PETERBOROUGH moved to the top of the early Premier League table with a 55-37 win over Rye House at the Showground on Sunday.Star guest Brady Kurtz and skipper Ulrich Ostergaard led the way with four heat victories apiece as the Panthers gained revenge for a League Cup defeat at the hands of the Rockets a month ago.Ostergaard’s triumph over fellow unbeaten captain Edward Kennett in heat 11 was arguably the highlight of a meeting which featured plenty of good racing on a grippier surface with the new 5pm start-time paying dividends.He said: “It was nice to see everyone in the points and it feels good to be a captain of a team capable of winning meetings by big scorelines.“The atmosphere inside the club is really good. Everyone is happy, getting on great and helping each other out.”Rye House boss John Sampford said: “We knew that it was going to be tough going there without Steve Boxall and with two guests at reserve, and the sooner we can get Steve and Kasper (Lykke) back from injury the better.“Their team is doing now what we all thought they would do at the beginning of the season, although it didn’t help that we generally struggled to find the right set-ups. Early on, it felt like ‘Edward Kennett versus the World’, but then Nico (Covatti) came good and we started to pick up points elsewhere.”In the League Cup Newcastle defeated local rivals Redcar 48-41 – but Diamonds boss George English was let baffled by decisions which he felt prevented his side from winning by a wider margin.English was unhappy when skipper Ludvig Lindgren was given little time to get to the tapes for the re-run of Heat 11 despite wrecking his bike in a first-bend incident, and then in Heat 14 Josh Bates was disqualified for leaving the track to swap bikes after his first choice had failed at the tapes.English said: “Lindgren’s bike was completely wrecked and I am convinced that he was not given the correct amount of time to sort himself and the bike out. Lindgren certainly had less time than (Lasse) Bjerre did in Heat 15 after he fell and I think consistency in decisions was lacking throughout the night.“Whatever of all the implications of the things tonight I am in no doubt that we should have won the meeting by a bigger margin than we did.”In the National League, Coventry collected four away points from a 51-39 away win at Buxton with in-form Dan Greenwood racing to another 15-point maximum.The Storm provided 11 of the heat wins at the Hi-Edge Raceway although the scores were still level with four heats to go. Tony Atkin scored 10 for the Hitmen, but reserve Cameron Hoskins suffered back injuries in a crash during the subsequent Midland Development League fixture.An earlier incident had seen Coventry’s Martin Knuckey withdrawn with a knee injury whilst Buxton’s Adam Extance raced on despite suffering a suspected broken finger.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “That was a super effort from the team, especially after we lost Marty to what could be a fractured knee-cap – we don’t know yet, but that would be horrible.“But they all battled well and scored points, and Dan is just on it at the moment as we’ve said before. The progress he’s making is phenomenal, and long may it continue.”Buxton manager Jason Pipe said: “Coventry were into their second or third fixture and their overall fitness has showed today, that plus 11 points from their reserves against our 3 were the key differences between the teams. “Yes, we missed Paul (Bowen) and Adam may have broken a finger but there were top performances from Tony Atkin and Ryan Blacklock. We have to look forward now to Kings Lynn on Friday and the visit of the Cradley Heathens next weekend.”At Glasgow, Workington’s Nicki Barrett took the honours in the inaugural Peugeot Open as he rounded Tigers star Dimitri Berge on the second bend of the Final.Alex Davies finished third and Alex Edberg fourth although a concern for the home club was an injury to reserve James Sarjeant, who was released from hospital on Sunday evening having been taken there as a precaution.Co-promoter Colin Hamilton said: “James won his first heat and then had a crash when Hynek Stichauer locked up in front of him and he couldn't avoid him. He went to hospital for a check-up. “That was a bit of a downside but it was a decent meeting that showed different riders to what some of the fans would normally see.”(SPEEDWAY 2 – MONDAY PREVIEW)
MIDLANDS rivals Wolverhampton and Coventry clash at Monmore Green in the Elite League on Monday with both sides in excellent form.Wolves have won three of their opening four matches including a dramatic victory at Lakeside on Friday, whilst the Bees have five wins from six, including a 100 per cent away record from wins at Leicester, Poole and Belle Vue.Wolves are at full strength with Peter Karlsson aiming to continue his vintage form, but the visitors are set to be without reserve James Sarjeant who damaged a shoulder in a crash at Glasgow on Sunday.Wolves No.1 Freddie Lindgren said: “They have a strong side and they always go well at Monmore, there has been a great rivalry between the clubs over the years as well so that makes it even more interesting.“But we gave them a really good meeting at their place at the start of the season and on another night we could definitely have won. We feel like we’ve improved since then, and being at our home track I think we can come away with the win this time.”Coventry’s Danny King said: “We’re definitely looking forward to it. It’s going to be a tough meeting, they are always good at home, but it’s a good track and we’ve got lads who like it there.“We have a very good away record at the moment and it would be nice to try to continue that, and we definitely want to get something out of the meeting.”Meanwhile Belle Vue have booked Dakota North to guest for the injured Simon Stead in their clash with King’s Lynn at Kirkmanshulme Lane on Monday.A win will take the Aces off the bottom of the table after they collected their first away point of the season at Coventry on Friday – having been heavily beaten at home by the Bees four days earlier.Co-promoter George Carswell said: “We’ve beaten King’s Lynn before now with a very similar team so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again, but it’s one of those matches where you need to go into it confidently.“The team has all the motivation they need to ensure they don’t suffer a repeat of the Coventry match and I doubt they need us to remind them how crucial that is.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
WORKINGTON’s long-serving Rusty Harrison is currently recovering in hospital in Carlisle - where he is expected to remain for several days after suffering multiple injuries at Derwent Park on Saturday.Harrison crashed in Heat 14 of the League Cup match against Edinburgh and his injuries include a broken shoulder-blade, several broken ribs, a fractured collarbone and a punctured lung.Comets boss Tony Jackson said: “It goes without saying that he is pretty bashed about and not feeling too good at present and it will be several weeks before he gets over those injuries from what was a quite horrific fall; and obviously everyone connected with the club sends him their very best wishes as he sets out on the road to recovery.“In the immediate future we will be utilising rider replacement, but obviously if we can make a short-term signing to cover his absence then we will do that if the right rider becomes available, but at this moment in time our thoughts are very much with Rusty and his family.”
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY APRIL 27:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Cradley 6.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 29:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Stoke 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 30:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Rye House 7.30, Sheffield v Ipswich 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 1:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30, Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Somerset v Sheffield 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Buxton 7.30
