Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Saturday, 26 April
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The rain struck again today causing the postponement of the Knock Out Cup tie between Workington and Stoke. The three other scheduled matches went ahead though. At Berwick the Bandits faced Edinburgh in a Knock Out Cup first round, second leg tie, at Mildenhall the Fen Tigers took on King’s Lynn in a Premier Trophy match while at Rye House the Rockets raced against Newport in a first round, first leg Knock Out Cup tie.
Knock Out Cup (first round, second leg): Berwick 42, Edinburgh 51. Edinburgh won through to the second round on aggregate by 105-80.
Berwick were again without Adrian Rymel on European Championship duty and used Rider Replacement at number 1. Guglielmo Franchetti was also missing after crashing last night so the Bandits intended to use Ben Powell (Newcastle) as a guest but he failed to arrive so had to go with John McPhail at number 4. Edinburgh were at full strength.
Edinburgh carried a 16 point lead from the first leg and, although Berwick shot into a four point lead after two heats, it soon became clear that they were no match for a determined Monarchs’ side. Their cause wasn’t helped by the non-appearance of Ben Powell, who had been booked as a guest for Guglielmo Franchetti, which forced them to track a junior, John McPhail, at number 4 and a woeful display by Henning Bager in his last match for the Bandits.
Derek Sneddon fell on the third bend of the opening lap causing a rerun without him but Ryan Fisher leapt from the tapes to lead Norbert Magosi and Michal Makovsky home for a shared race. There was a glimmer of hope for the Bandits when they scored a 5-1 from the reserves race. A fine gate by Adam McKinna saw him score a comfortable tapes-to-flag win backed up by Tero Aarnio who defied the challenges of Andrew Tully to take second place. The glimmer was extinguished in heat 3 when the Monarchs replied with a 1-5. William Lawson and Thomas Jonasson beat Henning Bager to the first bend and that was that. In heat 4 Adam McKinna made another superb gate and led down the back straight with Matthew Wethers in hot pursuit. Michal Makovsky passed Wethers on the inside and tried to move him out to the fence. However he misjudged it and fell against the fence forcing Wethers to lay down. In the rerun, McKinna gated again but was soon passed by Wethers so Edinburgh took the lead with a 2-4 with the score at 11-13.
When Ryan Fisher and Derek Sneddon rounded Henning Bager off the second bend of heat 5 Edinburgh were off for another 1-5 to increase their lead to six points. Berwick looked like they might pull two points back when Norbert Magosi passed Matthew Wethers in heat 6 with Aarnio in third but Wethers was having none of it and, after trying several different lines to pass Magosi, he finally succeeded at the end of lap three with a round the boards swoop. That resulted in a shared race then the Bandits got within touching distance again with a 5-1 in heat 7. Michal Makovsky made the gate and Tero Aarnio passed William Lawson round the outside off the second bend to join him cutting the lead to only two points. Norbert Magosi then won heat 8 to share the points taking the score to 23-25.
Edinburgh struck with successive maximums in heats 9 and 10. In the former Matthew Wethers and Andrew Tully saw off the woeful Henning Bager from the start and, in the latter, Thomas Jonasson and William Lawson did the same to Tero Aarnio. The visitors’ lead had now rocketed to ten points so Berwick were able to give a TR to Michal Makovsky in heat 11. This turned out to be the race of the night! Fisher and Sneddon gated for the Monarchs but Makovsky was a man possessed. He chased down Sneddon and passed him on the third bend of lap 2 before setting off after Fisher. After nearly falling twice and almost riding on the fence on the third and fourth bends he eventually passed the American on the second bend of the last lap to win the race for the full six points. This gave the Bandits a 6-3 cutting the gap to seven points but, in heat 12, Andrew Tully made a superb start to lead McKinna and Bager for almost the entire race. William Lawson roared round the last two bends of the last lap to pass Bager and almost caught McKinna on the line. The 2-4 stretched the lead to nine points again with the score at 33-42.
Makovsky and Magosi made the gate in heat 13 but Matthew Wethers passed Magosi on the last lap limiting the Bandits to a 4-2 which cut the lead to seven points again. It was all over when heat 14 was shared. Magosi led the race from Jonasson while McKinna settled in third place having to defend his position against Aaron Summers. Summers, after several unsuccessful attempts to force his way through on the inside, switched to the outside run on bends 1 and 2 of the last lap to swoop past him for third and a 3-3. In the last race Ryan Fisher beat Makovsky while Wethers finished third for a 2-4 giving the Monarchs a win on the night of nine points and aggregate success by twenty five.
Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 15+1 (6), Tero Aarnio 9+3 (7), Norbert Magosi 8 (5), Adam McKinna 7 (5), Henning Bager 3 (4), John McPhail 0 (3).
For Edinburgh – Ryan Fisher 12+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 12 (5), Thomas Jonasson 8+1 (4), William Lawson 6+1 (4), Andrew Summers 6+1 (4), Aaron Summers 4+1 (4), Derek Sneddon 3+2 (4).
Premier Trophy: Mildenhall 46, King’s Lynn 44
Mildenhall were without Casper Wortmann so used Rider Replacement at number 4. They introduced new signing, Henning Loof, at number 2. Matt Wright again guested for Mark Baseby at number 6 and Jari Makinen moved to number 7. King’s Lynn were at full strength.
We’ve had a lot of shock away wins this season but this time we had a shock home win! Consider the maulings the Fen Tigers have suffered at home at the hands (or wheels) of Berwick, Birmingham and the Isle of Wight, King’s Lynn would with good reason have thought that the three points were there for the taking. However a moral boosting display by Robbie Kessler well supported by Kai Laukkanen turned a two point arrears after heat 14 into a two point win with a last heat maximum. As a result King’s Lynn are out of the Premier Trophy with Birmingham now established as section winners.
There was no sign of the drama to come when the Stars took a 1-5 in the opening heat which required two reruns before it could be completed. Jan Graversen was excluded for bringing down Simon Lambert. Tomas Topinka gated with Lambert for the maximum. Matt Wright and Jari Makinen then gated for the home side but John Oliver and Kozza Smith passed the Finn to share the heat before the Stars moved six points in front in the next race. Kevin Doolan won the race from Kai Laukkanen while Rusty Harrison got the better of Matt Wright for the 2-4. The Fen Tigers got two points back with a 4-2 in heat 4 won by Robbie Kessler from Kozza Smith which took the score to 10-14.
Kai Laukkanen won heat 5 for the Fen Tigers from Tomas Topinka while Jan Graversen passed Simon Lambert for a 4-2 which cut the lead to two points then it was all square again after another home 4-2 when Jan Graversen beat Shaun Tacey with Henning Loof third. The Stars regained the lead in heat 7 when Kevin Doolan beat Robbie Kessler while Rusty Harrison took the third place point after Jari Makinen had fallen and been excluded. The 2-4 put the visitors two points in front but the home side levelled the scores again with a 4-2 in heat 8 thanks to a win from Matt Wright and a third place from Henning Loof behind Kozza Smith. The score now stood at 24-24.
Mildenhall took the lead in heat 9. Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen scored a 5-1 ahead of Shaun Tacey for a four point advantage then Henning Loof beat none other than Kevin Doolan while Jan Graversen took third from Harrison for a 4-2 in heat 10 for a six point lead. Robbie Kessler kept it that way by winning heat 10 from Topinka and Lambert but back came King’s Lynn with a 2-4 in heat 12. Kevin Doolan beat Kai Laukkanen while John Oliver just pipped Jari Makinen for third to cut the lead to four points with the score at 38-34.
It was down to two points with another 2-4 for the visitors in heat 13 as Topinka beat Kessler with Tacey third from Graversen then King’s Lynn punched home a 1-5 in heat 14 to regain the lead by two points leaving the home fans with the usual sinking feeling. Rusty Harrison and Kozza Smith beat Matt Wright to set up a last heat decider. The Fen Tigers’ fans went wild when Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen score the 5-1 from Topinka and Doolan in heat 15 which gave them their first win of the season after a great match.
Scorers: For Mildenhall – Robbie Kessler 16 (6), Kai Laukkanen 11+2 (5), Matt Wright 7 (5), Henning Fool 6 (5), Jan Graversen 5 (5), Jari Makinen 1 (4).
For King's Lynn – Tomas Topinka 11 (5), Kevin Doolan 11 (5), Kozza Smith 7+2 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), Shaun Tacey 4 (4), Simon Lambert 3+2 (4), John Oliver 3 (4).
Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Rye House 60, Newport 30
Rye House were missing Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen so used Rider Replacement for Allen and had Daniel Halsey as a guest at number 2 for Bowen. Gary Cottham was nominated as their number 8. Newport were without Tony Atkin so used Rider Replacement at number 4.
The feature of this match was the phenomenal 19+1 score from Rye House reserve, Robert Mear. He was unlucky to drop his only point to Marek Mroz as a result of a flat tyre on the last bend of heat 14. It was the same old story though at Rye House as the Rockets without Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen disposed of Newport with ease.
