Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Thursday, 5 June
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Tonight’s matches were at Sheffield where the Tigers took on Birmingham in the second leg of the Premier Trophy semi-final and at Redcar where the Bears took on Mildenhall in a Premier League match.
Premier Trophy (semi-final, second leg): Sheffield 53, Birmingham 37. Birmingham won through to the final on aggregate by 94-90.
Sheffield were without Sam Martin and had Kyle Hughes at number 6. Birmingham were missing Adam Roynon and Phil Morris and had Chris Mills as a guest at number 2 again while using Rider Replacement at number 1 for Roynon.
Sheffield had 20 points to pull back from the first leg but it took them until heat 10 even to take the lead in this match leaving them too much to do over the closing five heats. Three wins from Craig Watson in the first six heats plus another excellent Owlerton performance from James Birkinshaw sowed the seeds for Birmingham’s overall success and they now meet the winner of the other semi-final between Edinburgh and Reading to contest the final of this year’s trophy.
What a start for the Brummies! They added four points to their 20 point aggregate lead with a 1-5 from the gate in heat 1 through Craig Watson and Chris Mills as Ricky Ashworth retired at the back. Sheffield pulled two of the points back in the reserves race as Lee Smethills beat James Birkinshaw with Kyle Hughes third for a 4-2. Heat three also provided a 4-2 which levelled the match score. Andre Compton won from Jason Lyons with Paul Cooper in third but Birmingham pulled four points clear again with another 1-5 in heat 4. Craig Watson won again and this time was supported by James Birkinshaw who had to fend off Lee Smethills for all four laps while Ben Wilson trailed in last at the back. This took the score to 10-14 (Aggregate: 47-71).
Andre Compton won an exciting race with James Birkinshaw in heat 5 while behind them Chris Mills won his battle with Paul Cooper to share the points. Craig Watson was out again in heat 6 and he won for the third time by fending off the constant challenges of Joel Parsons. Ashworth’s third place resulted in another shared heat all of which was nectar from the gods for the Brummies with such a big lead. Jason Lyons brought them further joy by winning heat 7 after passing Ben Wilson on the third bend while Kyle Hughes passed Lee Smart two laps later for third and another 3-3. In heat 8 Joel Parsons brought down James Birkinshaw and was duly excluded from the rerun in which Lee Smethills produced an excellent race win under pressure from Chris Mills to share the heat taking the score to 22-26 (Aggregate: 59-83).
Craig Watson gated again to lead heat 9 but this time Andre Compton was having none of it and rounded Watson on the third bend to win comfortably. Paul Cooper took third place as Sheffield at last made inroads to Birmingham’s lead. The 4-2 cut the gap on the night to two points and the Tigers added a 5-1 from Ricky Ashworth and Joel Parsons under pressure from Jason Lyons in heat 10 to put the Tigers in front for the first time in the match by two points. They still had a long way to go to pull back the other 18 points with races fast running out. Heat 11 brought another heat advantage to Sheffield with a 4-2 going their way in a race rerun without Chris Mills after Kyle Hughes had fallen. Ben Wilson won the rerun in fine style from James Birkinshaw. Heat 12 provided excitement from start to finish. Andre Compton led the race but was under severe pressure from Lyons and Birkinshaw. Birkinshaw slipped back and was passed by Lee Smethills at the start of the third lap while Compton won a photo-finish with Jason Lyons for another 4-2 which took the score to 39-33 (Aggregate: 76-90). Exciting race or not, Birmingham sealed victory with these two points as the match was now beyond Sheffield’s reach.
Nonetheless Sheffield pressed on and took a 5-1 in heat 13 from Wilson and Ashworth as this time Lyons and Watson brought up the rear. They added another 5-1 in heat 14 as Lee Smethills and Paul Cooper headed home James Birkinshaw then, in the last race, the crowd were treated to an epic battle. Ben Wilson gated to lead the charge then Jason Lyons passed Andre Compton at the start of the second lap. Compton re-passed Lyons two bends later to challenge Watson in second place. That’s how the race finished though – as a 4-2 to the Tigers who finished 16 points ahead in the match but four points behind on aggregate.
Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 13 (5), Ben Wilson 11 (5), Lee Smethills 11 (5), Ricky Ashworth 6+2 (4), Joel Parsons 5+1 (4), Paul Cooper 4+1 (4), Kyle Hughes 3+1 (3).
For Birmingham – Craig Watson 13 (6), James Birkinshaw 10+2, Jason Lyons 9 (6), Chris Mills 5+2 (4), Lee Smart 0 (4), Jack Hargreaves 0 (3).
Premier League: Redcar 53, Mildenhall 40.
Redcar were without the injured Daniel Giffard so used Rider Replacement at number 2. They also nominated Adam McKinna as their number 8.With Mark Baseby returning to the team at number 6, Mildenhall were at full strength.
When Redcar went 14 points ahead after just five races it looked as though Mildenhall were in for a real thrashing. However the Fen Tigers rallied to pull a point back over the remaining ten races during which they provided six of the race winners and took six heat advantages.
Things looked bright for the Fen Tigers when Jan Graversen led the opening heat until he fell on the last lap allowing Gary Havelock and Adam McKinna (R/R) through for a 5-1 then they lost another 5-1 in heat 2. Josh Auty won the race while Arlo Bugeja rounded Mark Baseby and Henning Loof to join his partner while Loof fell on the second lap. This was not the start the visitors were looking for but they shared heat 3, won by James Grieves, through Kai Laukkanen and Jari Makinen before losing a 4-2 in heat 4 when Ty Proctor made an electric start to beat Robbie Kessler and Arlo Bugeja taking the score to 17-7.
James Grieves won heat 5 while Joni Keskinen made an outside swoop past the visiting pair to put Redcar firmly in the driving seat with a 5-1 and 14 point lead. They were never to increase it though. Robbie Kessler and Mark Baseby made the gate in heat 6 and, although Gary Havelock passed Baseby on the back straight, Kessler went on to win and the Fen Tigers grabbed a 2-4 cutting their arrears to 12. Striking while the iron was hot, Kai Laukkanen took a Tactical Ride in heat 7 and won the race. It looked as though he might get some support from Jari Makinen but Josh Auty was soon past him while Ty Proctor also passed him on the second lap. This gave the visitors a 3-6 race advantage cutting the gap further to 9 points and it was down to 7 after the visitors made it three heat advantages in a row in heat 8. Mark Baseby won for Mildenhall after a close battle with Arlo Bugeja while Graversen took third from Auty for a 2-4 which took the score to 29-22.
Redcar pulled another two points clear in heat 9 when James Grieves won again this time from Robbie Kessler while Keskinen finished third after Loof had fallen on the opening lap while at the back . This gave the Bears a 4-2 but heat 10 saw Mildenhall reply in kind as Kai Laukkanen beat Gary Havelock while Mark Baseby won a close tussle behind them with Adam McKinna for the third place point. The 2-4 cut the gap to seven points again. However the Bears took a decisive step to sealing victory with a 5-1 in heat 11 through Josh Auty and Ty Proctor from Michal Rajkowski to increase the lead to 11 points. Back came the visitors though with another 2-4 in heat 12 as Kai Laukkanen ended Grieves’ maximum hopes by winning the race while Mark Baseby took another third place point which took the score to 42-33.
Havelock and Proctor finally ended the visitors’ hopes with a 5-1 in heat 13 with Kessler having to settle for third after Havelock had worked him wide on the fourth bend to leave space for Proctor to come past. Still Mildenhall wouldn’t lie down and they scored another 2-4 in heat 14 when Jari Makinen won the race from Josh Auty with Henning Loof in third. The final heat went to the Bears with another Grieves win on the line from Kai Laukkanen with Proctor third.
Scorers: For Redcar – James Grieves 14 (5), Gary Havelock 10 (4), Josh Auty 10 (5), Ty Proctor 9+3 (5), Arlo Bugeja 5+1 (4), Joni Keskinen 3+1 (4), Adam McKinna 2+1 (3).
For Mildenhall – Kai Laukkanen 16 (5) (with 6 point TR), Robbie Kessler 8 (5), Mark Baseby 7 (5), Jari Makinen 4+1 (3), Michal Rajkowski 3 (4), Jan Graversen 1 (4), Henning Loof 1 (4).
