(SPEEDWAY 1)
ELITE League newcomers Birmingham picked up their first away win of the season with an impressive 51-42 triumph at Swindon.The Brummies followed in the footsteps of fellow promoted club King's Lynn one week ago with victory at Blunsdon, securing all four points from the meeting.Skipper Krzysztof Kasprzak was in imperious form, dropping just one point from five rides and often coming from the back, whilst reserve James Wright starred on one of his former home tracks with a 14+1.Swindon, whose recent signings Nicolai Klindt and Jesper B Monberg scored solidly, were led by Scott Nicholls with 17, but they had no answer to Wright in the lower-order.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
GLASGOW co-promoter Stewart Dickson believes there could be points available for his side in both of their Easter weekend clashes with Newcastle.The two teams meet at Ashfield on Sunday and then have the opportunity to showcase the Premier League in Monday evening's televised fixture back at Newcastle.Dickson said: "The Diamonds have made a couple of changes to their side and it will be interesting to see how their newcomers adapt to the British scene, but my main hope is that our guys can take the positives from last week and make sure that they keep up their home record for as long as possible."We have a tough battle scheduled for this weekend but I would expect us to be able to come away with the win. Indeed I will be heading to Newcastle on Monday hoping for some points in their leg."
(SPEEDWAY 3)
EASTBOURNE have extended their lead at the top of the Elite League table with home and away wins over Lakeside on Good Friday.The Eagles snatched their second away win of the season at Purfleet in the last race, and then overcame spirited resistance from the Hammers to take the Arlington meeting 50-43.Manager Trevor Geer said: "When I saw they were minus Adam Shields and (Piotr) Swiderski I thought they might be a bit of a push-over for us. It was certainly too close for comfort."At the end of the day we have got six league points and are still clear at the top of the table. We would have been happy with four points today so it has been a good effort."
(SPEEDWAY 4)
SIXTEEN year-old Australian Nick Morris collected the prize scalp of Nicki Pedersen during Coventry's 54-38 victory over Peterborough at Brandon.Morris took advantage of Pedersen clipping the fence whilst being overtaken by Edward Kennett, and held off the Danish superstar for the final lap of the race as the Bees gained revenge for losing out 46-44 in a thrilling encounter at the Showground earlier in the day.Coventry co-boss Alun Rossiter said: "I'd have taken four points from the day beforehand - we were a bit disappointed not to win at Peterborough after leading all the way, but that's speedway. I'd have snatched your hand off for four points first thing this morning."In the evening, we seemed to wake up as the meeting went on and as we got used to conditions we came into our own. I can't fault anyone and it was great when young Nick Morris beat Nicki Pedersen - and after that he said 'you'd better not drop me from Heat 14!' which he then went out in and got another 5-1!"
(SPEEDWAY 5)
BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury was delighted to complete an Easter double over Swindon after seeing his side pushed all the way at Perry Barr on Good Friday.The Robins responded strongly to their home defeat the previous night, and the Brummies only secured their victory with Krzysztof Kasprzak's last race win, with Swindon taking a consolation point from the 48-42 outcome.Drury said: "We've picked up six points in two nights against Swindon and we have to be happy with that."They will be a good team when Simon Stead is back from injury. From that point of view the timing of our meetings against them is good, but they have just strengthened up and we managed to get the better of them."
(SPEEDWAY 6)
BELLE Vue boss Jim Lynch was a relieved man after another last-heat decider at Kirkmanshulme Lane - but this time one which went the Aces' way.The Manchester club had lost their last two home matches, but secured a 47-43 victory over Wolverhampton with skipper Chris Harris winning Heat 15 after Wolves star Peter Karlsson had fallen.Lynch said: "This was a meeting we had to win after two narrow defeats and we did."Wolverhampton are a tough side but we came through a tough match with several plusses and the biggest was that we won."
(FIXTURES) SATURDAY APRIL 23:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Workington 7pm, Leicester v Rye House 7.30, Newport v Edinburgh 7pm
SUNDAY APRIL 24:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Eastbourne 3pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Newcastle 4pm NATIONAL SHIELD 2nd leg: Buxton v Dudley 3pm
MONDAY APRIL 25:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Glasgow 7.30, Rye House v Leicester 2pm, Scunthorpe v Somerset 5.30, Workington v Berwick 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v King's Lynn (follows PL fixture)
TUESDAY APRIL 26:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30
CHALLENGE: Isle of Wight v Birmingham Bulls 7.30