Craig Watson split the home pairing of Chris Neath and Daniel Halsey in heat 1 for a 4-2 then the reserves race was shared after Robert Mear had won it and Danny Betson had retired with machine trouble at the end of the second lap. Sebastian Truminski then separated the home pair of Tai Woffinden and Daniel Halsey for a 4-2 in heat 3 before the Rockets scored the first of their five 5-1s in heat 4 with Robert Mear and Stefan Ekberg leading the Wasps home. The score stood at 16-8 at this point.
Ekberg won heat 5 while Tai Woffinden passed Craig Watson on the line for another 5-1 but the Wasps shared heat 6 behind Chris Neath. Jerran hart and Paul Clews took second and third but, in heat 7, Ekberg and Mear added another 5-1 increasing the home side’s lead to 16 points. It was then announced that Danny Betson had withdrawn from the meeting due to injuries he had sustained the previous evening. The Rockets made light work of this handicap. Mear won again in heat 8 from Marek Mroz while Daniel Halsey got up to pip Nick Simmons on the line for a 4-2 which took the score to 33-15.
Another two 4-2s went to the home side in heats 9 and 10. Woffinden beat Clews in the first then Chris Neath beat Marek Mroz in the rerun of the second after Sebastian Truminski had fallen in the first running and been excluded. Robert Mear won heat 11 but Craig Watson and Nick Simmons kept Stefan Ekberg back in last place for a shared heat 11 but Rye House took another 5-1 in heat 12 from Mear and Woffinden to take the score to 49-23.
In heat 13 Chris Neath broke the tapes and went from 15 metres back. In the rerun Craig Watson suffered an engine failure on the second lap then Neath did likewise on lap three but pushed home for third place behind Ekberg and Clews for a 4-2. Marek Mroz won heat 14 for a shared race after Mear suffered a flat tyre before Woffinden and Neath wrapped up a thirty point win with a last heat 5-1.
Scorers: For Rye House – Robert Mear 19+1 (7), Tai Woffinden 13+2 (5) (paid maximum), Stefan Ekberg 11+1 (5), Chris Neath 12+1 (5), Daniel Halsey 4 (5), Gary Cottham 1 (2).
For Newport – Marek Mroz 9+1 (6), Paul Clews 7+1 (6), Craig Watson 5 (4), Sebastian Truminski 4 (4), Jerran Hart 4 (5), Nick Simmons 1+1 (5).
Knock Out Cup (first round, second leg): Berwick 42, Edinburgh 51. Edinburgh won through to the second round on aggregate by 105-80.
Berwick were again without Adrian Rymel on European Championship duty and used Rider Replacement at number 1. Guglielmo Franchetti was also missing after crashing last night so the Bandits intended to use Ben Powell (Newcastle) as a guest but he failed to arrive so had to go with John McPhail at number 4. Edinburgh were at full strength.
Edinburgh carried a 16 point lead from the first leg and, although Berwick shot into a four point lead after two heats, it soon became clear that they were no match for a determined Monarchs’ side. Their cause wasn’t helped by the non-appearance of Ben Powell, who had been booked as a guest for Guglielmo Franchetti, which forced them to track a junior, John McPhail, at number 4 and a woeful display by Henning Bager in his last match for the Bandits.
Derek Sneddon fell on the third bend of the opening lap causing a rerun without him but Ryan Fisher leapt from the tapes to lead Norbert Magosi and Michal Makovsky home for a shared race. There was a glimmer of hope for the Bandits when they scored a 5-1 from the reserves race. A fine gate by Adam McKinna saw him score a comfortable tapes-to-flag win backed up by Tero Aarnio who defied the challenges of Andrew Tully to take second place. The glimmer was extinguished in heat 3 when the Monarchs replied with a 1-5. William Lawson and Thomas Jonasson beat Henning Bager to the first bend and that was that. In heat 4 Adam McKinna made another superb gate and led down the back straight with Matthew Wethers in hot pursuit. Michal Makovsky passed Wethers on the inside and tried to move him out to the fence. However he misjudged it and fell against the fence forcing Wethers to lay down. In the rerun, McKinna gated again but was soon passed by Wethers so Edinburgh took the lead with a 2-4 with the score at 11-13.
