BIG EVENT LATEST…BRITISH Youth bosses Neil Vatcher and Phil Morris have delivered a positive report on this season’s activities involving the sport’s rising stars.The major individual events have been won by Robert Branford (U21) and Stefan Nielsen (U19) whilst the British Youth Championship continues to go from strength to strength.Nathan Greaves completed a successful defence of the 500cc class at Sittingbourne (Iwade) last month, with Zach Wajtknecht victorious at 250cc level over the six rounds, whilst the stand-alone British 125cc Champion was Kyle Bickley – and Daniel Spiller won the World 250cc Championship over a two-day event in Germany.Riders have also gained valuable experience at international level, with Kyle Howarth in particular enjoying a successful campaign, and Morris and Vatcher believe the signs are encouraging for the future.They said: “We all know that British Speedway has fallen behind the top nations at all levels in recent times, but we really do believe that in the not too distant future we have an array of riders who have the potential to ride at the highest level.“Kyle has had a fantastic season which has also included in him riding in World Under-21 events, and almost making the rostrum at Berwick in the World Under-21 Final with a very impressive ten-point score.“Both Adam Ellis and Ashley Morris rode in this year’s World Under-21 semi-finals, and along with Kyle and Tom Perry in the World Under-21 Team Cup out in Gdansk in Poland. All the international experience can only benefit these youngsters, and we are convinced that after riding in these events they are better riders.“We really do believe that British Speedway has a bright future, and we are both very proud that no less than ten of the qualifiers for the British Under-19 Final came through the British Youth Championships.“With the Youth Championships getting bigger and bigger each year, with more riders riding in the rounds, this is a great sign that we are on the up.“It will not be an overnight success but anyone that has witnessed a Youth round in 2013 would have seen that we have got some talented riders coming through.“With Kyle already a regular at Elite League level we are sure over the next few years more Elite League clubs will be investing in this British talent coming through.”Meanwhile line-up details are expected soon for the final major event of the 2013 season – the Elite League Riders’ Championship at Swindon.The event takes place on Saturday October 19 (6pm) with the top riders from all ten clubs set to feature. Recent winners include Wolverhampton’s Freddie Lindgren and King’s Lynn’s Rory Schlein, although 2012 champion Chris Holder is ruled out due to injury.

SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2013BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: ROBERT BRANFORDBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: SOMERSETPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: EDINBURGHPREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: OLLY ALLENELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, Oct 19NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS:NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: DUDLEYNATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: DUDLEYNATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: STEVE BOXALLBRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Round 2: PIOTR PAWLICKIGRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: NIELS-KRISTIAN IVERSEN

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BIRMINGHAM co-promoter Alan Phillips wants his side to keep up their momentum when they face Poole in the Elite League Grand Final, fresh from overcoming local rivals Wolverhampton to reach the deciding contest.Phillips said: “Poole have had a superb end to the season so we are taking nothing for granted. “I wish we could have gone on to race them straight after tonight’s match as the lads were on fire under huge pressure and the team spirit and feel-good factor was simply brilliant.”EASTBOURNE have named former favourites Edward Kennett and Lewis Bridger as confirmed starters for the Argus Sussex Championships at Arlington on Sunday.Both riders cut their speedway teeth around the circuit and the meeting will contain 15 senior heats and a Final as well as a series of youth races, quad action and a party and disco in the clubroom after the action.Eagles co-promoter Trevor Geer said: “As well as our own riders, it is right that two of Sussex’s finest should be in this meeting. Edward and Lewis have been so much part of the scene at Eastbourne in recent years and both have plenty of support on the terraces.”POOLE boss Neil Middleditch saluted his side’s all-round performance in overturning a ten-point first leg deficit to defeat Swindon 55-38 and set up an Elite League Grand Final decider with Birmingham.Middleditch said: “We had to do something special to pull this one out of the bag. That 10-point deficit looked a tall order and I can't praise the team enough. They all picked up very important points along the way. “We had Darcy (Ward) and Greg (Hancock) in stunning form and a superb performance from Josh (Grajczonek), who kept responding every time I sent him out. He had a real mixed bag of scores, what with an exclusion and a last place but his paid 13 points was ultimately the difference. Tomas (Jonasson) was solid throughout and Maciej (Janowski) after a bad start came strong, as too did Micky Dyer who picked up two very important third places just when we needed them.”SWINDON manager Alun Rossiter took a philosophical approach to defeat in the Elite League semi-finals, with his team the victims of a sensational Poole performance at Wimborne Road on Monday.Rossiter said: “We were beaten by the better side, it's as simple as that. They were the better side on the night and over two legs - not over the season but when it really matters most."Of course I'm gutted, but no more gutted than Poole were last year when we beat them in the final and I wish both them and Birmingham all the best for the final and I'm sure it will be a tremendous battle. The play-offs can work for you or they can work against you. I'm proud of my boys for the work they've done this season, finishing second in the league, but we've just dipped out at the end and credit to Poole.”WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams says injuries to key riders hampered his side’s chances in their play-off semi-final defeat against table-topping Birmingham.Adams said: “We were going there without three key riders with Jacob (Thorssell), Tai (Woffinden) and Ty Proctor all ruled out, and that is bound to hurt any team. You need a full strength team to compete in the play-offs, especially against a side as strong as Birmingham."When we look back we've proved a lot of people wrong to make the play-offs. Although it's disappointing to lose out it's been a pretty good year for Wolverhampton one way or another.”

