SPEEDWAY News and fixtures

(SPEEDWAY 1)LINE-UPS have been declared for the re-staging of the Premier League FoursFinal at Leicester on Sunday.The original meeting was abandoned due to rain after the semi-finals, butthe four competing teams now return to Beaumont Park over an extended20-heat format and with more tactical options for managers.LEICESTER: Kauko Nieminen, Jan Graversen, Ilya Bondarenko, Magnus Karlsson,Jason Garrity (res).WORKINGTON: Rusty Harrison, Richard Lawson, Gary Irving, Simon Nielsen,Kenny Ingalls (res).IPSWICH: Matt Tresarrieu, Taylor Poole, Lasse Bjerre, Morten Risager, KevinDoolan (res).SOMERSET: Cory Gathercole, James Holder, Alex Davies, Tom Perry, JamesWright (res).(SPEEDWAY 2)BELLE Vue collected a narrow two-point win over Poole in the first leg ofthe Elite League Knockout Cup Final – with Pirates fighting back stronglyfrom a slow start.The Aces swept into a 17-7 lead after four races but the visitors, withoutthe unwell Thomas H Jonasson, recovered well with reserve Kevin Wolbertproving to be their trump card.Wolbert top-scored with 13 and they led 38-36 with three heats to go beforethe Aces, led by Rory Schlein with 12, turned the match around to win 47-45on the night.Belle Vue boss Jim Lynch said: “We had the opportunity to build a reasonablelead for the second leg and didn’t take it. But I will tell them before thematch that they are capable of winning at Poole, even though it would be amagnificent achievement. We’ve got to believe we can do it.”(SPEEDWAY 3)JOSH Auty is set to leave Sheffield after three seasons with the PremierLeague club.Auty wants a change of home track in a bid to further his career and hassaid he already knows his destination for the 2012 campaign.Sheffield co-promoter David Hoggart said: “We understand why Josh wants tomake a change to his career and he leaves Sheffield with our best wishes.“He says he has had a fantastic time with us and we have had a fantastictime having him in the team. We wish him well and whilst we are aware of theclub he has agreed to sign for we feel it is only fair to allow them to makethe relevant announcement.”(SPEEDWAY 4)EASTBOURNE have cut admission prices for their final home fixture of theseason at Arlington on Saturday.The Eagles are staging an international challenge between the Great Britainunder-23s and Young Australia, with adult admission reduced to £14 and OAPsto £12.Co-promoter Mike Bellerby said: “This is the last chance for fans to gettheir speedway “fix” at Arlington until we start the 2012 season next March.We think it should provide a great night of racing and give supporters anopportunity to see some of the stars of tomorrow.“It is England v Australia and it’s a Test Match that both teams will wantto win. There’s no such thing as ‘friendly’ match when these two nations gohead to head.”(SPEEDWAY 5)DENNIS Andersson collected his first maximum in Poole colours as the Pirates completed the Elite League double at Wimborne Road.The Pirates overcame Belle Vue to retain the Knockout Cup, comfortably overturning a two-point first leg deficit to win 57-39 on the night with Andersson and Chris Holder both unbeaten by an opponent, and Darcy Ward dropping just one point from five rides.It was the Pirates' third item of silverware of the season, as Holder and Ward had also lifted the Elite League Pairs back in April.Andersson said: "I really want to be back at Poole, it feels great here and I have been part of the League and Cup winning side in my first season. It feels good."(SPEEDWAY 6)SOMERSET co-promoter Debbie Hancock insists the underdog tag is not a problem to the Rebels ahead of Sunday's Premier League Fours at Leicester.Hancock's team have suffered through injuries and unavailability but have a superb record in the competition, and have made use of the new regulations to declare the experienced James Wright at reserve for the Beaumont Park showpiece.She said: "On paper we probably rank the lowest of the four teams contesting the Final, but we don't race on paper and anything can happen once the tapes goes up on Sunday's meeting. A bit of good fortune our way and not so good luck going the way of the opposition, and who knows?"Whatever the outcome though, I know that the riders who will be representing the Rebels will give their upmost on the day and you can ask no more than that of them."(SPEEDWAY 7)BERWICK will be without Swedish star Sebastian Alden for their Southern tour this weekend due to a broken toe.The Bandits have booked David Howe to guest in their three fixtures at Plymouth, Newport and Rye House, and also hand a recall to Alex Edberg who was seriously injured earlier in the season.Team boss Ian Rae said: "Seb's foot is all swollen and he can't even get a shoe on it, so racing this weekend has to be out of the question, although he is hoping it will have improved enough for him to come over for our final home meeting of the year, here against Newport."We have to say goodbye to Ludvig Lindgren, who was such a popular injury replacement for Alex, but to me the return of a rider who really looked as though his crash might have caused even-more-grievous injuries is really, really good news."(SPEEDWAY 8)STOKE manager Malcolm Vasey says a fast start could be vital in the second leg of the National League Knockout Cup Final.The Potters, who will have Jason Garrity guesting for injured No.1 Simon Lambert, trail by eight points going into the meeting against Mildenhall, who are also involved in the play-off Final for League honours this weekend.Vasey said: "We have to get a good start on Saturday night and hopefully rock Mildenhall and put them on the back foot. They have a very tough weekend ahead of them with the two play-off final meetings and they will be coming here having faced an extremely big task at Scunthorpe on Friday night."We have to do our talking on the track and I know our lads are still smarting after losing out to Mildenhall in the play-off semi-finals. The team believe they are as good as anyone in the National League, the table supports that view and they will be going out to prove that on Saturday night."(FIXTURES)FRIDAY OCTOBER 21:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Berwick 7.30, Somerset v Newport 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FINAL 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Mildenhall 7.30MIDLAND BOWL 1st leg: Coventry v Wolverhampton 8pmSCOTTISH CUP 1st leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30SATURDAY OCTOBER 22:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newport v Berwick 7pm, Workington v Ipswich 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Stoke v Mildenhall 7.30TEST MATCH: GB U23 v Young Australia, Eastbourne 7.30SUNDAY OCTOBER 23:PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS FINAL: Leicester 5pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Plymouth 6.30, Rye House v Berwick 2pmNATIONAL LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 2nd leg: Mildenhall v Scunthorpe 4.30SCOTTISH CUP 2nd leg: Glasgow v Edinburgh 4pmMONDAY OCTOBER 24:MIDLAND BOWL 2nd leg: Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Newport 7.30


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