When Ryan Fisher and Derek Sneddon rounded Henning Bager off the second bend of heat 5 Edinburgh were off for another 1-5 to increase their lead to six points. Berwick looked like they might pull two points back when Norbert Magosi passed Matthew Wethers in heat 6 with Aarnio in third but Wethers was having none of it and, after trying several different lines to pass Magosi, he finally succeeded at the end of lap three with a round the boards swoop. That resulted in a shared race then the Bandits got within touching distance again with a 5-1 in heat 7. Michal Makovsky made the gate and Tero Aarnio passed William Lawson round the outside off the second bend to join him cutting the lead to only two points. Norbert Magosi then won heat 8 to share the points taking the score to 23-25.
Edinburgh struck with successive maximums in heats 9 and 10. In the former Matthew Wethers and Andrew Tully saw off the woeful Henning Bager from the start and, in the latter, Thomas Jonasson and William Lawson did the same to Tero Aarnio. The visitors’ lead had now rocketed to ten points so Berwick were able to give a TR to Michal Makovsky in heat 11. This turned out to be the race of the night! Fisher and Sneddon gated for the Monarchs but Makovsky was a man possessed. He chased down Sneddon and passed him on the third bend of lap 2 before setting off after Fisher. After nearly falling twice and almost riding on the fence on the third and fourth bends he eventually passed the American on the second bend of the last lap to win the race for the full six points. This gave the Bandits a 6-3 cutting the gap to seven points but, in heat 12, Andrew Tully made a superb start to lead McKinna and Bager for almost the entire race. William Lawson roared round the last two bends of the last lap to pass Bager and almost caught McKinna on the line. The 2-4 stretched the lead to nine points again with the score at 33-42.
Makovsky and Magosi made the gate in heat 13 but Matthew Wethers passed Magosi on the last lap limiting the Bandits to a 4-2 which cut the lead to seven points again. It was all over when heat 14 was shared. Magosi led the race from Jonasson while McKinna settled in third place having to defend his position against Aaron Summers. Summers, after several unsuccessful attempts to force his way through on the inside, switched to the outside run on bends 1 and 2 of the last lap to swoop past him for third and a 3-3. In the last race Ryan Fisher beat Makovsky while Wethers finished third for a 2-4 giving the Monarchs a win on the night of nine points and aggregate success by twenty five.
Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 15+1 (6), Tero Aarnio 9+3 (7), Norbert Magosi 8 (5), Adam McKinna 7 (5), Henning Bager 3 (4), John McPhail 0 (3).
For Edinburgh – Ryan Fisher 12+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 12 (5), Thomas Jonasson 8+1 (4), William Lawson 6+1 (4), Andrew Summers 6+1 (4), Aaron Summers 4+1 (4), Derek Sneddon 3+2 (4).
Premier Trophy: Mildenhall 46, King’s Lynn 44
Mildenhall were without Casper Wortmann so used Rider Replacement at number 4. They introduced new signing, Henning Loof, at number 2. Matt Wright again guested for Mark Baseby at number 6 and Jari Makinen moved to number 7. King’s Lynn were at full strength.
We’ve had a lot of shock away wins this season but this time we had a shock home win! Consider the maulings the Fen Tigers have suffered at home at the hands (or wheels) of Berwick, Birmingham and the Isle of Wight, King’s Lynn would with good reason have thought that the three points were there for the taking. However a moral boosting display by Robbie Kessler well supported by Kai Laukkanen turned a two point arrears after heat 14 into a two point win with a last heat maximum. As a result King’s Lynn are out of the Premier Trophy with Birmingham now established as section winners.
There was no sign of the drama to come when the Stars took a 1-5 in the opening heat which required two reruns before it could be completed. Jan Graversen was excluded for bringing down Simon Lambert. Tomas Topinka gated with Lambert for the maximum. Matt Wright and Jari Makinen then gated for the home side but John Oliver and Kozza Smith passed the Finn to share the heat before the Stars moved six points in front in the next race. Kevin Doolan won the race from Kai Laukkanen while Rusty Harrison got the better of Matt Wright for the 2-4. The Fen Tigers got two points back with a 4-2 in heat 4 won by Robbie Kessler from Kozza Smith which took the score to 10-14.
Kai Laukkanen won heat 5 for the Fen Tigers from Tomas Topinka while Jan Graversen passed Simon Lambert for a 4-2 which cut the lead to two points then it was all square again after another home 4-2 when Jan Graversen beat Shaun Tacey with Henning Loof third. The Stars regained the lead in heat 7 when Kevin Doolan beat Robbie Kessler while Rusty Harrison took the third place point after Jari Makinen had fallen and been excluded. The 2-4 put the visitors two points in front but the home side levelled the scores again with a 4-2 in heat 8 thanks to a win from Matt Wright and a third place from Henning Loof behind Kozza Smith. The score now stood at 24-24.
