(SPEEDWAY 1 - SUNDAY REVIEW)
GLASGOW have gone third in the Premier League table - after a late Ipswich comeback threatened to take victory from Ashfield on Sunday.The Tigers came through 47-45, with the Witches taking a point after being 11-down on the day but fighting back strongly.Glasgow’s win included a key Heat 13 ride from Nick Morris, who overhauled both Danny King and Rohan Tungate to prevent a 5-1 to the visitors, and Morris and Richard Lawson then combined for a match-clinching 3-3 in Heat 15.Manager Stewart Dickson said: “We won, which is the most important thing, but to lose last week and then to scrape home today is a wee bit of a concern. It's not convincing.“Nick didn't get going until his third ride, which I spoke to him about. He knows it's putting a bit of pressure on the team that he's not coming to the party early enough. That's a couple of times it's happened now.”Newcastle put four points between themselves and Plymouth with a 56-36 win over the Devils at Brough Park.The Diamonds controlled the meeting to end a run of back-to-back home defeats with Steve Worrall heading their scorechart on 13 points.Manager George English said: “I’m very pleased to win by such a comfortable margin and it is a relief to finally get a home win under our belt after some very difficult home matches.“Anton Rosen has returned from injury in fantastic form which has delighted me we just now need Christian Henry to get some consistency.”In the City Gearboxes National League, Mildenhall won a thriller against Cradley 46-41 at West Row, bouncing back from conceding a 5-0 in the very first race.A Heat 2 crash saw the Heathens’ Michael Neale ruled out with a suspected broken collarbone with home rider Stefan Farnaby also subsequently withdrew with an elbow injury - but the Fen Tigers’ other reserve Tom Bacon piled up 13+4 from seven rides.Dan Halsey won Heat 15 to make sure of victory for the home side after Connor Coles had fallen, whilst Cradley went top of the table with the point they gained from the meeting.Mildenhall boss Kevin Jolly said: “After the hammering I gave the lads after some recent poor performances they showed me a lot of spirit in defeat on Wednesday and they have carried it into today with an excellent performance. They really worked hard for every point against a good Cradley side who had come here to win. “Everyone contributed and when the chips were down Danny produced two memorable rides to beat Max Clegg, but special mention must be made of Tom. He hasn’t had the best of times recently but today showed what can happen if you stick in there and keep doing the right things.”Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “We’ve got mixed feelings to be honest, because after leading for the majority of the meeting we are absolutely gutted we’ve lost. “We were very much up against it, and I suppose we have to be happy we still got a league point despite being down to only five riders.”Buxton got the better of near neighbours Stoke 49-41 at the Hi-Edge Raceway, with their top two riders Tony Akin and Liam Carr both scoring 13+1 and securing crucial 5-1 advantages in both Heats 13 and 15.The home side had earlier been reduced to six riders after reserve Paul Bowen suffered a hand injury in Heat 4.Hitmen manager Jason Pipe said: “Losing Paul early on might have been a bit of a blow but it was great the way David (Holt) stepped-up and took the rest of his rides – his scoring was vital, particularly Heat 14.“But it wasn’t just David, it’s great to see Tony and Liam getting the back-up they deserve. Tom Woolley was great again today, looking fresh, and he genuinely seems to have turned a corner, and even Adam Extance’s two points contributed again.”Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “It was a highly entertaining match but a very disappointing result for us. I felt we were definitely worth at least a point or a draw and we just didn’t get it although it wasn’t for the want of trying.“The lads worked hard today and I do feel if we’d have had Shaun Tedham riding we’d have probably won, but he wasn’t quite ready to start.”Eastbourne are through to the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup after a 50-39 win over Birmingham at Arlington, for six-point aggregate success which sets up a last-four clash with Kent.The Eagles’ strength in depth saw them through even though they had no answer to the Brummies’ Adam Ellis, who scored a 15-point maximum, whilst the visitors’ Harvie Banks was withdrawn after a first ride crash.Eastbourne boss Glenn Martin said: “We stuck to the task of getting heat advantages when Birmingham’s top riders were not riding. That strategy paid off and we look forward to meeting Kent in the semi-final.”Brummies manager Graham Drury said: “Obviously it’s disappointing to be out of the Knockout Cup, but for me there is a lot we can take out of today’s meeting.“We battled all the way despite only having five riders for the majority of the meeting and there’s certainly no disgrace in the scoreline whatsoever.”(SPEEDWAY 2 - MONDAY PREVIEW)
BELLE Vue skipper Scott Nicholls says it is vital his side bounces back to form in their home Elite League clash with Coventry on Monday.The Aces go into the match in the play-off places thanks to their impressive win at Swindon last Thursday, but they were brought down to earth when they missed out at Leicester 48-hours later.And they now face the second-placed Bees, who have an impressive record in Manchester with wins on their last three visits.Nicholls said: “We’re in a prime position to challenge King’s Lynn for third right now but we’re never going to be a serious threat if the boys are unable to consistently replicate their performance from Swindon.“Monday night can’t come quickly enough for us! We need to bury our demons in the dust of our home track, and I think it’s only fitting we get our own back over Coventry in the process.”Coventry star Stuart Robson said: “I like most of the tracks in the Elite League and I always enjoy riding at Belle Vue. I had a half-decent one last time we were there, and my last few there have been pretty good.“I think Belle Vue are a different team to how they were the last time we were there, they seem to be riding well at the moment and had a good win at Swindon, so we’re going to have our work cut out.”Meanwhile Wolverhampton know away points are crucial as they look to maintain their play-off challenge.Wolves head to Lakeside on Monday, scene of a dramatic late away win earlier in the season, with the Hammers boosted by their home success over King’s Lynn last Friday.Wolves No.1 Freddie Lindgren said: “We’ve got some big, important meetings coming up and we need to put a run of results together to give us a good chance of making those end of season play-off matches. “We’ve already been to Lakeside and won and we need to get some more points from there this time around too.”Lakeside are offering £10 adult and concession admission for the meeting on production of the matchday programme from last Friday’s home fixture.
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY JUNE 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Coventry 7.30, Lakeside v Wolverhampton 7.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Glasgow 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Birmingham 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 25:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30, Sheffield v Workington 7.30
FRIDAY JUNE 26:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Belle Vue 7.30, Lakeside v Leicester 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Plymouth 7.30
