Tuesday May 13, 2014(SPEEDWAY 1)
EDWARD Kennett and Stefan Nielsen have been confirmed as the Wild Card entries for the British Final at Wolverhampton on June 16.Kennett and Nielsen finished in eighth place, one spot outside the automatic qualifiers, from the semi-finals at Sheffield and Rye House respectively and that has proved enough for a place in the Monmore showpiece.Kennett was just one point off qualification at Owlerton despite suffering mechanical failure in his first ride, whilst Nielsen also fell a single point short at Hoddesdon before defeating Leigh Lanham in a run-off for eighth place.
(SPEEDWAY 2 – MONDAY REVIEW)
WORLD Champion Tai Woffinden blasted back to top form with a paid-14 haul in Wolverhampton’s 52-38 win over Swindon at Monmore Green.Woffinden dropped his only point to an opponent in the first race when the Robins’ impressive Dakota North pulled clear on the first lap, but the home skipper secured three 5-1s with Piotr Pawlicki to help his side to victory.Swindon built an early four-point advantage and still led by two after Heat 9, but Wolves produced a strong finish with the visitors hampered by a disqualification for Peter Kildemand in Heat 13, as the Dane locked up and caused Woffinden to fall in avoidance. The re-run saw the first of three Wolves 5-1s to make the match safe.Woffinden said: “The track staff deserve great credit. We all need to thank them because it was raining here for the majority of the day but we got the meeting on. It wasn't ideal early on but it was the same for both sides and I'm really pleased with the way the boys handled it."It's good to see all the boys scoring points, it was a solid all-round performance and I was pleased with my own display, that's much more like it from me!"Swindon manager Alun Rossiter said: “I'm disappointed, obviously. I came here thinking we could get a point or even more from the meeting but we had too many weak links."Fair play to Wolverhampton, they came good when it mattered most and deserved to claim all the points available, they were the better team in the end.”In the National Trophy, Stoke recorded a noteworthy victory at Kent with the Potters 35-28 up when rain forced an early abandonment. The result stands so the visitors collected maximum points, with reserve James McBain impressing again with a 9+2 score.
(SPEEDWAY 3 – TUESDAY PREVIEW)
PETERBOROUGH co-boss Trevor Swales will treat the first leg of the club’s KO Cup first round showdown against Scunthorpe tonight (Tuesday) just like a league meeting.That means Swales will set the Panthers riders the challenge of securing a victory that would be worth all three league points, in order to take an advantage to the Eddie Wright Raceway for the second leg a week on Sunday.He said: “We’ve made progress into the semi-finals of the League Cup and we’re taking the KO Cup very seriously too. We are not racing at this level to make up the numbers and we want to challenge for every piece of silverware that is available.“If it was a league meeting we would be aiming for all three available points, so we’ll go into tonight with the same approach.”Scunthorpe’s team includes Showground knowledge from David Howe, who was part of Peterborough’s victorious Premier League team the last time they rode at this level in 1998, whilst new signing Nicolai Klindt had a spell in Panthers colours last year.Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The cup is all about winning on aggregate, but our approach isn’t going to be a lot different to a league match. We’ll go out to win it tonight, and if not, we’ll keep as close as we can, ready for the second leg at our place.”In the National League Knockout Cup, great rivals Cradley and Mildenhall clash at Monmore Green with the Heathens operating rider-replacement for broken collarbone victim Tom Perry, whilst Michael Neale stands in for the unavailable Matt Williamson.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “It’s a big blow for us to lose Tom, particularly as he’s on such a low average. But this gives the rest of the lads an opportunity to step forward and show us what they can do.“I’m sure the riders welcome extra rides and hopefully we can cover for Tom well until he returns. He’s on a false average, but hopefully when he returns he can get back to his best quickly.”Former Mildenhall No.1 Stefan Nielsen makes a guest appearance for his old club as Joe Jacobs is on Premier League duty for Peterborough.Chairman Kevin Jolly said: “We know we are capable of winning at Cradley with our line-up but if not we are confident we can keep things close enough for us to finish the job on Sunday. “There is always a little needle and banter when we meet Cradley but these meetings are what it is all about for me, the big hitters going head to head, we respect them and they respect us but both sides are desperate to win.”
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY MAY 13:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Peterborough v Scunthorpe 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Cradley v Mildenhall 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 14: ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Lakeside 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 15:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.45TWEED/TEES TROPHY 2nd leg: Redcar v Berwick 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 16:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30, Plymouth v Newcastle 7.15, Scunthorpe v Glasgow 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Mildenhall 7.30, King’s Lynn v Stoke 7.30
