SPEEDWAY News and Fixtures

(SPEEDWAY 1 – THURSDAY REVIEW)

SHEFFIELD edged out Peterborough 46-44 in a close Premier League contest at Owlerton which went down to a last-heat decider.Tigers skipper Simon Stead pulled off a vital Heat 15 pass on opposite number Ulrich Ostergaard to ensure the Tigers could not claim the 5-1 they needed to force a draw.Stead scored 12 for the home side with reserve Taylor Poole adding 12+1 as they overcame their rider absences, whilst Lasse Bjerre (14) and Ostergaard (13) dominated the visitors’ scoring.Stead said: “We knew we were in for a really tough test against Peterborough, and that is exactly what we got.“They are full of proven big-track riders so it was a great effort to get the win. I know we dropped a point, but we are happy with the victory.”Panthers boss Carl Johnson said: “In one way I’m pleased to put another away point on the board, but I’m also disappointed not to end up with more.“We really wanted to follow up the great win against Edinburgh at the weekend with another victory, but we had two-or-three riders not on song and that’s why we came up just short in the end.”Ipswich completed hat-trick of home wins over Somerset this season with an impressive 57-35 victory at Foxhall to retain their second position in the table.Rohan Tungate (12) and Gino Manzares (10+2) headed the scoring for the Witches, with Pontus Aspgren on 8+1 for the Rebels, leaving visiting boss Garry May unhappy.May said: “It was a disappointing defeat. We were on the back foot from early on and as a result we never really got ourselves into the match, paying the price for generally being second best away from the gate.”Meanwhile Redcar secured maximum points over Scunthorpe with a 50-40 win at the South Tees Motorsports Park, to move to within one point of the play-off places.Richard Lawson (11+2) and Aaron Summers (11+1) led the way for the Bears with high-scoring reserve Thomas Jorgensen collecting 14+1 for the Scorpions and David Howe on 12.

(SPEEDWAY 2 – FRIDAY PREVIEW)

SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey is targeting revenge over Redcar as the sides meet at the Eddie Wright Raceway.The Scorpions were defeated 40-50 when they visited Teesside on Thursday and Godfrey says it is vital for his third-placed side to hit back immediately.Godfrey said: “We wanted a point at least out of yesterday’s meeting, but it was not to be. Our attention quickly switches to the home meeting tonight. Redcar took all three points off us yesterday, and we need to return the compliment.“Redcar are no slouches around our place, with a couple of former Scorpions in the shape of Wilko (Carl Wilkinson) and Jan Graversen in their line-up, and we need a vocal crowd getting behind our lads.”Somerset go into home and away matches against West Country rivals Plymouth as they welcome the Devils to the Oaktree Arena with boss Garry May keen to gain ground on the top three after losing at Ipswich last night.May said: “What we need to do now is to re-group quickly as we have back-to-back matches against Plymouth over the course of the next two nights and the best tonic will be picking up all three league points against the Devils at the Oaktree Arena together with some away league points from Saturday night’s return fixture in Devon.”Devils co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “The two teams may be at opposite ends of the league, but you can always expect a keenly contested meeting between the sides.”In the Knockout Cup, Edinburgh bid to pull back a 12-point margin against Berwick after their 39-51 defeat at Shielfield Park on Wednesday.The Bandits are without star reserve Matej Kus for the trip to Armadale due to a Czech League fixture, with Nathan Greaves booked to replace him.Coventry stage a double-header at National League level at Brandon, with Buxton visiting in the KO Cup followed by a league match between the Storm and King’s Lynn.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “It’s been an age since our last Storm home meeting back on May 16, and it’s going to be a big test of machinery and fitness. It will be good to have Luke (Priest) in, we didn’t want to be using rider-replacement especially in a double-header, and hopefully he’ll have a good debut.”Buxton reserve Adam Extance said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I love riding and hate it when we have big gaps between meetings. I’ve never ridden Brandon before but from what I’ve heard it will suit me.”Meanwhile Essex take on Kent at Purfleet, with Lakeside staging the event racing under their old Arena-Essex name – and co-promoter Jon Cook says it could be the forerunner to more regular National League level action.Cook said: “Local pride is obviously on the line but there's a lot on this meeting as we gauge whether a full National League team is a possibility to add to our Academy programme as another step in ultimately building a home grown first team.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY JULY 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30, Somerset v Plymouth 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Coventry v Buxton 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn (follows NLKOC fixture)SELECT CHALLENGE: Arena-Essex v Kent (at Lakeside) OFF

SATURDAY JULY 26:WORLD CUP EVENT 1: King’s Lynn 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Rye House 7pm, Plymouth v Somerset 7.15

SUNDAY JULY 27:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Berwick 3pm, Newcastle v Rye House 6.30, Workington v Sheffield 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Leicester v Mildenhall 4pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4: Eastbourne 3.30


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