval lead. The lead changed hands twice again before Stoke levelled the scores in heat 16. With tension mounting, it was A & T who kept their composure and sealed the match with two successive 6-4 heat wins.
A & T can feel justly proud of a magnificent performance in inflicting Stoke's first defeat of the season. A & T felt that their win should have been by a much bigger margin, as they were unhappy with several of the referee's decisions. For A & T, Burchardt and Kurkowski lost once each, as did Pilas, after his exclusion in heat 2. Stoke made good use of Franks at reserve and he too lost only once. Both sides gave it their all in what was a really good, highly competitive match.
Northern League match result
Stoke 87: Simon Munden 17, Andy Franks 15 (4), Errol Thaw 14 (1), Richard Harrison 14, Leighton Bates 13, Lance Bates 8, Dave Hancock 3, Kelvin Williams 3.
A & T 91: Darek Kurkowski 17 (1), Remi Burchardt 16 (3), Przemek Binkowski 15 (1), Dariusz Pilas 15, Tomasz Szwajorek 10 (1), Mick Knowles 10, Joe Allen 8 (2), Roy Heslop 0.
Referee - Lewis Bates.
A & T ran out easy winners in the Combination match. Stoke conceded 16 penalty points after using an ineligible rider, Richard Harrison. Mike Hack, Mick Knowles and Joe Allen all lost only to Harrison, who raced unbeaten. There were solid performances from the rest of the A & T team. Stoke used a reserve rider, as well as fielding an ineligible rider, which is contrary to league rules.
Northern Combination League match result
Stoke B 51: Richard Harrison 16, Dave Hancock 11, Kev Burton 6, Matt Bailey 5 (1), Jim Simpson 5, Callum Booth 4, Kelvin Williams 4.
A & T B 85: Mike Hack 14 (1), Mick Knowles 14 (1), Joe Allen 13 (1), Andy Knowles 11 (1), Ben Keen 10 (1), Joel Partington 7 (1).
Referee - Lewis Bates