(SPEEDWAY 1 - TUESDAY REVIEW)
SOMERSET suffered a second home Premier League defeat in three outings - but Rebels boss Garry May insists his side will bounce back after losing to Edinburgh.The Monarchs triumphed 51-42 in the televised encounter at Armadale to extend their lead at the top of the table with a third away win in the space of four days.Craig Cook scored 15+2 for the visitors with Erik Riss adding a stunning 14 and Justin Sedgmen 11+1, whilst Charles Wright was top scorer for the home side on 13+1.May said: “We were just not at the races when it came to getting out the starts, and when you are giving a team such as Edinburgh that much of an advantage out of the gate, you are always going to make things doubly difficult for yourselves. “We can have no complaints about the defeat, Edinburgh were the better side on the night and we paid the price for generally being second best out of the gate.“We haven't suddenly become a poor team, I know that we are a much better side than we showed here and we need to get back to the sort of form we were showing up until just a few weeks ago when we face Ipswich at the Oaktree Arena in a week’s time in order to keep on-track with our play-off ambitions.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 - WEDNESDAY PREVIEW)
POOLE take on Belle Vue at Wimborne Road on Wednesday in the first of three home matches against the three clubs vying for two Elite League play-off places.The Pirates, who can overhaul Coventry at the top of the table with a win, are yet to beat Belle Vue this season as the Aces collected a draw on their last visit to Dorset - and Poole’s next two home matches are against fellow challengers Swindon and King’s Lynn.Poole promoter Matt Ford said: “We would love to have the chance of choosing our play-off opponents. That third successive league title is something we have been striving for, and between now and the play-offs every point is vital at this stage.“It starts for us with the need to overhaul Belle Vue on Wednesday. They have the better statistics in the 'head-to-heads' against us this season and I am sure that Mark Lemon would love to be able to claim that his side were the only team not to have tasted defeat by the Pirates. “We cannot afford that to be the case and must go out and deliver the kind of performance we have been producing of late here at Wimborne Road.”Aces boss Lemon said: “You have to acknowledge right away that the Pirates have been banging in some big scores at home lately so it’s not going to be a walk in the park, but then life on the road never is!“It looks like a very tasty meeting to be honest and one in which we need to be performing, win lose or draw, because hopefully if we reach the play offs these are the meetings that will test us.”Meanwhile Cradley are hoping for a Heathens winner in their showpiece Golden Hammer individual event at Perry Barr.The home club have five representatives and ex-Heathens Ashley Morris, Tom Perry, Darryl Ritchings, Danny Phillips and Dan Greenwood are also included along with Birmingham’s Adam Ellis and Zach Wajtknecht and former British Under-21 Champion Rob Branford.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “It’s going to be a great night of racing and naturally we all want to see a Heathens winner.“It’s a tough one to call, there are several serious contenders for the Hammer and I think we will see some fine racing.“There’s been a lot of interest in the meeting and I’m sure the fans will go home having enjoyed a great night out.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Belle Vue 7.30FAST GOLDEN HAMMER: Cradley 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 13:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30, Swindon v Coventry 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 14:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Leicester 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Rye House 7.15, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30