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK rounded off their season with a successful Benefit meeting for seriously injured No.1 Ricky Ashworth, with the 39-39 draw against Sheffield watched by a good crowd at Shielfield Park.Bandits co-owner John Anderson said: “The most important thing is that the stadium appeared to pretty well filled with a good sized crowd, and that means a lot of money has been raised for the benefit of Ricky – and that’s all that mattered. Thanks have to go to all the riders – including Sam Ermolenko, who did two demonstration races which the crowd adored, and everyone at Berwick and Sheffield Speedways for making the event so special.”EDINBURGH boss Alex Harkess admitted his relief after three 5-1s in the last three heats saw the Monarchs come through a tough test in their play-off group with a 52-38 home win over Workington.Harkess said: “What a struggle that was. Thank goodness we had enough riders going well to get us the three points in the end.”GLASGOW star James Grieves enjoyed a fitting finale to his official racing career with a paid maximum in the Tigers’ 62-31 home win over Plymouth. Grieves said: “That’s the kind of meeting I’m going to miss. I know in my head I would like to carry on, after the likes of today you say it’s easy but now I can bow out with my head held high.”IPSWICH boss Pete Simmons admitted fate had conspired against the Witches over a disastrous three-day period which saw the ending of their Premier League and League Cup trophy hopes.Simmons said: “Everything has gone wrong over the last few days; it started with that home defeat last Thursday and just got steadily worse from there. Four guys now out injured and we had little chance of holding Newcastle off after Leigh (Lanham) and Ben (Barker) were withdrawn so early in the meeting.”LEICESTER co-promoter Alan Jones was pleased with the club’s second staging of the Midland Development League Riders’ Championship, which was won by Stoke’s Shaun Tedham.Jones told the Leicester Mercury: “League Riders' Championships at every level inevitably creates a cast of all ages and this event was no different. The pleasing aspect was to see the younger element to the fore with six of the eight semi-finalists all teenagers.”NEWCASTLE are again celebrating major silverware at Brough Park having taken the League Cup with a thumping 65-27 home win over injury hit Ipswich in Sunday’s second leg.Diamonds boss George English said: “It’s a great pity when our opponents suffer two nasty injuries to top men so soon in the meeting which obviously had an effect on their performance, but take nothing away from our victorious Diamonds, they were well and truly up for this Cup and would have given a full-strength side a good run for their money, and I believe we'd have still managed to take the League Cup.”PLYMOUTH co-promoter Ashley Taylor has stressed riders need to impress the club in their final match of the season when Newcastle visit the St Boniface Arena on Friday.Taylor said: “Although the season may be drawing to a close, it will be up to our riders to prove themselves by putting up a good enough performance to take all three points. All riders are in the shop window and it is a case of showcasing their talent and ability. As promoters we will be taking note of what we see.”REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock believes recent results have sent out a message to the Bears’ play-off rivals, with a home win over Newcastle followed up by an impressive away success at Rye House in their final regular fixture of the campaign.Havelock told gazettelive.co.uk: “I think our lads went there with a different attitude. They went there and proved they deserved to be in the top six and also managed to get some good wages for themselves. I said to them, this is going to make Somerset and Newcastle sit up and take notice now.”RYE HOUSE boss John Sampford insists his side will still be going all-out to finish on a high as they stage the second leg of the KO Cup Final on Sunday, trailing Somerset by 28-points from the first leg.Sampford said: “Somerset are an excellent side on any track; around their own circuit they are awesome. But although it was for only limited reward, all the boys rode their hearts out. We know we’ve got a very hard job in the second leg, but we’ve not given up the ghost just yet. There are still another fifteen races to go, and we’ll be in there fighting and determined to do to them what they’ve done to us. That’s got to be the aim.”SCUNTHORPE star Josh Auty completed the Scorpions’ season in style with a 15-point maximum in the Retro Cup win over Sheffield, before winning the individual second half event.Auty said: “It was nice to finish the season on a high. We’re still gutted not to reach the play-offs this season, but today was all about putting on a good show for the Scunthorpe fans who had supported us all year.”SHEFFIELD boss David Hoggart admitted Sunday’s heavy defeat at Scunthorpe in the Retro Cup had been a disappointing way to finish a troublesome season for the Owlerton club.Hoggart said: “I couldn’t even use the tactical substitute because no-one was going well enough to give us an advantage. Hugh (Skidmore) and Richard (Lawson) both did a fair job for us but overall we should have done better, and disappointing sums up today as well as our season. It’s not a good way to finish the season.”SOMERSET face back-to-back clashes with Redcar this week as they launch their Premier League play-off campaign, and boss Garry May knows any points gained on the road could prove vital.May said: “It is all about what we can do in our two matches away from home, whilst taking maximum points in our two home matches. With Newcastle already having suffered defeat at Redcar, any points we can pick up in Thursday’s away match against the Bears will give us a bit of an advantage over the other two sides, but then we must ensure that we pick up all three match points the following night when Redcar come to the Oaktree Arena.”WORKINGTON became the first club to complete all of their play-off group fixtures and must now wait for the two clashes between Edinburgh and Ipswich to take place before they know if they have done enough to reach the Premier League Grand Final. In the meantime, this Saturday sees Derwent Park stage a 16-rider individual event that dates back to 1970 - The Cumberland Open Championship.Comets boss Tony Jackson said: “Last weekend’s run of three matches in three days was tough for everyone but very rewarding. A superb team effort to win at Ipswich made everyone sit up and take notice; then we gave Edinburgh a major scare over the first twelve heats the following evening at Armadale before completing our play-off matches with a terrific victory over Ipswich at Derwent Park. The atmosphere that night was absolutely unbelievable and the crowd gave everyone a lift, particularly in the all-important Heat 15. I don’t think anyone that was there will forget Saturday night in a hurry.“This week we take a break from team action with the ‘Cumberland Open’ where we hope to have several former Comets competing along with our 2013 team members and hopefully some surprise names.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: King’s Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30

