Wednesday 12 September 2007

Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Wednesday, 12 September



With Birmingham dedicating their meeting tonight to mainly Conference League riders and reserves who were racing for the Alan Pearce Memorial Trophy, the sole Premier League action was at King’s Lynn where the Stars took on Glasgow.



Premier League: King’s Lynn 52, Glasgow 40 King’s Lynn won the aggregate bonus point by 94-91.


King’s Lynn were at full strength while Glasgow were missing Craig Watson so had to use Rider Replacement at number 1 in his absence.

With a nine point lead from the match at Ashfield, Glasgow looked to have their work cut out to take anything from this match. No reason was given for Craig Watson’s absence but without him the task didn’t get any easier.

King’s Lynn certainly didn’t get it all their own way and the expected one-way traffic didn’t materialise. Heat 1 had to be rerun after an unsatisfactory start and after David McAllan had been warned to stay still at the tapes. At the second attempt to stage the race Tomas Topinka was fast away while Chris Mills passed David McAllan. Attempting to pass Trent Leverington, taking the R/R ride, Mills collided with Leverington bringing down the Glasgow man and causing McAllan to have to lay down his bike. Mills was excluded from the race which Topinka eventually won to share the points. The reserves race finished as a 3-3 too. James Brundle won for the Stars beating Lee Dicken while Michael Coles held off Benji Compton’s challenge at the back. Daniel Nermark won heat 3 comfortably from Shane Parker but Robert Ksiezak kept Paul Lee at the back for another share of the points. There was still no break in the scoring in heat 4. Trevor Harding had bike trouble and had to change machines before the start. Trent Leverington won the race while Benji Compton had to pass Lee Dicken to avoid the Stars falling behind with the score now at 12-12.

King’s Lynn finally took the lead in heat 5. Daniel Nermark led the race from the start while Paul Lee passed Robert Ksiezak (R/R) and David McAllan to join him up front for a 5-1. Tomas Topinka won heat 6 but Trent Leverington and Michael Coles filled the minor places until Chris Mills passed Coles on the last lap for a 4-2 to put the home men six points ahead. Back came the Tigers with a 1-5 in heat 7. Robert Ksiezak made the gate; Parker joined him up front and made sure that Trevor Harding was not going to pass either of them. This cut the lead to just two points again. Chris Mills won heat 8 while McAllan got past Compton on the third bend for a 4-2 to the Stars taking the score to 26-22. Daniel Nermark won heat 9 from Trent Leverington while Paul Lee finished third for a 4-2 which increased the Stars’ lead to six points again. Topinka beat Shane Parker in heat 10 while Chris Mills passed Robert Ksiezak on the outside of the last bend for another 4-2 to the Stars taking the score to 34-26. Shane Parker took the R/R ride in heat 11 and won it from James Brundle. David McAllan beat Trevor Harding for third place so the Tigers took a 2-4 cutting the gap to 6 points again. Parker was out again in heat 12 and was leading the race when Michael Coles fell causing the race to be rerun without him. He won the rerun though from Daniel Nermark so the heat was shared leaving six points between the teams with the score reading 39-33.

Tomas Topinka continued his unbeaten run by winning heat 13 from Trent Leverington who passed Trevor Harding for second place with David McAllan at the back giving the home side an eight point lead with the 4-2. This might not have been too clever by the Stars because it allowed Shane Parker to take a Tactical Substitute ride replacing Lee Dicken to partner Robert Ksiezak in heat 14. However Paul Lee came to the rescue by making a fast start and, although Parker got by Brundle on the third lap, he wasn’t likely to catch Lee. With Robert Ksiezak at the back the heat was shared 4-4 ensuring that the Stars had won the match but heat 15 was left to determine the destination of the bonus point for which the Glasgow lead was down to a single point. Needless to say the home side went with Topinka and Nermark while the Tigers tracked Parker and Leverington. Topinka led Parker into the first bend while Nermark came round the outside to join his partner for a 5-1 to the home side which gave them all three points. It was a gallant effort from Glasgow particularly missing Craig Watson and the final score perhaps didn’t reflect just how good a challenge they produced.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Daniel Nermark 14 (5), Paul Lee 6+1 (4), James Brundle 6 (4), Chris Mills 5 (4), Trevor Harding 4 (4), Benji Compton 3+2 (4).

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 18 (7)(with 4 point TS), Trent Leverington 11 (6), Robert Ksiezak 4+2 (5), David McAllan 4+1 (5), Lee Dicken 2 (3), Michael Coles 1+1 (4).

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