(SPEEDWAY 1)
SWINDON remain on top of the Elite League thanks to a 48-45 victory at Coventry on a night where the two leading sides both won.The Robins fought back from ten points down at Brandon to snatch the points with a last-heat 5-1 from Troy Batchelor and Hans Andersen, whilst second-placed Poole collected their biggest league win for 16-months, 56-33 against Peterborough with the returning Krzysztof Kasprzak scoring a maximum.Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: I would have been more than happy with a point, because everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong. Hans (Andersen) wrecked his best bike, Peter (Kildemand) blew his best bike, Nick (Morris) was in a good position when he fell and so I was just looking for a way of pulling it back.Full credit to the mechanics, they were fantastic tonight with how they rallied around, and in the end Troy and Hans were fantastic and Peter showed his class in coming back from two lasts. All in all, a great win when a point would have been good with the problems we had.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BIRMINGHAM gained ground on the play-off positions with a 55-35 win over fourth-placed Lakeside at Perry Barr to go to within four points of the Hammers.Ben Barker, Bjarne Pedersen and Sebastian Ulamek were all in double-figures for the Brummies as they kept the pressure on the top four, with Kings Lynn also in touch after defeating Eastbourne 51-39.Brummies boss Phil Morris said: I think getting maximum points tonight was pretty much vitally important in keeping our play-off chances well and truly alive.We have got three massive away meetings now coming up at Swindon, Poole and Lakeside, so if we can get any points out of those it will be great.
(SPEEDWAY 3)
PLYMOUTH are set to be without Robert Ksiezak for the rest of the season after receiving confirmation that he has broken an ankle.Ksiezak suffered the injury whilst guesting at Berwick last weekend, and promoter Mike Bowden has also stated that Nicki Glanzs place in the Devils team will continue to be taken by Ben Reade.Bowden said: As Ksiezak is injured, we have permission to use a guest replacement for him, but we are restricted to riders up to his average of 3.38, which means we are limited in our options.I understand Nicki has recovered from his rib injury, but as far as I am concerned he is now withholding his services over a contract dispute.
(SPEEDWAY 4)
SCUNTHORPE have been boosted by the news that Danish rider Thomas Jorgensen is fit following a heavy fall last week at the Eddie Wright Raceway.Hospital checks on Jorgensen have revealed no broken bones and he will take his place in the Scorpions team this weekend for clashes with top-six rivals Leicester and Workington.Manager Richard Hollingsworth said: Thomas was in quite a lot of pain on Friday after hurting his foot, shoulder and back, and we feared a break in his foot. Fortunately, the x-rays proved all clear and the pain soon subsided.For the second successive week, after months of being forced to use either guests or rider replacement, we start with a full seven-man team. I hope that this week we also complete Heat 15 with a full team.
(SPEEDWAY 5)
EDINBURGH bid to catch up on fixtures this weekend by staging Premier League meetings on successive days at Armadale.The Monarchs, who gained a league point from a 48-42 defeat at Somerset on Wednesday, travel to Sheffield on Thursday and then host the Rebels followed by Newcastle on Friday and Saturday.Supporters attending both home fixtures will be offered reduced admission of 10 (adults) for Saturday on presentation of their Friday re-admission ticket.Monarchs expect to be at full strength for the hectic programme with recent signing Jozsef Tabaka available for all this weeks matches.(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY AUGUST 9:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Poole 7.30, Swindon v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Edinburgh 7.45NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Dudley 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 10:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Birmingham 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Plymouth v Workington 7.30, Scunthorpe v Leicester 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7.30, Edinburgh v Newcastle 7pm, Leicester v Rye House 7.30 Workington v Scunthorpe 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30
SUNDAY AUGUST 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 4pm, Newcastle v Redcar 7pm