THURSDAY OCTOBER 3:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS: Ipswich v Edinburgh 7.30, Redcar v Somerset 7.30

FRIDAY OCTOBER 4:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Newcastle 7.15SUPPORTERS’ PAIRS TROPHY: Coventry 7.30

SATURDAY OCTOBER 5:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Mildenhall 7pmCUMBERLAND OPEN: Workington 7pm

SUNDAY OCTOBER 6:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS: Newcastle v Redcar 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Rye House v Somerset 2pmCHALLENGE: Leicester v Belle Vue 5pmARGUS SUSSEX CHAMPIONSHIPS: Eastbourne 3.30JUNIOR GOLDEN HELMET: Glasgow 3pm

MONDAY OCTOBER 7:ELITE LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 1st leg: Poole v Birmingham 7.30

TUESDAY OCTOBER 8:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30DUDLEY: Reserved 7.30

FRIDAY OCTOBER 11:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS: Somerset v Newcastle 7.30BLUE RIBAND: Poole 7.30SCOTTISH CUP 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30

SATURDAY OCTOBER 12:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Belle Vue 7.30

SUNDAY OCTOBER 13:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFFS: Newcastle v Somerset 6.30

MONDAY OCTOBER 14:ELITE LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 2nd leg: Birmingham v Poole 7.30