(SPEEDWAY 1 - SATURDAY REVIEW)
EASTBOURNE put one hand on the National Trophy with a 48-41 win in the first leg of the Final at Rye House on Saturday.The Eagles went clear on the night with a 5-0 in Heat 4 and gave a solid display led by No.1 Bradley Wilson-Dean, who scored 12 and dropped his only points when he fell in the last race, whilst skipper Marc Owen picked up 11. Guest Ben Morley top-scored for the home side on 11+2.Eastbourne boss Glenn Martin said: “That was a fabulous result; just brilliant. We are bang in form at just the right time of the season.”Rye House skipper Luke Priest said: “We’ve worked hard all year, and it’s a big disappointment that things came apart tonight.“We’re realistic to know that the second leg at Arlington is going to be really tough, but we will go there to score as many points as we can. “It’s been a really enjoyable season, though, and it been so good to see the young lads – Alfie (Bowtell), Danyon (Hume) and George (Hunter) progress the way they have.”(SPEEDWAY 2 - SUNDAY PREVIEW)
PETERBOROUGH promoter Ged Rathbone says his side are “complete and utter underdogs” as they take on table-topping reigning champions Edinburgh in the first leg of their Premier League play-off semi-final.But Rathbone is challenging the Panthers to build an advantage over the Monarchs in Sunday’s showdown at the Showground.Rathbone said: “There is no doubt that Edinburgh are the team to beat in Premier League speedway. They are the benchmark that we - and plenty of other clubs - aspire to be.“But that also means all the pressure is on them whereas we have absolutely nothing to lose. We are complete and utter underdogs.“We have been up against it from day one in our season when we lost Adam Roynon to injury. We've had a catalogue of problems to overcome from then on, but we're still going strong and our spirit has never been stronger.“The vast majority of people will give us no chance, but our belief that we can win the title has never changed.”Peterborough bring in Rohan Tungate to guest for injured No.1 Ulrich Ostergaard, whilst Anders Thomsen will race through the pain of a broken scaphoid. Edinburgh are sweating over the fitness of Kevin Wolbert, who has missed recent matches in the League Cup and KO Cup.Meanwhile Glasgow face a narrow two-point deficit when they entertain Plymouth in the second leg of their quarter-final tie at Ashfield.A semi-final clash with Somerset awaits the aggregate winners and Tigers boss Stewart Dickson is confident his side can finish the job at home.Dickson said: “We can live with the two points. We've still got to win the match, but fingers crossed we'll be OK. “We now need to finish the job off - we're only half-way there and there'll be no complacency. But we've given ourselves a very good chance of getting into the semi-finals and that was the target (on Friday).”Eastbourne will start the second leg of the National Trophy Final against Rye House as strong favourites after their 48-41 win at Hoddesdon on Saturday.Manager Glenn Martin said: “We must remember the job is only half done but we are absolutely in pole position. Another solid, professional performance is required from everyone to make sure we lift our first silverware since 2009.“I hope there is a big crowd at Arlington cheer the boys to success. They deserve it, having worked so hard all season.”(SPEEDWAY 3)
BIRMINGHAM have suffered another injury blow as Sam Chapman has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.The 26-year-old sustained shoulder damage in his heat 14, first bend spill during Wednesday's win over Cradley, meaning the Brummies will be without both Chapman and Zach Wajtknecht for their Gold Cup Final clashes against Eastbourne.Manager Graham Drury said: “It's disappointing for Sam because he really hasn't had much luck with injuries this season. He had that nasty looking hand injury at the start of the year and now this shoulder injury is worse than we first expected too.“Sam and Zach have proved to be a solid, reliable partnership in the main body of the team over the past couple of months and to lose them both is very disappointing for us.”
(FIXTURES)
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
TUESDAY OCTOBER 6:RECYCLED AGGREGATE SERVICES OLYMPIQUE: Wolverhampton 7.30
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: King’s Lynn v Cradley 7.30GOLD CUP FINAL 1st leg: Birmingham v Eastbourne 7.30DARCY WARD BENEFIT: Poole 7.30