Premier Trophy (semi-final, second leg): Sheffield 53, Birmingham 37. Birmingham won through to the final on aggregate by 94-90.
Sheffield were without Sam Martin and had Kyle Hughes at number 6. Birmingham were missing Adam Roynon and Phil Morris and had Chris Mills as a guest at number 2 again while using Rider Replacement at number 1 for Roynon.
Sheffield had 20 points to pull back from the first leg but it took them until heat 10 even to take the lead in this match leaving them too much to do over the closing five heats. Three wins from Craig Watson in the first six heats plus another excellent Owlerton performance from James Birkinshaw sowed the seeds for Birmingham’s overall success and they now meet the winner of the other semi-final between Edinburgh and Reading to contest the final of this year’s trophy.
What a start for the Brummies! They added four points to their 20 point aggregate lead with a 1-5 from the gate in heat 1 through Craig Watson and Chris Mills as Ricky Ashworth retired at the back. Sheffield pulled two of the points back in the reserves race as Lee Smethills beat James Birkinshaw with Kyle Hughes third for a 4-2. Heat three also provided a 4-2 which levelled the match score. Andre Compton won from Jason Lyons with Paul Cooper in third but Birmingham pulled four points clear again with another 1-5 in heat 4. Craig Watson won again and this time was supported by James Birkinshaw who had to fend off Lee Smethills for all four laps while Ben Wilson trailed in last at the back. This took the score to 10-14 (Aggregate: 47-71).
Andre Compton won an exciting race with James Birkinshaw in heat 5 while behind them Chris Mills won his battle with Paul Cooper to share the points. Craig Watson was out again in heat 6 and he won for the third time by fending off the constant challenges of Joel Parsons. Ashworth’s third place resulted in another shared heat all of which was nectar from the gods for the Brummies with such a big lead. Jason Lyons brought them further joy by winning heat 7 after passing Ben Wilson on the third bend while Kyle Hughes passed Lee Smart two laps later for third and another 3-3. In heat 8 Joel Parsons brought down James Birkinshaw and was duly excluded from the rerun in which Lee Smethills produced an excellent race win under pressure from Chris Mills to share the heat taking the score to 22-26 (Aggregate: 59-83).
Craig Watson gated again to lead heat 9 but this time Andre Compton was having none of it and rounded Watson on the third bend to win comfortably. Paul Cooper took third place as Sheffield at last made inroads to Birmingham’s lead. The 4-2 cut the gap on the night to two points and the Tigers added a 5-1 from Ricky Ashworth and Joel Parsons under pressure from Jason Lyons in heat 10 to put the Tigers in front for the first time in the match by two points. They still had a long way to go to pull back the other 18 points with races fast running out. Heat 11 brought another heat advantage to Sheffield with a 4-2 going their way in a race rerun without Chris Mills after Kyle Hughes had fallen. Ben Wilson won the rerun in fine style from James Birkinshaw. Heat 12 provided excitement from start to finish. Andre Compton led the race but was under severe pressure from Lyons and Birkinshaw. Birkinshaw slipped back and was passed by Lee Smethills at the start of the third lap while Compton won a photo-finish with Jason Lyons for another 4-2 which took the score to 39-33 (Aggregate: 76-90). Exciting race or not, Birmingham sealed victory with these two points as the match was now beyond Sheffield’s reach.
Nonetheless Sheffield pressed on and took a 5-1 in heat 13 from Wilson and Ashworth as this time Lyons and Watson brought up the rear. They added another 5-1 in heat 14 as Lee Smethills and Paul Cooper headed home James Birkinshaw then, in the last race, the crowd were treated to an epic battle. Ben Wilson gated to lead the charge then Jason Lyons passed Andre Compton at the start of the second lap. Compton re-passed Lyons two bends later to challenge Watson in second place. That’s how the race finished though – as a 4-2 to the Tigers who finished 16 points ahead in the match but four points behind on aggregate.
Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 13 (5), Ben Wilson 11 (5), Lee Smethills 11 (5), Ricky Ashworth 6+2 (4), Joel Parsons 5+1 (4), Paul Cooper 4+1 (4), Kyle Hughes 3+1 (3).
For Birmingham – Craig Watson 13 (6), James Birkinshaw 10+2, Jason Lyons 9 (6), Chris Mills 5+2 (4), Lee Smart 0 (4), Jack Hargreaves 0 (3).
Premier League: Redcar 53, Mildenhall 40.
Redcar were without the injured Daniel Giffard so used Rider Replacement at number 2. They also nominated Adam McKinna as their number 8.With Mark Baseby returning to the team at number 6, Mildenhall were at full strength.
When Redcar went 14 points ahead after just five races it looked as though Mildenhall were in for a real thrashing. However the Fen Tigers rallied to pull a point back over the remaining ten races during which they provided six of the race winners and took six heat advantages.
Things looked bright for the Fen Tigers when Jan Graversen led the opening heat until he fell on the last lap allowing Gary Havelock and Adam McKinna (R/R) through for a 5-1 then they lost another 5-1 in heat 2. Josh Auty won the race while Arlo Bugeja rounded Mark Baseby and Henning Loof to join his partner while Loof fell on the second lap. This was not the start the visitors were looking for but they shared heat 3, won by James Grieves, through Kai Laukkanen and Jari Makinen before losing a 4-2 in heat 4 when Ty Proctor made an electric start to beat Robbie Kessler and Arlo Bugeja taking the score to 17-7.
James Grieves won heat 5 while Joni Keskinen made an outside swoop past the visiting pair to put Redcar firmly in the driving seat with a 5-1 and 14 point lead. They were never to increase it though. Robbie Kessler and Mark Baseby made the gate in heat 6 and, although Gary Havelock passed Baseby on the back straight, Kessler went on to win and the Fen Tigers grabbed a 2-4 cutting their arrears to 12. Striking while the iron was hot, Kai Laukkanen took a Tactical Ride in heat 7 and won the race. It looked as though he might get some support from Jari Makinen but Josh Auty was soon past him while Ty Proctor also passed him on the second lap. This gave the visitors a 3-6 race advantage cutting the gap further to 9 points and it was down to 7 after the visitors made it three heat advantages in a row in heat 8. Mark Baseby won for Mildenhall after a close battle with Arlo Bugeja while Graversen took third from Auty for a 2-4 which took the score to 29-22.
Redcar pulled another two points clear in heat 9 when James Grieves won again this time from Robbie Kessler while Keskinen finished third after Loof had fallen on the opening lap while at the back . This gave the Bears a 4-2 but heat 10 saw Mildenhall reply in kind as Kai Laukkanen beat Gary Havelock while Mark Baseby won a close tussle behind them with Adam McKinna for the third place point. The 2-4 cut the gap to seven points again. However the Bears took a decisive step to sealing victory with a 5-1 in heat 11 through Josh Auty and Ty Proctor from Michal Rajkowski to increase the lead to 11 points. Back came the visitors though with another 2-4 in heat 12 as Kai Laukkanen ended Grieves’ maximum hopes by winning the race while Mark Baseby took another third place point which took the score to 42-33.
Havelock and Proctor finally ended the visitors’ hopes with a 5-1 in heat 13 with Kessler having to settle for third after Havelock had worked him wide on the fourth bend to leave space for Proctor to come past. Still Mildenhall wouldn’t lie down and they scored another 2-4 in heat 14 when Jari Makinen won the race from Josh Auty with Henning Loof in third. The final heat went to the Bears with another Grieves win on the line from Kai Laukkanen with Proctor third.
Scorers: For Redcar – James Grieves 14 (5), Gary Havelock 10 (4), Josh Auty 10 (5), Ty Proctor 9+3 (5), Arlo Bugeja 5+1 (4), Joni Keskinen 3+1 (4), Adam McKinna 2+1 (3).
For Mildenhall – Kai Laukkanen 16 (5) (with 6 point TR), Robbie Kessler 8 (5), Mark Baseby 7 (5), Jari Makinen 4+1 (3), Michal Rajkowski 3 (4), Jan Graversen 1 (4), Henning Loof 1 (4).
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