(SPEEDWAY 1)
LEICESTER have moved to sign Australian rider Sam Masters for the rest of the 2015 season.Masters, who will also continue riding in the Premier League for Edinburgh, will make his debut for the Lions in their trip to Poole next Wednesday.Promoter David Hemsley said: “I am delighted to have Sam in the team; he guested for us eight times last season and gave us his full commitment on each occasion. He is someone who I have wanted in the Leicester team for some time now and the wait has been worth it.“To enable this to happen I first of all sought guidance from the UKVI who gave extremely helpful advice concerning the documentation process Sam and the club had to follow and approval was issued this week and he will make his debut at Poole on Wednesday.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
RYE House’s Anders Mellgren is set for up to six weeks on the sidelines after a crash in Sweden on Thursday.Mellgren suffered a broken rib and punctured lung in the accident, which comes just as the Rockets were hopeful of tracking a full 1-7 for the first time since April 6.The Hoddesdon club are hoping Steve Boxall comes through a medical to enable him to line up against Redcar on Monday and intend to use the rider-replacement facility for Mellgren, but will require a guest replacement if both riders are ruled out.
(SPEEDWAY 3 - FRIDAY REVIEW)
IPSWICH secured a place in the League Cup semi-finals with a 49-41 win at Plymouth on Friday.The Witches overhauled Rye House at the top of the Southern group with their success at the St Boniface Arena, led by a 15-point haul from Rohan Tungate as they bounced back from the disappointment of exiting the KO Cup 24-hours earlier.The home side had to go into three races with just one rider as Ashley Morris broke down en route.Devils co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “We know that Ipswich always give us a hard match and this one was no exception. It was something of a see-saw meeting and heat 11 was pivotal when Danny King and Gino Manzares scored a 5-1 against Ryan Fisher. That gave Ipswich a four-point lead with four heats remaining.”Witches boss Phil Hilton said: “I’m very pleased with the way the team turned it around. They all got stuck in from the start and the team spirit was there for all to see as they helped each other with setups.“It was good to see Gino (Manzares) back to his old self, Rohan had his gating boots back on and was excellent all through the meeting plus the reserves did their bit as well.”In the Premier League, Somerset consolidated fourth place in the table with a 52-38 win over Scunthorpe although it was not until the final third of the meeting that they eased clear.With seven of the opening nine heats seeing a share of the spoils it meant that Somerset had a mere four-point lead going into Heat 10, but a 5-1 maximum heat advantage courtesy of Brady Kurtz and Leigh Lanham finally gave the Rebels some valuable breathing space.Somerset boss Garry May said: “I said in the lead up to this match that Scunthorpe had the riders who could make things difficult for us, and that’s how things turned out. Although I never felt that we were in any danger of losing the match, we just couldn’t put Scunthorpe away until we got to those final few heats.“There were some good battling performances by the boys, none more so than Paul Starke and Charles Wright, both of whom came through with some decisive late passes at crucial times in the match which kept things going our way when it looked like Scunthorpe might be getting themselves back into the match.”Scorpions boss Dave Peet said: “We certainly didn’t disgrace ourselves, and we were on it and in contention for most of the meeting. “We actually dropped quite a few points. In three or four races, we made mistakes on the final lap and lost positions; they were schoolboy errors. Without those mistakes, we might have even snatched a point from the meeting. But I couldn’t have asked more from the team.”Meanwhile Edinburgh made progress in the Travel Plus Tours KO Cup with a 59-31 win over injury-hit Sheffield at Armadale, for a 26-point aggregate success.The Tigers, already without Andre Compton after a crash on Thursday, also lost Ashley Birks with a collarbone injury after a heavy fall in Heat 7.Craig Cook completed a paid maximum for the Monarchs and Kevin Wolbert dropped just one point from five rides, whilst Jason Garrity scored ten for the Tigers.Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “We rode well over the two legs and deserved to win but Sheffield’s bad luck didn’t allow them much chance. Their fans helped make a good atmosphere.”Sheffield reserve Arthur Sissis said: “We’ve lost so many riders now, we’ve lost almost all our team. There is only really me and Josh (Bates) still standing from the start of the season.“It’s a shame we are out of the Cup, but we’ve just been so unlucky and we hope our fortunes will change pretty soon.”
(SPEEDWAY 4 - SATURDAY PREVIEW)
BERWICK will be without Czech rider Hynek Stichauer for their Premier League clash with Redcar at Shielfield Park on Saturday.Stichauer suffered a broken ankle in a crash at Ipswich on Thursday and the Bandits are awaiting news as to the severity of the fracture.Club director George Hepburn, meanwhile, is calling for a fully-focused display from the home side in order to extend their record on their own circuit.Hepburn said: “Having beaten Scunthorpe and then Newcastle, we are certainly going for three in a row. In recent years, Redcar have caught us on the hop a couple of times. I want no slip-up in 2015!“Our squad is set up strongly from top to bottom, and I'll be expecting another solid team performance - with the added extra of excitement every time Ben Barker or Richard Hall hits the track. These guys do some amazing things with their bikes!”Meanwhile Coventry Storm boss Laurence Rogers is hoping the track knowledge of Dan Greenwood will help his side as they head to Rye House in the City Gearboxes National League.Greenwood, who has scored heavily for the Storm so far this season, has a Premier League team place at Hoddesdon with the Rye House Rockets.Rogers said: “With Dan being a Rye House rider now, hopefully his home track knowledge will assist us. “The lads are up for it and believe we have enough strength in depth to pick up the points and continue our good start to the league matches with another addition to our away tally.”
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY MAY 23:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Redcar 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Coventry 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Newcastle 3pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Mildenhall 3pm, Eastbourne v Cradley 3.30
MONDAY MAY 25:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 7.30, Leicester v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Glasgow 6.30, Rye House v Redcar 2pm, Scunthorpe v Somerset 3pmTRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Peterborough v Plymouth 2pmLEAGUE CUP: Workington v Berwick 3pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v King’s Lynn 3pm4TT: Scunthorpe Stags v Halifax v Belle Vue Colts v Exeter (follows PL fixture)
