(SPEEDWAY 1)
THE draw has been made for the Premier League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield on Sunday September 21.Somerset’s Olly Allen defends the title, and former winner Craig Cook (Edinburgh) is also in the line-up, along with home favourite Simon Stead.All 13 Premier League clubs are represented in the Owlerton showpiece with Edinburgh, Workington and Peterborough having two riders in the meeting.DRAW: 1. Steve Worrall (Edinburgh), 2. Ryan Douglas (Scunthorpe), 3. Rene Bach (Workington), 4. Simon Stead (Sheffield), 5. Ben Barker (Plymouth), 6. Craig Cook (Edinburgh), 7. Rohan Tungate (Ipswich), 8. Edward Kennett (Rye House), 9. Ulrich Ostergaard (Peterborough), 10. Danny King (Newcastle), 11. Theo Pijper (Glasgow), 12. Claus Vissing (Berwick), 13. Richard Lawson (Redcar), 14. Lasse Bjerre (Peterborough), 15. Josh Grajczonek (Workington), 16. Olly Allen (Somerset).(SPEEDWAY 2 – TUESDAY REVIEW)
PETERBOROUGH climbed to seventh place in the Premier League with two wins from their home double-header on Tuesday as they got the better of Scunthorpe and Plymouth.The Scorpions did leave the Showground with a point after a close contest finished 45-44, the Panthers taking a 3-2 in Heat 14 after home man Max Dilger and visitor Josh Auty had both been disqualified, and Peterborough’s Ales Dryml then won the decider for the 3-3 they required.Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We came here for the point, and that’s what we got. Anything else was a bonus.“Who knows, the result of this meeting might end up working in our favour. It might mean we end up finishing fifth in the table, while Peterborough finish sixth, giving us one more racetrack in the play-offs where we would enjoy going if we ended up in the same group as them.Peterborough then went on to defeat Plymouth 47-35 in a meeting brought to a halt two races short due to the curfew.The Panthers now trail sixth-placed Newcastle by three points with six matches in hand; although Workington are only three points behind with a further three matches in hand.Manager Carl Johnson said: “We didn’t quite manage all six league points on the night, but picking up five has moved us much closer to the play-off places.“We have a hell of a lot of racing ahead of us over the next few days and I’m sure the play-off picture will start to become clearer.”Table-topping Cradley completed their regular home National League programme with a 63-30 win over Devon, with Steve Worrall scoring a 15-point maximum.Manager Will Pottinger said: “It was an excellent team performance all-around again, and we were pleased to come away with another good win.“Everyone won at least one race which was great to see, and as we head into the business end of the season confidence is high.”
(SPEEDWAY 3 – WEDNESDAY PREVIEW)
POOLE are looking to cut the gap on Elite League leaders King’s Lynn when they host Wolverhampton at Wimborne Road on Wednesday.The Pirates can halve the Stars’ six-point advantage, and have brought in Bjarne Pedersen and Lewis Bridger to guest for the suspended Darcy Ward and the injured Przemyslaw Pawlicki.Wolves, meanwhile, call on Chris Harris and Rory Schlein with Tai Woffinden injured and Piotr Pawlicki’s contract having been cancelled this week.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It's going to be a tough meeting, but we're pleased to have Chris Harris guesting as he has always done a good job for us in the past.“It was a good win for us against Leicester on Monday, so we'll go down to Poole and give it a good go. Hopefully we can come away with a good result.”Rye House welcome Luke Bowen back into action after a spell on the sidelines with a fractured elbow, but Jason Bunyan is still ruled out for the visit of Peterborough to Hoddesdon in the Premier League.Alex Edberg deputises for the Rockets, whilst the play-off chasing Panthers include Thomas Jorgensen and James Sarjeant as guests with their three Danish riders unavailable. Rye House boss John Sampford said: “It is crucial that we get a positive result, because Sheffield are not far behind us in terms of match points and have meetings in hand. We need to win as many of our remaining matches as possible – and especially at home - to stand a chance of getting away from that bottom spot.”Peterborough manager Carl Johnson said: “It is obviously not an ideal situation, but we have to get our meetings in and we will go to Rye House with the aim of getting at least a point.”In the National League, King’s Lynn go into their clash with leaders Cradley having won three of their last four matches and are still in with a chance of a play-off place.Ben Morley replaces the injured Lewis Rose at No.1 for the Young Stars, whilst Cradley operate rider-replacement for Tom Perry due to his Elite League commitment for Wolverhampton.Heathens boss Will Pottinger said: “We want to end the regular league programme in a positive fashion with a win to keep our confidence high heading into some important meetings.”(SPEEDWAY 4)
THE draw has been made for the British Under-19 Championship at Kent.The event is being staged at Central Park Stadium on Monday September 15 (7.00pm) and will see the nation’s youngsters battle it out to claim the title currently held by two-time winner Stefan Nielsen.British Youth co-boss Neil Vatcher said: “Unfortunately some of the riders were unavailable due to work and college commitments, but we are happy to have a line-up which is a mix of Fast Track talent and also some up-and-coming young British riders from the junior leagues.”DRAW: 1. Nathan Greaves, 2. Danno Verge, 3. Sean Phillips, 4. Josh Bailey, 5. Connor Mountain, 6. Adam Portwood, 7. Max Clegg, 8. James Shanes, 9. Adam Ellis, 10. Scooter Webster, 11. Danny Phillips, 12. Layne Cupitt, 13. Josh Bates, 14. Tyler Govier, 15. Jack Kingston, 16. Oliver Greenwood.(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 3:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Peterborough 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Cradley 7.30
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 4:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 7.30, Swindon v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, Redcar v Rye House 7.30, Sheffield v Workington 7.30
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Poole 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Sheffield 7.30, Scunthorpe v Peterborough 7.30, Somerset v Berwick 7.30
