Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

.

.

Thursday, 20 September

The one match tonight was at Sheffield where the Tigers took on Newport in a Premier League Match.



Premier League: Sheffield 54, Newport 38 Sheffield won the aggregate bonus point by 100-81.


Sheffield had Simon Lambert at number 6 in place of James Birkinshaw while Newport were at full strength.

Having already lost at home to Sheffield the bonus point looked a forlorn hope for the Wasps as both teams chased points for the play-offs in Sheffield’s case and the Young Shield in Newport’s.

For a change the Ashworth/Wilson pairing did not produce an opening heat 5-1 for the Tigers as Michal Rajkowski finished second to split the home pair for a 4-2. A reserves race 5-1 increased Sheffield’s lead to six points but Tony Atkin stunned the locals by beating Andre Compton in heat 3 for a shared race. James Cockle won again in heat 4 after it had been rerun twice. In the first running Schramm took Parsons wide on the fourth bend of the opening lap and Barry Burchatt smashed into Parsons and was excluded. In the second running Chris Schramm shut the door on Joel Parsons behind Cockle for a 4-2 which took the score to 16-8.

Andre Compton won heat 5 for a 3-3 then the Ashworth/Wilson pairing resumed normal service with a 5-1 ahead of Schramm in heat 6 to stretch the lead to 12 points. Tony Atkin took a Tactical Ride in heat 7 but finished second to Joel Parsons. With Sebastian Truminski third, the Wasps took a 3-5 to cut their arrears to ten points. Ben Wilson won heat 8 from Tom Hedley while Cockle’s third place point increased the home side’s lead to twelve points again at 31-19.

Andre Compton won from Schramm for a 4-2 in heat 9 then Wilson and Ashworth scored another 5-1 in heat 10 for an 18 point lead but heat 11 resulted in a 1-5 to the Wasps after an eventful race. Joel Parson fell on the third lap and, trying to avoid him, Tom Hedley crashed into the fence and was eventually stretchered off to hospital while the fence urgently needed repair work. The race was awarded to Rajkowski and Hedley for a maximum cutting the gap to 14 points. Another Compton win in heat 12 resulted in a shared race with Cockle falling off at the back and the score stood at 44-30.

Ricky Ashworth won heat 13 but, with Joel Parsons replaced by Simon Lambert who failed to score, the heat was shared. Newport took another race advantage in heat 14 with Tony Atkin winning for the second time in the match. Paul Cooper was second but Nick Simmons’ third place gave the Wasps a 2-4. In the last race Andre Compton and Ricky Ashworth scored a 5-1 to give Sheffield a 16 point win and all three points.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 14 (5), Ricky Ashworth 13+2 (5)(paid maximum), Ben Wilson 9+1 (4), James Cockle 7 (4), Paul Cooper 4+1 (4), Joel Parsons 4 (3), Simon Lambert 3+1 (5).

For Newport – Tony Atkin 11 (4)(with 4 point TR), Michal Rajkowski 9+1 (5), Tom Hedley 6+1 (4), Chris Schramm 6+1 (5), Nick Simmons 3 (5), Sebastian Truminski 2+2 (4), Barry Burchatt 1 (3).


PS: Apologies for failing to notice that there was a match at Birmingham last night in the first leg of the Midland Shield with Stoke the visitors. The final score was:


Midland Shield (first leg): Birmingham 56, Stoke 37.

Scorers: For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 14 (5), Lee Smart 12+4 (7), Phil Morris 11+2 (6), Ben Powell 10+1 (7), Manuel Hauzinger 9+1 (5), Paul Hurry 0 (1).

For Stoke – Lee Complin 16+1 (5)(with 6 point TR), Claus Vissing 7 (5), Ben Barker 4+1 (5), Barrie Evans 4 (5), Glenn Cunningham 3 (4), Rusty Harrison 1 (3), Jaimie Smith 1 (3).

Birmingham introduced their new signing Paul Hurry who replaced Henning Bager but he was involved in a crash on the first bend of heat 1 and had to withdraw from the meeting with hand and rib injuries. Already using Rider Replacement for Henrik Moller the Brummies gave both reserves 7 rides and rose to the challenge to take a 19 point lead for the second leg.

Phil Morris signed to replace Emiliano Sanchez made his home debut and scored well while for Stoke Lee Complin kept the Potters alive with another excellent display. He was the only visiting rider to win a race.