Reports and results week ending 21 August 2011
Ipswich v Wednesfield
Location: Ipswich Cycle Speedway, Ipswich
Event: 21 August 2011
Report: Sharon Stant
Ipswich welcomed their Midland opponents and former British team champions Wednesfield to a sunny Whitton Raceway for their Premier League encounter.
Missing several first teamers with holidays, illness and unavailability, it was always going to be an uphill task to contain their high flying opponents with the home team having to call on three combination members to make up the team, a first appearance of the season for Josh Colby after his recent trip to Poland for the young Lions tour.
So it proved straight from the off with the visitors claiming a 7-3 in the first heat though the home team responded with a 6-4 from Solmon/Colby. It was to be the home team's only heat advantage in the first half with Wednesfield dominating racking up six heat wins to lead the Suffolk outfit 55-32 at the break.
The second half started well for the home team with two shared heats and Solmon/Colby recording their second 6-4 win, but it was to be short lived with Wednesfield re-grouping and winning five of the last six heats to come out comfortable winners by 69 - 108.
The match was well refereed by Mike Knowles from Sheffield who kept the match going at a good tempo with only a couple of tape exclusions to call. The home team kept their heads up even though they were always going to up against a good compact
team in Wednesfield. Good performances from Hill, Colby and Solomon which will set them in good stead for the rest of the season to come with trip to champions Horspath and two home matches with Poole and Sheffield .
Result
Ipswich 69: Josh Brooke 8, Ashley Hill 12, Josh Colby 10, George Solomon 11, Jordan Stant 7, Dan Chambers 13 , Barry Copping 5, Lewis Roberts 3.
Wednesfield 108: Matt Beharrell 18 , Chris Jewkes 18, Dylan Ratcliffe 16, Terry Norman 11, Lee Aris 16 , Ben Higham 12 , Mark Griffiths 10, Luke Draisey 7 .
Referee - Mike Knowles (Sheffield )
Combination League
The home team were slightly weaken for their encounter with Wednesfield with three riders stepping up into the first team, giving Fraser Harris his debut in the Combination League.
With Wednesfield giving away seventeen penalty points, the team wanted to improve from their last outing at Leicester when they didn't do themselves justice with a poor performance.
The young Ipswich team rode with great maturity with sensible team racing and were always in control of their opponents , after nine heats Ipswich lead by seven points and then punished their Midland rivals reeling off fourheats wins to secure the match 74 - 55 not needing their penalties point, the final score 91 - 55 .
Man of the match was Will Clark but all in all a great all-round team effort.
Result
Ipswich 74+17: Matt Hill 11, Will Clark 16, Richard Fellgett 16, Lauren Jacobs 11, Fraser Harris 6 , Charlie Rumbold 14 .
Wendnesfield 55: Luke Draisey 15, Harry Evriss 5, Sam Par 7, Troy Allen 13, Mark Griffiths 10, Aaron O'Brien 5.
Referee - Dave Hill (Ipswich)
Sheffield v Leicester
Location: Bochum Parkway, Sheffield
Event: 21 August 2011
With both teams missing vital members of their squads and the outcome of the result going along way to deciding the final outcome of the 2011 Premier League, both sides needed to maximise every opportunity.
Leicester started well with a 7-3 from Nowacki and Peck however Sheffield hit back with a well taken 6-4 courtesy of Angell and Hoyland to keep the scores close in the opening exchanges. Leicester began to forge ahead and a couple of exclusions to the home side's Nathan Groves didn't help the Sheffield team. Radek Handke started well for the Stars and was well pleased with his efforts in lowering the colours of World Champion Lukas Nowacki. However Leicester were packing the minor places and piling up the points proving what strength in depth they have, Sheffield were lacking that and beginning to struggle.
By the interval the Monarchs had built up an eight point advantage and Sheffield needed to quickly get back into the match if they were going to cause a serious threat, unfortunately two shared heats and a one point advantage from the first three races after the break were never going to be enough. Sheffield just didn't capitalise on their opportunities, two examples being exclusions to the visitors only yielding two extra points.
Leicester carried on their merry way and by heat 14 the result was never really in doubt, having said that there was plenty of very good racing to keep the good sized crowd entertained, a nasty fall by Sheffield's Mark Winwood, saw him have to withdraw from the meeting with a suspected broken wrist. A consolation 7-2 to the Stars in the final heat after Nowacki was excluded kept the scoreline close.
Plenty of effort from all concerned but Leicester had that edge today, a well deserved win keeps the Monarchs in the title race with Sheffield still hoping for a top three finish.
Result
Sheffield 83: Radek Handke 17+1, Andy Angell 17, Ryan Hoyland 14, Jamie Brown 12, Lee Grange 11+1, Nathan Groves 4+1, Chris Turner 4, Mark Winwood 4.
Leicester 90: Phil Howells 15+1, Lukas Nowacki 15, Marcus Wadhams 14, Adam Peck 13+2, Craig Marchant 11, Adam Stephenson 10, Jason Ashford 6+2, Kevin Burns 6+1.
Combination League Result
Sheffield 55: Kyle Holland 11, Aiden Owen 10+1, Sandra Tomborska 10, Vicki Brown 8+1, Lewis German 8+1, Laura Watson 6, Liam Webster 2.
Leicester 72: Matt Hartshorn 13+3, Lucy Whitehead 13, Nicky Whitehead 12+3, Lauren Davis 12, Michelle Whitehead 12, Joe kemp 9+2, Charlie Cooper 1.
East Newport v Sandwell
Location: Larch Grove, Underwood
Event: 21 August 2011
Result
East Newport 84.5: Ben Mould 16, Aaron Hughes 13, Aaron Herbert 12, Correy B Jones 12, Dan Bock 11, Neil Power 8, Craig Nethercott 7.5, Nicky Evans 4.
Sandwell 93.5: Lewis Bates 17, Errol Thaw 16, Lee Smith 15, Jack Harrold 13, Scott Millward 12, Matt Smith 9, Leighton Bates 6, David Ball 5.5.
Referee - Mike Legge (Dorset)
