(SPEEDWAY 1)
SHEFFIELD and Peterborough have clashed off-track ahead of their Premier League play-off quarter-final at Owlerton on Thursday.The Panthers were unwilling to accept the fixture due to the weekend commitments of three of their riders - but the Tigers insist the meeting needs to be run this week.Peterborough chief Ged Rathbone said: “We have pulled out all the stops at great expense to the club to ensure we have the strongest possible team, but unfortunately we cannot change the fact we will be missing supporters due to the short notice at which this meeting has been arranged.“All we can do now is approach the meeting in a professional manner and with the full intention of getting a result.“Our riders will need no motivating on Thursday and I think it is safe to say that our team-talk has already been written for us. Let’s just hope the game being played by Sheffield backfires.”Sheffield promoter Damien Bates hit back: “We look forward to welcoming Peterborough to Owlerton on Thursday for what I am sure will be a great night of Speedway. “In particular it will be good to see Ben Barker, Anders Thomsen and Emil Grondal in action after changing their travel arrangements. “As for playing a game, that is simply not true. We need a meeting on to fulfil our commitments to our excellent stadium landlords.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BELLE Vue star Craig Cook insists the Aces will be focused on completing the job when they visit Swindon on Monday.The Manchester club will take a 14-point advantage into the second leg of their Elite League play-off semi-final and both of their results at Blunsdon this season would be enough for them to reach the Final should they produced a repeat performance.Cook said: “It was a fantastic result but you can’t help feeling we could have got a little bit more from the meeting had the rain stayed away. Having said that, we’re in a great position.“14 points may just be enough to see us through to the Final. The faith and the determination is there but we’re going to have to work hard and give it everything when we go down to Swindon. We aren’t in a position to allow any of our previous results there to influence how we approach the meeting.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
COVENTRY promoter Mick Horton is desperate to see his side end Poole’s reign as Elite League champions in the play-offs this season.The Pirates won the Grand Final between the two clubs last year and then elected to face the Bees in this season’s semi-finals after they finished first and second in the table - and the re-arranged first leg is at Brandon on Friday.Horton said: “I thought (Poole) might go for Swindon, but maybe they desperately wanted a Poole-Swindon Final. They do have a good record at Coventry and they’re a great side. They obviously think they can roll us over, but we’ll see. “This season we’ve been to their place and won, and they’ve come here and won whilst one meeting here was a bit of a fiasco, and we have a score to settle. The boys will be up for it and an extra point for us is when we get the big crowd in. We want to make Poole feel uncomfortable, and the fans can play a big part in that for us.”
(SPEEDWAY 4 - THURSDAY PREVIEW)
SHEFFIELD and Peterborough get the Premier League play-offs underway with the first leg of their quarter-final tie at Owlerton on Thursday.It’s a match which has generated plenty of debate in the build-up, and the Tigers are looking for an 11th successive home win with their new-look line-up at full strength.Robin Aspegren makes his home debut at reserve alongside Paco Castagna with Josh Bates moving into the main body of the team, whilst Peterborough operate rider-replacement for the injured Ulrich Ostergaard but Ben Barker, Anders Thomsen and Emil Grondal have all changed their travel plans to be available to ride.Bates said: “I've been riding well at Sheffield recently, I've been getting double figures almost every meeting so I'm in good form. “Hopefully I can just keep doing the same in the main body, and if I ride like I have been then there shouldn't be a problem. “Everyone is looking forward to the play-offs, it's going to be an exciting time for us so hopefully we can all ride well on Thursday to build up a good lead and put ourselves in a good position.”Peterborough skipper Simon Lambert said: “From a personal point-of-view, I’m very happy to be facing Sheffield. It is a track I like and somewhere I’ve ridden of times.“It would be great to go there and get the win. If we can’t manage that we have to keep things as tight as we possibly can.“We cannot leave ourselves with lots of work to do at home because our form at the Showground has been somewhat indifferent.”
(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF Q/F 1st leg: Sheffield v Peterborough 7.30
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18:ELITE LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Coventry v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19:GOLD CUP S/F 1st leg: Rye House v Eastbourne 7pm
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20: GOLD CUP S/F 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Rye House 2pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 5: Rye House 5pm
