(SPEEDWAY 1)
WORLD Cup stars will do battle in Sunday’s Premier League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield’s Owlerton Stadium (5pm).In-form home favourite Ricky Wells, who represented USA in the summer tournament, will be up against Great Britain star Craig Cook who raced for Great Britain and Australian ace Jason Doyle, representing Somerset.Sheffield owner Neil Machin said: “This is a tremendous line-up and we at Sheffield are once again proud and honoured to be hosting this meeting.“To have the top rider from every club in the Premier League doing battle for such a prestigious title is great for the fans. And for World Cup riders to be in this line-up, it just underlines the strength of the competition and the fierce racing we will see on the fastest track in British Speedway.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BIRMINGHAM have elected to face local rivals Wolverhampton in the semi-finals of the Elite League play-offs.The Brummies confirmed top place in the table with a hard-fought 47-43 win over King’s Lynn at Perry Barr, with Jason Doyle winning a last-heat decider ahead of Niels-Kristian Iversen.They will now travel to Monmore Green next Monday before staging the second leg at home on September 30.Birmingham manager Phil Morris said: “Wolves are a solid side and I'm hoping we can beat them next week and finish off the job at home at Perry Barr in a fortnight’s time.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SWINDON and Poole will stage a repeat of last year’s Elite League Grand Final at the semi-final stage of this season’s competition.The Robins secured a 54-38 win over Lakeside at the Abbey Stadium on Monday with Hans Andersen scoring a 15-point maximum – a result which ended the Hammers’ play-off chances.Swindon will now host the Pirates in next Monday’s first leg, and boss Alun Rossiter said: “Now we're in the play-offs we'll move up a gear and we'll be right again, we know how it feels to win and we want to do the double - we're up for it.“Hans has been struggling at home a bit recently but he had a bit of his old swagger back. It’s been a bit difficult to motivate the guys recently because we kind of knew we'd made the play-offs - even I have struggled.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
SOMERSET head into the Premier League play-offs on top of the table after defeating closest rivals Ipswich 46-44 in a dramatic contest at the Oaktree Arena.The Witches twice held a six-point advantage but the Rebels finally took the lead for the first time in the penultimate race before Josh Grajczonek saw them home with a win in Heat 15.Somerset boss Garry May said: “We were on the back foot for virtually the whole match, but this is a Rebels side that never knows when it is beaten and they proved that by pulling victory out of the fire in those final two heats, though all credit to Ipswich for pushing us all the way and making this the match it was.“Although finishing the regular season top of the Premier League table does not give us the Championship title, it does give us a timely boost to our confidence as we head into the play-offs.”(SPEEDWAY 5)
NEWCASTLE moved up to third place in the Premier League table ahead of the play-offs with a thumping 64-29 home win over Plymouth.Diamonds No.1 Richie Worrall scored a paid maximum from five rides with in-form reserve Lewis Kerr adding 15+1, whilst Danish youngster Mikkel Bech (13) scored nearly half of the Devils’ points.Newcastle boss George English said: “The lads were dominant once again and deserved the win which they took in fine style, and again we have to congratulate our young reserve Lewis Kerr and his spectacular high score of 15 points – pure class which has taken us into third place in the league table.”
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7pm
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F REPLAY 1st leg: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19:LEAGUE CUP FINAL 1st leg: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20:BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F REPLAY 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30
