(SPEEDWAY 1 – SATURDAY REVIEW)
EASTBOURNE overcame an early scare and damp conditions to register a second successive home win with maximum points over Leicester.The Eagles won 52-37 at Arlington with young Dane Mikkel Michelsen (13+1) impressing once again, backed up by Bjarne Pedersen on 11+1.Eastbourne boss Trevor Geer said: “Half-way through the meeting it was touch-and-go. We had an interval and a get-together with the boys and they came out on a different track and pulled away.“In the second half of the meeting there were some brilliant races. At the end it turned out to be a fantastic night and I am delighted.” Berwick’s League Cup hopes suffered a major setback with a 43-47 home defeat by Edinburgh, for whom No.1 Craig Cook scored yet another 15-point maximum.The Bandits were also outscored at reserve although the match did go to a last-heat decider, Cook combining with Sam Masters for a 5-1 over Claus Vissing and Matthew Wethers.Berwick boss Ian Rae said: “They had a match winner in reserve Steve Worrall as his 11 paid 14 really was the difference, and whilst it is devastating to lose to our local rivals at home there was some excellent action and some good moments from the Bandits. Now we have to re-group in the League Cup.”There was also an away win in the Southern group as Plymouth completed the double over Rye House with a 48-42 verdict at Hoddesdon.Kalle Katajisto (13+4) proved a trump card at reserve for the Devils, whilst the Rockets were left to rue the absence of Jason Garrity, who suffered heavy bruising in a crash at Plymouth 24-hours earlier, and Grand Prix wild card Jason Bunyan who will return from New Zealand this week.Rye boss John Sampford said: “It was a great night’s racing but a very bad result. Hats off to the Devils; they gave us a lesson, and have a real match-winner in Kalle Katajisto, especially while they can keep him down at reserve for extra rides.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 – SUNDAY PREVIEW)
SCUNTHORPE are hoping for better fortune when they host Redcar in the League Cup on Sunday afternoon – three days after a heavy defeat in the reverse fixture.The Scorpions have called up Leigh Lanham to guest for injured No.1 Anders Mellgren, who faces a lengthy road to recovery after surgery on his back.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Thursday was just one of those nights, where if anything could go wrong, it did go wrong. Everything just went against us – I think I must have run over a black cat on the way to Redcar.“Leigh comes in as a guest for today’s meeting, and I think he’ll do the job for us. We really need to perform as a team and pull together to win our first meeting of the season.” Somerset take a 25-point lead to Newcastle as the two sides contest the Premier Shield, the Rebels having taken control of the tie in the first leg on Friday – with the Diamonds keen to respond.Newcastle boss George English said: “We've got a tough task ahead to get our first official title of the year, and we know Somerset are a good side with a good record on Tyneside.”Scunthorpe’s League Cup match is followed by the second leg of the National League KO Cup tie between the Stags and King’s Lynn, who use rider-replacement for Lewis Rose (racing for Newcastle) and bring in Rikki Mullins for Darryl Ritchings after his crash at Swindon on Thursday.The National Trophy also gets underway with Mildenhall entertaining Stoke in a clash between two clubs who have made extensive changes from their 2013 line-ups. Amongst those is last year’s Fen Tigers man Jon Armstrong, who has joined the Potters.Mildenhall chairman Kevin Jolly said: “Sunday will be a difficult start, Stoke have put together a strong looking side on paper, and our lads will need to be on the gas from the start. It may take a couple of meetings for Jack (Kingston), Brendan (Johnson) and the two Connors (Coles & Mountain) to click into the track fully but we have every faith in them and with a top three which I am sure is the envy of the League we will be fine.”And Leicester also enter a team at Trophy level for the first time alongside their Elite League commitments, with the Lion Cubs hosting Kent at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium.Manager Dave Howard said: “We have a competitive, well-balanced team to entertain the fans. They all have experience of riding the Leicester track which hopefully gives us the opportunity of progressing through the group to the final.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
WORLD Champion Tai Woffinden says his performance in Saturday’s New Zealand FIM Speedway Grand Prix has given him something to build on.Woffinden raced just a week after suffering multiple injuries in an Elite League meeting for Wolverhampton at Leicester – and scored seven points, leaving him twelve behind series leader Nicki Pedersen. Former Birmingham and Coventry star Martin Smolinski was the surprise winner in Auckland.Woffinden said: “Not bad is how I would sum it up, not bad at all when you take everything into account. I made a mistake with the set-up early on but as the night went on I get better and had a lot more speed.“My back was painful but when I was out on the track it was manageable and now the first GP is out of the way we can move forward and hopefully build on that when we go to Bydgoszcz later this month.”(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY APRIL 6:LEAGUE CUP: Glasgow v Workington OFF (Now Sun May 18), Scunthorpe v Redcar 3pmPREMIER SHIELD 2nd leg: Newcastle v Somerset 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Scunthorpe v King’s Lynn (follows LC fixture)NATIONAL TROPHY: Leicester v Kent 4pm, Mildenhall v Stoke 3.30
MONDAY APRIL 7:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Swindon 7.30CHALLENGE: Peterborough v Leicester 7.30
TUESDAY APRIL 8:NATIONAL SHIELD 1st leg: Cradley v King’s Lynn 7.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30, King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30, Poole v Eastbourne 7.30
