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ALFIE Bowtell and Danyon Hume have received late call-ups to Thursday’s British Under-21 Final at Sheffield.Bowtell, of Mildenhall, and Birmingham’s Hume will step into the main meeting having initially been named as reserves.They get their opportunity due to the withdrawals of Connor Mountain after a crash at Mildenhall last weekend, and Ryan Kinsley due to work commitments.Liam Carr and Jamie Halder now take over as reserves at the Owlerton showpiece event.
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CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger praised every member of his side after seeing them work hard for a 53-36 National League win over Rye House at Monmore.Heat-leaders Ashley Morris (13), Luke Chessell (13) and Max Clegg (12) all scored heavily against the Raiders but were denied maximums as Ben Morley scored 12 for the Raiders.Pottinger said: “It’s a great credit to all the lads, this result. From the top three down to Brad Andrews, everyone played their part.“I’m really pleased with the effort, the team spirit is brilliant, everyone seems to be getting along great and we’re looking forward to getting Jack Kingston back.“James (Purchase) was taken down twice but he bounced back and put a great shift in for the team. Everyone deserves great credit and thanks to our fans who turned out in force again.”Rye House reserve Kenny Bowdery was withdrawn with possible broken ribs after flipping on the start-line in Heat 2.Raiders boss Peter Schroeck said: “There was a good crowd here tonight, and it certainly boosted the boys. “Ben was excellent, and he had some real battles with Max Clegg, Luke Chessell and Ashley Morris. Luke (Priest) was ‘Mr Consistent’, and Ben Hopwood had a decent meeting too.“The track changed as the match progressed and the moisture came out as the temperature dropped, and that caught the younger lads out a bit.”
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LEICESTER are offering specially-reduced admission prices for their televised Elite League clash with Swindon on Wednesday.The first Sky Sports fixture of the season sees the Lions bid for a first victory, with Aaron Summers making his debut as a replacement for Grzegorz Walasek – whilst former Leicester No.1 Jason Doyle returns to Beaumont Park as leader of the Robins.Adult admission has been reduced to £10 whilst a family of two adults and two children can gain entry for £22.Lions promoter David Hemsley said: “We promoted a special admission price for the same fixture last season which coincidently was transmitted live to a TV audience and we attracted a large crowd to Beaumont Park. “The fans witnessed an entertaining meeting with a Lions win at the end and we would like to think that sports minded people of Leicester will take advantage of our offer and come and support their local team.”Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: “We’d like to think it’s a meeting we can win and a chance to pick up some points away from home, but you never know.“They’ve had a few meetings more than us now and it could go either way. We’ve got to give them respect, and I still think it’s going to be a tough meeting even though they’ve been struggling.“It’s nice to see Aaron Summers back in the Elite League. He did a great job for us last year, and I’m really pleased for the lad because he deserves it.”Meanwhile King’s Lynn host Coventry in the first half of a double-header at the Adrian Flux Arena, with both sides looking to bounce back from recent disappointments.The Stars were beaten at home by Belle Vue in their last home outing, whilst the Bees also went down on their own circuit as they lost out to Wolverhampton.King’s Lynn co-promoter Dale Allitt said: “We showed our capabilities at home to Lakeside on Good Friday and they've made a great start to the season.“We know we can put in some big performances, it's just a case of everyone clicking and everyone doing their job on the night.“We always seem to have some great battles against Coventry and I'm sure we're in for another entertaining meeting at the Adrian Flux Arena tonight.”Coventry star Jason Garrity said: “I’ve had mixed fortunes at King’s Lynn, so I suppose I do and I don’t like it there!“I’ve had some good meetings there, also some bad ones and I’ve bent some bikes there as well, but that’s all part and parcel of the sport. We’ll roll up there on Wednesday and try to do something good, that’s for sure.”
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KING’S Lynn Young Stars open their Travel Plus National League campaign with a home clash against Stoke on Wednesday.The match is the second half of a double-header at the Adrian Flux Arena, following the Elite League match between the Stars and Coventry.Young Stars boss Dale Allitt says the 'underdogs' tag suits his line-up down to the ground and he predicts an exciting season is in store.“Certainly from the media point of view, the attention always seems to be on the likes of Birmingham, Eastbourne and Cradley for example,” Allitt commented.“But we feel we've assembled a very good side; we've got strength in depth and we've got some great young riders who it's going to be a joy to watch progress over the course of the season.“We feel we can have a really positive season in 2016 and we want to hit the ground running with three points against Stoke tonight.”Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “They are a good team around their home circuit, but we have Ben (Wilson), Tony (Atkin) and Danny (Phillips) who all ride there well and we will be looking for some good points from Chris Widman and Shaun Tedham in the middle order for us. “It’s also important for us to get some points at reserve and we’re looking to get a few extra points from them as they’re just as important as the main body of the team.”Meanwhile Birmingham are looking to make it two out of two when they host Buxton in the National Trophy.The Brummies picked up a comprehensive 57-33 victory over Stoke in the competition at the end of March and can seize control of their group with another win at Perry Barr against the Hitmen.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “If we can pick up another big win at home to Buxton then that puts us in a great position with a huge chance of progressing through to the final.“It would take some pressure off our away legs – but we’d still be going into those looking to maintain our 100 per cent record in the competition.“We hope to see another large crowd at Perry Barr giving the team that extra incentive and we are confident we can continue our excellent start to the season.”
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EDINBURGH star Ryan Fisher has secured the services of American colleague Billy Janniro for his Testimonial at Armadale on June 3.The duo were team-mates at Coventry in their early days of Elite League racing, but Janniro has not raced in the UK since leaving Brandon at the end of the 2008 season although he still competes in the States.Fisher said: “Of all the riders I want in my meeting, Billy is the number one that I wanted to be there because we have been so close.“Billy signed for Coventry the year before I did, and when I went there we stayed together for a while. We had also raced together when we were kids. I’m very pleased that he’s coming to my meeting and I think he will still be very good for the fans to watch.”
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WEDNESDAY APRIL 13:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Leicester v Swindon 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Stoke (follows EL fixture)NATIONAL TROPHY: Birmingham v Buxton 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 14:BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Sheffield 7.30ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Wolverhampton 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, Redcar v Workington 7.30FOUR TEAM TOURNAMENT: Isle of Wight v Exeter v Weymouth v Southampton 7pm
FRIDAY APRIL 15:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Scunthorpe 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Plymouth v Rye House 7.15TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Birmingham 7.30
