(SPEEDWAY 1 - MONDAY REVIEW)
BELLE Vue closed to within two points of the Elite League play-off places with an impressive 53-39 home win over Poole on Monday.The Aces provided eleven of the fifteen race winners with Matej Zagar scoring a four-ride paid maximum, whilst defeat was a blow to the Pirates’ hopes of overhauling Coventry at the top of the table.Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “The last few weeks we’ve been pretty sluggish in the first couple of heats so that’s something we knew needed to be addressed, particularly at home. We can’t afford any slow beginnings.“Overall, I’m very proud of my team tonight. We need to win all of our home fixtures to keep our title chase alive and beating one of the league’s best teams so convincingly is a good start.”Poole promoter Matt Ford said: “Should Belle Vue get themselves back into the play-off zone then they will certainly fancy meeting us, judging by our performances against them this season. They held us to a draw back in April on our patch and have now twice been seen to be the better side in Manchester. “We haven't really been consistently good enough on the smaller tracks and that is a worry for me. I was hoping that we would come away with something from this visit but our performance wasn't up to it, quite frankly.”Meanwhile Wolverhampton No.1 Freddie Lindgren was in top form as the Monmore club secured a 49-41 win over King’s Lynn, who remain third in the table.Lindgren scored 14 points and was only denied a maximum by Stars skipper Niels-Kristian Iversen in the last race, but the visitors fell just short of a league point on the night and their margin on fifth-placed Belle Vue is down to five points.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It was a typical Wolves performance I thought, with Freddie leading from the front and solid performances in all other departments.“I felt we made hard work of it at times, but we are obviously just glad to come away with the victory.”In the Premier League, Glasgow moved level on points with leaders Edinburgh by defeating Plymouth 52-41 at Ashfield.The Tigers have raced three more fixtures than the Monarchs but also have a five-point cushion over third-placed Peterborough.Richard Lawson led the scoring for the home side with 14 points whilst Plymouth, for whom Ryan Fisher picked up 14+1, remain seventh in the table, five points behind sixth-placed Ipswich with two home matches in hand over the Witches, who are due at the St Boniface Arena on Friday evening.Tigers co-promoter Colin Hamilton said: “We're very pleased with the whole team tonight. Richard Lawson led from the start, and put in his usual sterling performance.“The track was riding well and under floodlights, with a nice clear night, it was good to see us having a night meeting. I think the fans thoroughly enjoyed it as well as the riders."Devils co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “It will be important that we get back to winning ways against Ipswich and make sure that they do not go away with any points from the Arena.“We need to keep on course in our bid to reach the play-offs and get as high up the league table as possible.”Meanwhile in the City Gearboxes National League Ben Morley scored a 15-point maximum for Kent as the home side defeated Mildenhall 52-41 to move up to fifth place in the standings. Connor Mountain top-scored for the Fen Tigers with 13+1.(SPEEDWAY 2)
SCUNTHORPE have swooped to sign Czech Republic teenage sensation Zdenek Holub for the rest of the 2015 season.The 19-year-old has been performing well on the continent this year and subject to BSPA approval he will replace the injured Josh Auty, and will make his debut on Thursday at Sheffield before facing Newcastle at home the following evening.Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: "I'd like to thank the King's Lynn management for their co-operation and help in bringing Zdenek Holub to Scunthorpe.“He comes very highly recommended, and you only have to look at a few of his results on the continent to realise he's a very talented young rider. It's always exciting for the fans to see a new face, and I'm sure Zdenek will prove an instant hit with Scorpions' supporters.”(SPEEDWAY 3)
COVENTRY Storm have signed Mark Baseby as a replacement for ex-skipper Luke Crang who is taking time out of the sport.Baseby has been absent from National League racing for the last couple of years but is a previous title-winner with Bournemouth, and he will make his debut at Stoke on Saturday.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “We had to get back to having a seven-man team as using rider-replacement was going to put a lot of strain on riders and their machinery especially in double-headers.“I know Mark from the past and I feel I’ve always got the best out of him, and that’s one of the things he said when he had options to go elsewhere because there were other clubs after him. Mark is coming in on a 5.67 average, but in my opinion he’s easily a seven-and-a-half to eight point rider in this league.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 8pm, Poole v Leicester 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Cradley 7.30, King’s Lynn v Rye House 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Workington 7.30, Redcar v Glasgow 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 7:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30, Plymouth v Ipswich 7.15, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30
