WORKINGTON have been confirmed as the top second-place team across the three League Cup groups – and now progress to the semi-finals.The Comets join group winners Edinburgh, Sheffield and Peterborough in the last four after taking the four points they required from Glasgow on Sunday to edge out Redcar.Their 50-40 Ashfield success was only secured in the final race with top-scorers Rene Bach (12+1) and Josh Grajczonek (11+3) combining for a 5-1 with a heat advantage required.Manager Tony Jackson said: “We knew what we needed to do up at Glasgow and thankfully we were able to come up with the goods on the day. Nevertheless it still came down to the very last heat where we needed at least a 4-2 to secure the points we needed to go through but thankfully Josh and Rene were able to take maximum points from that heat to put us into the semi-finals.“However, it was far from an easy victory and a combination of bad luck and mechanical problems certainly cost us some points along the way so it was a huge relief to finally clinch that place in the last race!”Glasgow star Mark Lemon believes the Tigers are being made to pay for the lack of a consistent run of fixtures so far, with the weather having affected a number of their Ashfield clashes.Lemon said: “We’ve been against the weather with the rain-offs and every time you come to Glasgow the track has been slightly different. That’s no-one’s fault, it’s just the elements that are being thrown at you.“So Friday and today were probably the first clean slate of meetings we’ve had where we can work with things and I guess some of the boys kind of got it wrong, and it happens.”In the Premier League, Newcastle were left stunned by a 39-50 home defeat at the hands of local rivals Redcar, who collected all four points in a powerful all-round display.Bears No.1 Richard Lawson dropped just one point on his way to a total of 14, with Carl Wilkinson and Jan Graversen both scoring nine – whilst recent signing Danny King (10) led the way for the Diamonds, but Lewis Rose took no further part after a Heat 8 crash which left him with lower back pain.Newcastle boss George English said: “I honestly thought we were back on track with our three league points from our recent travels, but we again hit the skids tonight and lost points, although with injury problems and new youngsters coming in at reserve we seem to be lacking in lower end power badly.“But we know more than anyone this rot has to be stopped in its tracks with immediate effect.”Cradley seized the upper hand in their National League KO Cup tie with Mildenhall as the Heathens recorded a 49-39 first leg win at West Row.Heat-leaders Steve Worrall (17) and Paul Starke (12+1) were both in dominant form for the visitors, with captain Dan Halsey (11) top man for the Fen Tigers.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “We are chuffed with the performance; everyone put in a shift and did really, really well. Mildenhall is a tough place to come, so to leave with a ten point lead is a superb result and full credit to the lads for a top performance.”Mildenhall manager Robert Henry said: “I felt it should have been a lot closer than it was, and a couple of mistakes when in good positions cost us dearly. They were very sharp out of the gates and the benefit of having five of their six riders racing in two or more leagues clearly showed. “That said, we are not out of the tie and will attack the second leg from the start and see what we can do, there is still a lot of racing to be done in this tie yet.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 – MONDAY PREVIEW)
LAKESIDE co-promoter Jon Cook is calling for a response from his heat-leaders when the Hammers host King’s Lynn in a clash of the Elite League’s top two at Purfleet.Cook was unhappy with several performances in the leaders’ defeat at Poole last week, and now wants riders to return to form for their club.He said: “There are no excuses come Monday. We need the win and our heat-leaders need to show the way. “Fans have every right to be upset when the same riders perform elsewhere after abject showings for their actual team. On Monday they can put that right.”Wolverhampton boss Peter Adams is hoping last week’s win over Swindon can provide the springboard for a play-off challenge at Monmore Green.Wolves host local rivals Coventry with the sides just outside the top four and separated by only two points.Adams said: “Meetings with Coventry are always pretty special and I'm sure this will be no different. Our win against Swindon last week was most welcome, we needed it, and I hope we can build on that against the Bees.“We have to take the three points, anything less would be classed as a disappointment, but they have riders who do well at Monmore.”Coventry promoter Mick Horton said: “We’ve got a tough week with matches on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but we know we’ll be seeing a different Coventry team to the one that rode at Eastbourne. We’ll have our proper team out and I think we can go to Wolverhampton and get something there.”Meanwhile Birmingham have booked Swindon’s talented Australian Nick Morris to guest for the injured Adam Skornicki at Belle Vue. Aces’ fast-track reserve Lee Payne is also on the sidelines, with Max Clegg standing in for the home side.Kent hold a 13-point lead over Devon ahead of their National League KO Cup second round tie at Central Park, with both teams requiring guests due to injuries and unavailability.Simon Lambert and Ben Morley are both on Elite League duty and are replaced in the Kings team by Steve Worrall and Oliver Greenwood, whilst King’s Lynn duo James Cockle and Marc Owen stand in for the Demons whose No.1 Tim Webster is unavailable whilst Lee Smart and Ben Reade have retired.
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY MAY 19:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7.30, Lakeside v King’s Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Kent v Devon 6.30
TUESDAY MAY 20:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Peterborough v Scunthorpe 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 21:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Redcar 7.30