Mildenhall took the lead in heat 9. Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen scored a 5-1 ahead of Shaun Tacey for a four point advantage then Henning Loof beat none other than Kevin Doolan while Jan Graversen took third from Harrison for a 4-2 in heat 10 for a six point lead. Robbie Kessler kept it that way by winning heat 10 from Topinka and Lambert but back came King’s Lynn with a 2-4 in heat 12. Kevin Doolan beat Kai Laukkanen while John Oliver just pipped Jari Makinen for third to cut the lead to four points with the score at 38-34.
It was down to two points with another 2-4 for the visitors in heat 13 as Topinka beat Kessler with Tacey third from Graversen then King’s Lynn punched home a 1-5 in heat 14 to regain the lead by two points leaving the home fans with the usual sinking feeling. Rusty Harrison and Kozza Smith beat Matt Wright to set up a last heat decider. The Fen Tigers’ fans went wild when Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen score the 5-1 from Topinka and Doolan in heat 15 which gave them their first win of the season after a great match.
Scorers: For Mildenhall – Robbie Kessler 16 (6), Kai Laukkanen 11+2 (5), Matt Wright 7 (5), Henning Fool 6 (5), Jan Graversen 5 (5), Jari Makinen 1 (4).
For King's Lynn – Tomas Topinka 11 (5), Kevin Doolan 11 (5), Kozza Smith 7+2 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), Shaun Tacey 4 (4), Simon Lambert 3+2 (4), John Oliver 3 (4).
Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Rye House 60, Newport 30
Rye House were missing Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen so used Rider Replacement for Allen and had Daniel Halsey as a guest at number 2 for Bowen. Gary Cottham was nominated as their number 8. Newport were without Tony Atkin so used Rider Replacement at number 4.
The feature of this match was the phenomenal 19+1 score from Rye House reserve, Robert Mear. He was unlucky to drop his only point to Marek Mroz as a result of a flat tyre on the last bend of heat 14. It was the same old story though at Rye House as the Rockets without Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen disposed of Newport with ease.
Craig Watson split the home pairing of Chris Neath and Daniel Halsey in heat 1 for a 4-2 then the reserves race was shared after Robert Mear had won it and Danny Betson had retired with machine trouble at the end of the second lap. Sebastian Truminski then separated the home pair of Tai Woffinden and Daniel Halsey for a 4-2 in heat 3 before the Rockets scored the first of their five 5-1s in heat 4 with Robert Mear and Stefan Ekberg leading the Wasps home. The score stood at 16-8 at this point.
Ekberg won heat 5 while Tai Woffinden passed Craig Watson on the line for another 5-1 but the Wasps shared heat 6 behind Chris Neath. Jerran hart and Paul Clews took second and third but, in heat 7, Ekberg and Mear added another 5-1 increasing the home side’s lead to 16 points. It was then announced that Danny Betson had withdrawn from the meeting due to injuries he had sustained the previous evening. The Rockets made light work of this handicap. Mear won again in heat 8 from Marek Mroz while Daniel Halsey got up to pip Nick Simmons on the line for a 4-2 which took the score to 33-15.
Another two 4-2s went to the home side in heats 9 and 10. Woffinden beat Clews in the first then Chris Neath beat Marek Mroz in the rerun of the second after Sebastian Truminski had fallen in the first running and been excluded. Robert Mear won heat 11 but Craig Watson and Nick Simmons kept Stefan Ekberg back in last place for a shared heat 11 but Rye House took another 5-1 in heat 12 from Mear and Woffinden to take the score to 49-23.
In heat 13 Chris Neath broke the tapes and went from 15 metres back. In the rerun Craig Watson suffered an engine failure on the second lap then Neath did likewise on lap three but pushed home for third place behind Ekberg and Clews for a 4-2. Marek Mroz won heat 14 for a shared race after Mear suffered a flat tyre before Woffinden and Neath wrapped up a thirty point win with a last heat 5-1.
Scorers: For Rye House – Robert Mear 19+1 (7), Tai Woffinden 13+2 (5) (paid maximum), Stefan Ekberg 11+1 (5), Chris Neath 12+1 (5), Daniel Halsey 4 (5), Gary Cottham 1 (2).
For Newport – Marek Mroz 9+1 (6), Paul Clews 7+1 (6), Craig Watson 5 (4), Sebastian Truminski 4 (4), Jerran Hart 4 (5), Nick Simmons 1+1 (5).
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