Saturday 29 March 2008

Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Friday, 28 March
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Three matches were due to be raced tonight but the weather intervened causing the Premier Trophy match at Scunthorpe between the Scorpions and Redcar to be postponed till Sunday. The other two matches did go ahead. At Edinburgh the Monarchs took on Workington while at Somerset the Rebels raced against Newport both matches in the Premier Trophy.


Premier Trophy: Edinburgh 56, Workington 37


Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson who had an injured back so used Rider Replacement at number 3. Workington were at full strength.

On a rain-soaked track at Armadale, Edinburgh won by 19 points cruelly exposing the Comets’ weakness in the tail. In fact Scott Smith, Charles Wright, Joe Haines and John Branney didn’t score a ‘genuine’ point between them, contributing just 5 points to the Workington total. On the other hand they did have the outstanding man of the match in Daniel Nermark who seemed completely unfazed by the conditions to rattle up a brilliant and classy 18 point, five ride maximum. He was the only Comet to beat William Lawson and Andrew Tully.

The opening two heats were strange affairs. In heat 1, Daniel Nermark shot from the tapes to lead the race. Ryan Fisher, in pursuit, lost his seat (the one on the bike) on the fourth bend of the second lap and crashed into the fence, just as Daniel Nermark’s bike gave up the ghost. Scott Smith (the forgotten man of the race), a good distance behind, slid into Fisher as the Edinburgh man tried to get to his feet. The red lights came on immediately before any of the riders had crossed the line to start the third lap with Derek Sneddon now leading the race. The referee, Barbara Horley, correctly excluded Fisher but awarded the race to Nermark from Sneddon and Smith for a Workington 2-4! Then in heat two there was a very poor piece of refereeing. Andrew Tully and Aaron Summers led for an Edinburgh 5-1from the second bend. John Branney fell on the fourth bend of the opening lap and, although, he got to his feet, he couldn’t get the bike off the track and was stranded on the middle of the fourth bend as Tully charged into the third bend on the next lap. He baled out just as the red lights came on, far too late. Again the race was awarded, this time as a 5-1 to the Monarchs. Carl Stonehewer led heat three from the tapes and, with Charles Wright behind him, things looked bright for the visitors. However William Lawson raced past both of them and Derek Sneddon followed two laps later for another home 5-1. Matthew Wethers gated to beat Kauko Nieminen in heat 4 while Aaron Summers passed Craig Branney on the second lap for third and a 4-2 taking the score to 16-8.

Nermark shot off again in heat 5 for an easy win ahead of Fisher and Lawson but a halt was called to the meeting at this point for a ‘5 minute’ regrading of the track to take the top surface off. 30 minutes later heat 6 started. Kauko Nieminen made a fast start to head home Fisher and Lawson but a very fast start by Andrew Tully in heat 7 saw him beat Carl Stonehewer by some distance in the fastest time of the meeting. Matthew Wethers third place produced another 4-2 for a ten point lead. Heat 8 provided a comfortable 5-1 from Sneddon and Summers and Edinburgh were almost out of sight at 31-17.

Heat 9 provided an excellent tussle between Matthew Wethers and Kauko Nieminen as the riders passed and repassed each other. Wethers came out on top while William Lawson made his move a lap later lining up and shooting past the Workington man in some style for another 5-1. Carl Stonehewer made another fine gate in heat 10 but Ryan Fisher made an inside pass on the second lap for a 4-2 to the home side who now led by 20 points. Daniel Nermark took a TR in heat 11 and scored all six points although a determined ride by Andrew Tully kept him on his toes. Workington took a 3-6 from the race but lost another 4-2 in heat 12 which was rerun after Joe Haines came to grief on the first bend. In the rerun Carl Stonehewer was fast away again but William Lawson reeled him in and got up to pass him on the line in what must have been a tight decision. With Summers third the score now stood at 47-28.

Daniel Nermark left them all for dead in heat 13. Ryan Fisher with clutch problems made a dreadful gate to drop out of contention while Matthew Wethers slotted into second place. This gave the visitors a 2-4 advantage but they lost the expected 5-1 in heat 14 to Lawson and Tully. Finally Daniel Nermark completed his maximum. He made another jet-propelled start while William Lawson gave chase but attempting an outside pass on the fourth bend, Lawson overslid to lose ground. Stonehewer finished third from Matthew Wethers so the Comets ended the match as they had started it with a 2-4. It was the in between heats that weren’t so good for them!

Scorers: For Edinburgh – William Lawson 14+1 (6), Andrew Tully 10+1 (4), Matthew Wethers 10+1 (6), Derek Sneddon 9+2 (5), Ryan Fisher 7 (5), Aaron Summers 6+2 (4).

For Workington – Daniel Nermark 18 (5) (with 6 point TR) (maximum), Kauko Nieminen 7 (4), Carl Stonehewer 7 (5), Charles Wright 2 (4), Joe Haines 2 (5), Scott Smith 1 (3), John Branney 0 (4)..



Premier Trophy: Somerset 67, Newport 26


Both teams were at full strength.

Well this was a bit of an annihilation. The two Somerset reserves between them scored only three points less than the entire Newport team. In fact had it not been for Craig Watson’s successful TR in heat 11 they would have equalled them.

In heat 1 the unfortunate Henning Loof was brought crashing down by Paul Clews while third behind Doyle and Watson. The race was awarded but Loof took no further part in the meeting. A comfortable reserves race 5-1 to the Rebels was followed by another maximum heat advantage after Simon Walker came through the field to join Emil Kramer up front. A third easy 5-1 in heat 4 left the crowd in little doubt that it was just a case of how many for Somerset (and how few for Newport!) as the score went to 19-5.

Heat 5 produced an excellent race between Craig Watson and Emil Kramer with the Newport man winning it to stop the rot by sharing the points. Then Truminski led heat 6 until the last bend but Jason Doyle got past him on the run in to the line albeit all out of control after hitting the fence then falling after the finishing line! This resulted in a 4-2 but a fourth 5-1 for the Rebels in heat 7 saw the lead stretched to 20 points. There was another good race in heat 8 won by Stefan Katt but the real action was at the back between Paul Clews and Jordan Frampton. This ended when Frampton lost a chain on the last bend. The 4-2 took the score to 35-13.

Two more 5-1s went Somerset’s way in heats 9 and 10 before Craig Watson took a TR in heat 11. He gated for the full six points, beating Brent Werner in the process, to provide Newport’s solitary heat advantage – a 3-6. It was business as usual in heat 12 as Kramer and Katt rattled up the Rebels’ seventh 5-1 taking the score to 53-22.

Craig Watson briefly led heat 13 but was passed by Jason Doyle for a 4-2 but the Rebels took their 5-1 tally to nine with maximum heat wins in heats 14 and 15. Jason Doyle completed a fine maximum in the process as Somerset recorded their biggest home win ever. Emil Kramer, Simon Walker and Brent Werner were only beaten by Craig Watson who scored more than half of the visitors’ total.

Scorers: For Somerset – Jason Doyle 15 (5) (maximum), Stefan Katt 13+3 (6), Emil Kramer 13+1 (5), Jordan Frampton 10+2 (5), Brent Werner 8+1 (4), Simon Walker 7+4 (4), Henning Loof 1 (1).

For Newport – Craig Watson 14 (5) (with 6 point TR), Tony Atkin 4 (5), Sebastian Truminski 3 (4), Nick Simmons 3 (4), Paul Clews 2 (4), Marek Mroz 0 (4), Jerran Hart 0 (4).

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