(SPEEDWAY 1)

THE draw has been made for the British Under-21 Final – and competitors will also be striving to win the Lee Richardson Memorial Shield.The showpiece event takes place on Tuesday April 14 at Coventry with a national title at stake as well as places in the World Under-21 qualifying series.And the British Speedway Promoters’ Association has commissioned a special shield in memory of the former World Under-21 Champion and regular Great Britain international, who lost his life in a track crash in 2012.The winner of the meeting will keep the shield for 12 months and will also receive a replica keepsake.British Youth boss Neil Vatcher said: “After a tough semi-final at Mildenhall on Sunday on a track that caused some concern due to some real grippy patches in places, and there being a number of fallers, the meeting was eventually completed after three hours of racing, and it’s fair to say the nine qualifiers were all delighted to make it through to the Final.“It’s an exciting line up with six Elite League Riders competing along with five riders making their British Under 21 debuts.“The title of British Champion is on the line with the favourites sure to be Elite League stars Robert Lambert and Kyle Howarth, along with reigning Under 21 Champion Josh Bates who will be defending his title, and current and former British Under 19 champions Oliver Greenwood and Stefan Nielsen –plus there is also the small matter of trying to grab one of the places for the FIM World Under 21 Semi Final which is being held at the end of May.”DRAW: 1 Robert Lambert (King’s Lynn/Peterborough), 2 Danny Phillips (Stoke), 3 James Shanes (Kent), 4 Oliver Greenwood (Peterborough), 5 Kyle Howarth (Swindon/Workington), 6 Marc Owen (Eastbourne), 7 Ashley Morris (King’s Lynn/Plymouth) 8 Josh Bailey (King’s Lynn Young Stars), 9 Max Clegg (Edinburgh/Cradley), 10 Josh Bates (Wolverhampton/Sheffield), 11 Ryan Terry-Daley (Stoke), 12 Stefan Nielsen (Belle Vue/Ipswich), 13 Adam Ellis (Lakeside/Birmingham), 14 Ben Morley (Redcar/Kent), 15 Connor Coles (Mildenhall), 16 Tom Stokes (King’s Lynn Young Stars). Reserves: 17 Connor Mountain (Mildenhall), 18 Danno Verge (Kent).

(SPEEDWAY 2)

SWINDON star Adrian Miedzinski will have surgery in a Bristol hospital today on a serious finger injury after his crash in Monday’s Elite League defeat by Poole at the Abbey.Miedzinski was one of three home riders to crash out, with Troy Batchelor and Lewis Rose both released from hospital but advised to rest after separate incidents.Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: “Adrian is in a lot of pain and it is a horrific injury, we wish him all the very best. I was in a state of shock when I came away from the hospital at midnight, I couldn’t quite believe what happened.“I’m working on replacements, both for Thursday and certainly one longer term. It’s going to be a busy time for me now and will be spending much of it on the phone!”

(SPEEDWAY 3 – BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY REVIEW)

