(SPEEDWAY 1)

SOMERSET boss Garry May says the Rebels travel to Redcar on Thursday with high hopes of defending the

Premier League Fours title.The Final takes place over 16 races at the Media Prime Arena with Somerset, Edinburgh, Newcastle and

Ipswich vying for the silverware.Somerset have Charles Wright back in their side having been ruled out due to injury for the initially

abandoned staging at Peterborough.May said: “When you look at the line-ups for each of the four teams taking part in the Final, you could

make a case for any one of them lifting the winners’ trophy at the end of the night, but as the defending

Fours Champions we are very determined to retain our crown.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE manager Neil Middleditch dedicated the club’s third successive Elite League title to seriously-

injured club asset Darcy Ward.The Pirates overcame Belle Vue over two legs in a terrific Grand Final by a narrow two-point aggregate

margin.As in the first leg, the Aces were left to rue a slow start as Poole raced into a 14-4 lead at Wimborne

Road, but they were then pegged back and had to wait until the penultimate race to clinch the title.Kacper Gomolski produced the crucial winning ride in Heat 14, holding off Josh Grajczonek after team-mate

Dakota North had fallen, whilst the Aces brought the score back to 46-44 on the night with a 5-1 in the

last race.Captain Maciej Janowski won three races on his way to an 11-point score for the Pirates, whilst Craig

Cook (13) was outstanding for the Aces and skipper Scott Nicholls added 10+3.Middleditch said: “The number that is on all our minds at present is 43 which is Darcy Ward's racing

number, and it was 43 years since Belle Vue achieved the treble. “If you add four and three together it makes seven and this is our seventh league title so I am convinced

our names were on the title since Darcy's tragic accident in August.”Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “It's hard to be disappointed with tonight. The determination, the

efforts, the resilience and the character that these boys have put in over the two legs has been quite

remarkable.“I wouldn't even say we were beaten by a better team. We were beaten by a team who had more luck than we

did and for everything we put into this Grand Final, that's kind of heartbreaking.“But that's speedway, and that's racing. There's no more I can say for the riders and how they conducted

themselves. The disappointment they must be feeling now, my heart bleeds for them.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

BIRMINGHAM set up a Gold Cup Final with Eastbourne by overcoming Perry Barr co-tenants Cradley over two

legs in their semi.The Brummies took an 18-point advantage into their ‘home’ leg on a night which also saw them presented

them with the National League title.The second leg was much closer with Birmingham eventually prevailing 47-43 thanks to an 18-point maximum

from Adam Ellis, whilst the Heathens took optimism from their display ahead of their KO Cup semi-final

against King’s Lynn, with reserve Arron Mogridge piling up 14+2.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “With all the razzmatazz and the hype of the National League trophy

presentation prior to the meeting, I thought the lads handled the occasion very well overall."It was great to see so many supporters turn out for this special night and to top off the presentation

with another win was the icing on the cake. Full credit to Cradley though - they had their injury

problems going into tonight but put up a good fight to push us all the way.”Heathens manager Will Pottinger said: “People were saying that we wouldn't get anywhere near Birmingham

tonight and it feels good to prove those people wrong.“To take it to a last heat decider under the circumstances is a great effort and we can hold our heads

high. We can take some confidence from tonight's performance and we'll head to King's Lynn next week with

the belief that we can go there and get a positive result.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GLASGOW skipper Aaron Summers is calling on his side to put things right when they go into Premier League

play-off action this weekend.The Tigers make the long trip to Plymouth on Friday for the first leg of their quarter-final looking to

bounce back from a League Cup Final loss to rivals Edinburgh.Summers said: “We're at the crunch now. This weekend is everything - we've got to put everything into it.

I would imagine Stewart (Dickson) will be helping any of the boys that were struggling this week and

making sure they're all good.“We've fallen a little bit lucky with Ryan Fisher pulling out of the Plymouth team, so hopefully that

gives us a little bit more of a chance and we can pull it off. That would be awesome.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY OCTOBER 1:PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS FINAL: Edinburgh v Ipswich v Newcastle v Somerset (at Redcar) 7.30

FRIDAY OCTOBER 2:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF Q/F 1st leg: Plymouth v Glasgow 7.15TRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30KENT COUNTY FOURS: Kent 6.30

SATURDAY OCTOBER 3:NATIONAL TROPHY FINAL 1st leg: Rye House v Eastbourne 7pm

SUNDAY OCTOBER 4:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Peterborough v Edinburgh 5pmPREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF Q/F 2nd leg: Glasgow v Plymouth 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY FINAL 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Rye House 2pm