SPEEDWAY POSTPONEMENT
TUESDAY APRIL 24
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD
Peterborough v Ipswich – OFF
(SPEEDWAY 1)
GLASGOW moved eight points clear in the Border group of the Championship Shield with a 49-41 win over Edinburgh at Ashfield.
The home side were rarely troubled as they charged into a 16-point lead after Heat 9, before the Monarchs closed the gap late-on with two 5-1s in the final four races, albeit with no overall reward.
Claus Vissing kept up his strong form for the Tigers with 12+1 whilst Lewis Kerr added 11. The Monarchs’ scoring included double figures for the Riss brothers, with Erik on 14+1 and Mark on 10+1.
Glasgow boss Cami Brown said: “If you'd given me that at the start of the weekend I'd have bitten your hand off. The boys were fantastic.
“They worked with each other, trying to get things right with the bikes. Lewis came to the party and even young Jack Thomas got some points - I'm really pleased for him.”
Meanwhile Newcastle gained revenge over Redcar from their defeat on Teesside on Thursday by defeating the Bears 51-39 at Brough Park.
The result lifts the Diamonds into third place in the group table, level on points with Sheffield who have a match in hand.
The hosts hit three 5-1s in the first four races to take control, with the visitors’ scoring dominated by Ben Barker (13+1) and Matej Kus (11) – whilst Newcastle were solid throughout, with guest Nikolaj B Jakobsen and reserve Ashley Morris leading the way on 9+1 each.
Diamonds boss George English said: “Again as we did last night, we dug deep and hit our opposition hard proving again we are a force to be reckoned with.
“Now we've got matches under our belts the rest of the league had dare not take us lightly.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BELLE Vue Colts are safely through to the next round of the National League KO Cup after a 54-36 win at Buxton on Sunday.
The Colts were already 26 points up from the first leg and recorded three 5-1s in the first eight races at Hi-Edge to secure their progression.
Joe Lawlor hit 14 points from five rides for the visitors, with No.1 Tom Perry on 13+1, whilst Hitmen No.1 Ben Wilson won his first three outings to finish on 11.
Colts man Paul Bowen said: “Nothing is guaranteed so you can’t be in any way complacent. But there was such a positive attitude amongst the team about what we needed to do that we wrapped things up pretty fast.
“You’ve got to feel for Buxton, losing David Wallinger because he made such a difference to them at the NSS but it was one of those disadvantages that we had to take advantage of to get the win.
“From our point of view, everyone put in their shift. It’s a job well done and we’re all in one piece. We can now look forward to putting ourselves to the test against Eastbourne next Saturday.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
RORY Schlein put on an unbeaten show to win Jon Armstrong’s Testimonial meeting at Mildenhall on Sunday.
The Wolves and Ipswich racer romped to five straight wins from the qualifying heats, before taking charge of the Final.
Schlein was joined on the podium by former Fen Tigers man Stefan Nielsen and Ben Morley, with Kevin Doolan in fourth place.
Testimonial man Armstrong scored six points, including one race win, on his big day at West Row.
(SPEEDWAY 4)
PREMIERSHIP Champions Swindon head to Leicester tonight (Monday) in an early-season top-of-the-table clash.
The Robins have made a flying start to their defence with seven points from two matches last week, whilst the Lions gained four from home-and-away matches against Somerset.
Kenneth Bjerre and Todd Kurtz make their debuts for the hosts after being signed by Leicester late last week to ease their injury concerns, whilst the Robins operate rider-replacement for David Bellego who is attending a family funeral.
Lions boss Simon Stead said: “Kenneth is a proven heat-leader in the top flight and should be an excellent signing, so we’re expecting him to do a good job.
“Todd is starting off on Monday at reserve where we know he can perform, so we’re feeling positive.
“It won’t be an easy start for our new-look team as Swindon have started well, but it’s down to us to perform well enough to get the three points.”
Robins manager Alun Rossiter said: “We’ve got to have our trapping gloves on when we go to Leicester, as we did at Poole last week.
“If we don’t do that we’ll get beaten, simple as that. We’ve got to be hard in the first corners and make sure we get the points up there.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
WOLVERHAMPTON host Poole at Monmore Green tonight (Monday) with a big home win already behind them this season.
The hosts ran up a 60-30 win over Rye House last week, whilst the Pirates were undone at Wimborne Road by Swindon – and boss Neil Middleditch is calling for an improvement in gating from his side.
Middleditch said: “It was clear we were conceding too much at the starts on Wednesday.
“Wolverhampton is a tough track to race on at the best of times, so we will really need to be on our A-game.
“The one thing I know is we are a far better side than we showed on Wednesday and you should never judge a season on one performance. I believe we can come back stronger after the Swindon defeat.”
Wolves star Kyle Howarth said: “Poole have got a good team - but we're not worrying about them.
"As we showed last week, if we all ride how we know we can then we can beat anybody so bring it on.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
BELLE Vue look to keep up their strong home form when they host Rye House in the Premiership tonight (Monday).
The Aces have booked Charles Wright to stand in for the injured Steve Worrall, but Jye Etheridge returns at reserve after missing last week’s win over Poole.
The Rockets include club asset Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen at reserve as Stuart Robson is ruled out with a fractured finger.
Rye House boss Peter Schroeck said: “It’s all about getting stuck in and making a good start to the meeting. We also need to get everyone going.
“You’ve got nowhere to hide if the guys in the key roles have problems, like they did at Wolverhampton. They are more than capable of bouncing back.
“Obviously, we’ll be going there to win, but I would be equally pleased to come away with a point. We came close to doing that in one match there last year, and this season we have to step up a gear.”
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY APRIL 23:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Rye House 7.30, Leicester v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30
TUESDAY APRIL 24:
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD: Peterborough v Ipswich 8pm
WEDNESDAY APRIL 25:
PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Poole 7.30, Rye House v Wolverhampton 7.30
EASTER CUP 1st leg: Birmingham v Kent 7.30
Results Sunday April 22, 2018
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD
Glasgow 49 – Claus Vissing 12+1
Edinburgh 41 – Erik Riss 14+1
Championship Shield points: Glasgow 3 Edinburgh 0
Newcastle 51 – Nikolaj B Jakobsen 9+1/Ashley Morris 9+1
Redcar 39 – Ben Barker 13+1
Championship Shield points: Newcastle 3 Redcar 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg
Buxton 36 – Ben Wilson 11
Belle Vue 54 – Joe Lawlor 14
Belle Vue win 112-68 on aggregate.
JON ARMSTRONG TESTIMONIAL, Mildenhall
1 Rory Schlein
2 Stefan Nielsen
3 Ben Morley
4 Kevin Doolan