POOLE opened their Elite League title defence with a 47-33 win at Swindon in a meeting marred by injuries to three home riders.Troy Batchelor, Lewis Rose and Adrian Miedzinski were all hurt in separate incidents, resulting in the meeting being abandoned with two races to go due to the medical attention required.Polish star Kacper Gomolski impressed on his old home track with three unbeaten rides for the Pirates, with Kyle Newman top-scoring on 10+1 as the visitors banked all four league points.Promoter Matt Ford said: “We have experienced three injuries ourselves this season but not all in one evening. “They seemed to have no luck at all with two freak crashes and one pure racing incident and when you win meetings under those circumstances it does take the shine off it somewhat. But again I was pleased to see our new boys get into the points.”In the League Cup, Sheffield put themselves firmly in the driving seat for a place in the last four, with a 53-40 win at local rivals Scunthorpe.Youngster Josh Bates recovered from his heavy crash last week to top-score with 11+1 for the Tigers, who scored right down the line, whilst Josh Auty (15) and Carl Wilkinson (11) were best for the Scorpions.Sheffield boss Jack Lee said: “The team spirit is great, everyone did their job and this is a superb win for the lads.“It’s a long season and there are some very good teams in the Premier League, but the early signs for us are very encouraging.”Scunthorpe manager Dave Peet said: “Sheffield gave us a bit of a spanking, but we are still looking very rusty. We’re not going to worry too much about things yet; it’s still very early days. It’s all progressing, just more slowly than we’d like.”Peterborough gave their season lift-off with two League Cup wins in one day for their first points of the campaign.The Panthers pulled off a dramatic comeback to win at Rye House in the afternoon, pulling back from eight points with five heats to go and finishing with back-to-back 5-1s for a 47-43 triumph.Top-scorers Michael Palm Toft and Robert Lambert got the better of Anders Mellgren and the previously unbeaten Edward Kennett in the final race, leaving Rockets boss John Sampford stunned.He said: “It’s a massive disappointment to lose the way we did. We knew that they would come at us seeking revenge for our victory at the Showground, but we had them on the ropes when we led by eight points and we shouldn’t have let them back in the match. The last two heats floored us, for sure, but it shouldn’t have come down to those races.”Peterborough then built on that success with a comfortable 56-37 home win over Ipswich, cancelling out their defeat at Foxhall on Good Friday to move back into contention in the group.Lambert (13) top-scored for the Panthers whilst the Witches’ scoring was dominated by Danny King, who scored 16 points including wins in his last four outings.Peterborough boss Carl Johnson said: “We have showed everyone what we are capable of doing and these two results are no surprise to me.“We gave a pretty decent account of ourselves at Ipswich on Good Friday once we had got the nightmare start out of the way and we kicked on today to pick up two important results to get our season going. The losing start to the season hurt the guys and the way they have responded is extremely pleasing."Ipswich manager Phil Hilton said: “I’m obviously disappointed with the scoreline but I can't fault any of our team for effort put in, they all battled hard. The track conditions were very heavy and our boys struggled initially to adapt to this. “However, that aside Peterborough were very strong and took full advantage of their home track knowledge, Danny was very good for us again and Cameron (Heeps) also rode very well.”In the National Trophy, Eastbourne completed a Bank Holiday double over Kent with an impressive 49-44 away win at Central Park.It was the first win on the road by an Eagles team since July 29, 2012, when they were successful at Coventry, with Bradley Wilson-Dean keeping up his impressive start to the season with a 13-point haul. Kent No.1 Ben Morley (16) top scored for the home side.Eastbourne chairman Martin Dugard said: “Our riders have been magnificent over the two matches this Easter. This is the start we wanted and the one we believed we could achieve.“Getting an away win at the first attempt is brilliant for us and that puts that issue to bed at the outset.”Stoke stunned Rye House with a 45-42 win at Hoddesdon in the first round of the National League KO Cup, making the Potters favourites to progress. Lee Payne (11) and reserve Shaun Tedham (10+2) were the top-scorers for the visitors, with a 15-point maximum from Robert Branford not enough for the Raiders.Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “I’m absolutely thrilled for the team and most of all the supporters who travelled a long way to support us today, they made plenty of noise throughout the meeting and at the end of the match all of the riders insisted that we went out onto the terraces too thank them and have some photos taken.“We know it’s only half time in the match with the second leg to come and they have riders that know our place well and we will not be taking anything for granted.”In the second-half of Scunthorpe’s double header, the Stags team defeated Buxton 51-40 in a National League level challenge, with Martin Knuckey scoring a maximum.The Hitmen raced without regular team members Tony Atkin and Ryan Blacklock, and boss Jason Pipe took some positives from the afternoon.He said: “It wasn’t the result we were looking for but it was a useful exercise in getting to know the boys and for them to blow away the cobwebs ahead of our league campaign. “I was particularly impressed with Kev Whelan. It was the first time he had ridden a 15-heat match and he looked right at home, I’m over the moon at him scoring paid 10.”(SPEEDWAY 4 – TUESDAY PREVIEW)

WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams expects a tough test against Belle Vue when the two sides meet at Monmore Green on Tuesday in the Elite League.Tobiasz Musielak and Lewis Blackbird make their debuts for the home side who have seen their last two scheduled matches postponed due to the weather.Adams said: “It’s been frustrating with the rain but the boys are raring to go for this meeting, especially the new riders.“Belle Vue have put together a powerful side with lots of quality throughout, so I’m expecting a really exciting night of racing.”New Aces boss Mark Lemon is looking to kick off a busy period with a win – as his side face three away matches this week, with trips to King’s Lynn and Leicester to come.Lemon said: “On paper I firmly believe that we do have the edge going into today’s match, but speedway is speedway and Wolves are more than capable of throwing up plenty of curveballs.“I’m expecting us, at minimum, to keep the home team honest. Last year we did present a bit of a soft target in our away meetings so we need to nip that in the bud straight away.”(FIXTURES)

TUESDAY APRIL 7:ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30

WEDNESDAY APRIL 8:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30, King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Coventry 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Plymouth 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30FRIDAY APRIL 10:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Poole 7.30, Lakeside v Swindon 8pmLEAGUE CUP: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Somerset v Rye House 7.30