(SPEEDWAY 1)
SCUNTHORPE’S Ryan Douglas will be ruled out for the remainder of the season after a crash at Sheffield on Thursday.The 21-year-old Australian came to grief on the first bend of Heat 6 and suffered a broken left leg and suspected dislocated hip.Scorpions manager Dave Peet said: “It's a real sickener for Ryan and the end of his season. We can only wish him a speedy and trouble-free recovery. “The lad has had so much bad luck this season with injuries, it's unreal.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 - THURSDAY REVIEW)
GLASGOW moved to the top of the Premier League with a 51-42 win at Redcar to take all four points on offer.Former Bears riders Aaron Summers and Richard Lawson both scored 14 for the Tigers, who now go above Scottish rivals Edinburgh in the table. Matej Kus won three races on his way to a 15-point haul for the Bears.Glasgow boss Stewart Dickson said: “We went there targeting a win. I thought four points might have been just too much, but we got that in the end, which is very important.“Our big two led the way - they are leading from the front - but a special mention to Richard Hall, who came in and did a great job for us.”Sheffield moved into fourth place with a 53-40 win over local rivals Scunthorpe at Owlerton, with Jason Garrity and guest Brady Kurtz both striking paid maximums for the Tigers.The pair combined for 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 to take the home side clear after a spirited effort by the Scorpions despite the loss of Ryan Douglas in his second ride. Guest Tero Aarnio (13+2) and Alex Davies (13) led the way for the visitors.Sheffield boss Jack Lee said: “They certainly gave us a scare, but all the lads stuck together and fought hard so we came back and in the end got a 13-point win, and we have to be happy with that.“We dipped a couple of times and it wasn’t a perfect performance, but Brady and Jason were both tremendous and they came up trumps for us when it mattered in Heats 13 and 15.”Scorpions manager Dave Peet said: “I'm proud how we kept on battling after (Douglas’s crash), and got ourselves right back into the match with an 8-1 and a 5-1 in successive races. We certainly didn't disgrace ourselves. I can't fault any of our riders for effort.”Meanwhile Ipswich consolidated sixth place in the table with a convincing 58-35 win over Workington at Foxhall.Former Witches star Richie Worrall scored a paid maximum guesting for the home side whilst Danny King (13+1) and Cameron Heeps (10+1) were also in double figures, whilst Kyle Howarth (12+1) and Ricky Wells (11) accounted for the bulk of the Comets’ scoring.Ipswich boss Phil Hilton said: “We may have been missing two of our top riders but that was an excellent team performance tonight with everyone performing well. “We basically never let them into the meeting and we completely dominated the second half.”
(SPEEDWAY 3 - FRIDAY PREVIEW)
PLYMOUTH take on Ipswich in a Premier League clash on Friday which could be vital to the race for play-off places.The Devils are seventh in the table, eight points behind the Witches but with three matches in hand and have currently raced only seven of their 12 scheduled fixtures at the St Boniface Arena.Plymouth are at full strength whilst Ipswich, who picked up three points at home to Workington on Thursday, bring in Aaron Summers to guest for Rohan Tungate, with rider-replacement for the injured Nico Covatti.Devils boss Lee Trigger said: “It’s a must win fixture for us. We have to make sure Ipswich do not go away with a losing bonus point. We can’t afford to let them have anything.”Ipswich manager Phil Hilton said: “We need to continue this form down at Plymouth and bring back some league points to help our keep our play-off place.”The teams in second and third places clash as Edinburgh, who have four matches in hand on new leaders Glasgow, host Peterborough at Armadale.The Monarchs use rider-replacement for the injured Sam Masters, whilst the Panthers do likewise for Ulrich Ostergaard, but Robert Lambert does race at No.1.Ricky Wells guests for Emil Grondal, who has a fixture clash in Denmark, with Matthew Wethers in for the injured Simon Lambert at reserve, and Lewis Blackbird takes over as captain.Panthers co-promoter Ged Rathbone said: “It is going to be arguably our toughest away meeting of the season, but I feel we have a line-up capable of causing Edinburgh problems.“We’ve picked up plenty of unexpected results on the road and that is again the aim tonight.”Recent results have seen Somerset drop to fifth in the table and Rebels boss Garry May is keen to see his side get back on the winning track against Redcar at the Oaktree Arena.May’s side lost home and away matches to Plymouth last weekend and are awaiting news on the fitness of Charles Wright, who was ruled out against the Devils.May said: “One bad weekend doesn't mean that it is the end of our play-off or Championship ambitions, what we have to do is to put this behind us, take forward any learnings from these two matches and re-group ahead of this Friday's match.“We haven't suddenly become a bad team overnight, and I am sure that the boys will bounce back from this and get back to the type of form we have been showing all season prior to last weekend's set of results against Plymouth.”Scunthorpe hand recent signing Zdenek Holub his home debut as the Scorpions face Newcastle at the Eddie Wright Raceway, with Josh Bates in as a guest for the injured Ben Wilson.They will use rider-replacement for Ryan Douglas who was hurt last night, with the Diamonds covering for Lewis Kerr with the same facility.Scunthorpe boss Dave Peet said: “Everything seems set against us this season. But last night at Sheffield, the lads showed a lot of fighting spirit following Ryan's withdrawal from the meeting.“If we ride like that tonight, I reckon we can pull off the win we need to close up the gap on the teams above us. We don't want to finish bottom.”In the City Gearboxes National League, King’s Lynn host Eastbourne with the Eagles needing to pull off a string of wins if they are to challenge leaders Birmingham.Bradley Wilson-Dean has been declared fit to lead the visitors after suffering a hand injury last weekend, with a trip to hospital confirming bad bruising but no breaks.Eagles boss Glenn Martin said: “Brad showed how tough he is after racing to a 12-point maximum after his heat one crash against Kent.“The big open spaces at King’s Lynn will be reminiscent of the tracks in New Zealand so I am sure he will relish the trip to Norfolk.”(FIXTURES)
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
SATURDAY AUGUST 8:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Edinburgh 7pm, Workington v Somerset 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Coventry 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 9:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 3pm, Newcastle v Workington 6.30, Peterborough v Edinburgh 5pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 2pm, Coventry v Stoke (follows previous fixture), Eastbourne v Buxton 3.30, Rye House v Mildenhall 3pm
