Wednesday 10 October 2007

Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Wednesday, 10 October
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There were two matches raced tonight. At King’s Lynn the Stars raced Sheffield in the second leg of the semi-final of the Play Offs while at Birmingham the Brummies took on Stoke in the first leg of the semi-final for the Young Shield.


Premier League Play Offs, semi-final, second leg: King’s Lynn 55, Sheffield 37 Sheffield qualified for the final on aggregate by 99-86.


King’s Lynn had Simon Lambert at number 7 replacing Benji Compton while Sheffield had Jordan Frampton at number 6 in place of James Birkinshaw.

There had been plenty of hype before this match took place with Sheffield coming into it with a 31 point advantage. King’s Lynn knew they would have to be at their best to pull this round and the recent history of results at the Norfolk Arena between these two sides was in their favour.

Although Ricky Ashworth made the gate in the opening heat, Tomas Topinka passed him on the third bend. With Paul Lee falling at the back the race was shared but King’s Lynn got four points back when Adam Allott and Simon Lambert took a 5-1 ahead of Jordan Frampton. This was the prelude to two more 5-1s in heats 3 and 4. Daniel Nermark won heat 3 comfortably but behind him Trevor Harding chased Andre Compton for three laps before making the pass on the last lap. The Sheffield riders were struggling with the deep and grippy track and lost another maximum heat win in heat 4. Chris Mills won the race while Joel Parsons briefly held second place before being passed by Simon Lambert. This took the score to 18-6 cutting Sheffield’s aggregate lead to 19 points.

Sheffield threatened to take a 1-5 from heat 5 when Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson streaked into the lead from the gate. However with Daniel Nermark closing in Ben Wilson went too wide on the last bend of lap three to let Nermark and Harding through for a shared race. Heat 6 was also shared. Tomas Topinka won easily enough but Paul Lee suffered an engine failure at the tapes allowing Parsons and Frampton to pick up the three points. Sheffield then produced a massively important 1-5 in heat 7 which improved their prospects no end. Andre Compton and Paul Cooper did the damage for the Tigers. Adam Allott made the gate but dropped to last after Andre Compton had passed him. Chris Mills was in second place until the last lap when he fell while being challenged by Paul Cooper. This cut the gap on the night to 8 points but it could have been down to 5 had Sheffield given Compton a Tactical Ride! King’s Lynn just couldn’t make any further headway following their deadly opening four heats. In heat 8 Ben Wilson put another nail in their championship coffin by winning heat 8 from a hard challenging Paul Lee and Adam Allott for another shared heat taking the score to 28-20 with Sheffield still leading on aggregate by 23 points with just seven heats left.

The Stars kept their hopes alive with a 5-1 in heat 9 from Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding ahead of Joel Parsons as Cockle fell at the back before remounting. Heat 10 was shared. Tomas Topinka triumphed for the third time in the match but Paul Cooper and Andre Compton kept Paul Lee at bay after he had locked up and slipped to the back leaving the Stars needing five 5-1s from the last five heats for the aggregate win. Adam Allott won heat 11 but Ricky Ashworth’s second place while on a Tactical Ride ensured that it was the Tigers who would go through to the final to meet Rye House. The heat ended up as a 4-4 and the Tigers then added a 2-4 when Andre Compton beat Daniel Nermark with Jordan Frampton third taking the score to 42-32.

Heat 13 was won by Topinka from Joel Parsons and Chris Mills for a 4-2 then James Cockle was excluded from heat 14 when he fell causing the race to be rerun. Although Paul Cooper made the gate Trevor Harding passed him round the outside. With Simon Lambert picking up the gift third place point the Stars scored another 4-2. They finished the match with a 5-1 from Topinka and Harding but it was Sheffield who were left to celebrate at the end.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5)(full maximum), Trevor Harding 10+4 (5), Daniel Nermark 10 (4), Adam Allott 8+1 (4), Simon Lambert 5+2 (4), Chris Mills 5 (4), Paul Lee 2 (4).

For Sheffield – Ricky Ashworth 10 (5)(with 4 point TR), Andre Compton 8 (4), Paul Cooper 6+1 (5), Joel Parsons 6 (4), Ben Wilson 4+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 3+1 (4), James Cockle 0 (4).



Young Shield (semi-final, first leg): Birmingham 54, Stoke 38.


Birmingham were without Henning Bager, Manuel Hauzinger, Henrik Moller and Ben Powell. To cover these absences they used Rider Replacement at number 1, Craig Branney as a guest at number 3, Chris Schramm as a guest at number 5 and Daniel Warwick as a guest at number 6. Stoke were missing Rusty Harrison and Glenn Cunningham. They used Rider Replacement at number 4 and had Tony Atkin as a guest at number 3.

Jason Lyons came through the field from the back while taking the R/R ride in heat 1 to win the race but Ben Barker and Lee Complin shared the heat, finishing ahead of Phil Morris. The Brummies went ahead with a 4-2 in the reserves race when Danny Warwick beat Barrie Evans with Lee Smart third then hit a 5-1 in heart 3 from Jason Lyons and Craig Branney for a six point lead. Stoke hit back with a 2-4 in heat 4 when Claus Vissing beat Lee Smart after Chris Schramm had fallen on the last lap while lying second. This took the score to 14-10.

In heat 5 Lee Complin came down in a clash with Craig Branney causing the race to be rerun with Branney excluded. In the rerun Ben Barker headed Jason Lyons home while Lee Complin picked up the gift third place point for a 2-4 cutting the home side’s lead to two points. Heat 6 had to be rerun too after Claus Vissing had fallen and been excluded. In the rerun Birmingham took a 5-1 as Phil Morris and Chris Schramm won from Barrie Evans opening the lead to six points again. Heat 7 won by Chris Schramm was shared but Birmingham struck with another 5-1 in heat 8 as Lee Smart and Phil Morris kept Ben Barker back in third place. This took the score to 29-19 but Stoke were hit by another blow when Claus Vissing withdrew from the rest of the meeting as a result of his heat 6 fall.

Jason Lyons and Craig Branney added a 5-1 for the Brummies in heat 9 extending their lead to 14 points while Phil Morris won heat 10 for a shared race. In heat 11 Ben Barker took a Tactical Ride but it was Chris Schramm who won the rerun after he had fallen in the first running causing an all-four-back second start. Barker finished second but Lee Smart finished third ahead of Lee Complin so the race was shared 4-4. Jason Lyons won heat 12 but Evans and Atkin shared the points behind him taking the score to 44-30.

Heat 13 was awarded after Chris Schramm fell on the last lap while lying second to Phil Morris. This turned a prospective 5-1 into a 3-3. Tony Atkin took a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres in heat 14 but made no impression as Ben Barker won the race from Branney and Warwick for a 3-3. In the last race the Brummies broke the sequence of five consecutive shared heats by taking a 4-2. Jason Lyons won the race from Ben Barker while Phil Morris took third place giving the home side a 16 point lead for the second leg.

Scorers: For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 17 (6), Phil Morris 12+1 (6), Chris Schramm 8+1 (5), Lee Smart 7 (5), Craig Branney 6+2 (5), Daniel Warwick 4+1 (3).

For Stoke – Ben Barker 15 (6)(with 4 point TR), Barrie Evans 7+1 (7), Lee Complin 6+1 (5), Tony Atkin 5+2 (6), Claus Vissing 3 (2), Jaimie Smith 2 (4).

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