BRITISH SPEEDWAY JUNE 23, 2022

Photo: Troy Batchelor

(SPEEDWAY 1)

OXFORD’S THRILLING LAST GASP WIN

OXFORD edged out Glasgow 46-44 in a Championship thriller in front of a big crowd at Cowley on Wednesday.
Troy Batchelor and guest Chris Harris combined for a dramatic Heat 15 5-1 for the Cheetahs to overturn the Tigers’ two-point advantage after a close-fought encounter throughout.

Aaron Summers top-scored for the hosts with 12 points in a successful home debut whilst Batchelor notched 11+2. Danyon Hume impressed for the visitors with 13+1 at reserve.

Glasgow boss Cami Brown said: “We deserved more than a point for the effort, we just lost it in the last race unfortunately.
“Sometimes when you have choice of gates in Heat 15 you can over-think things and it ended up being just the second 5-1 of the night.

“Craig Cook tried everything to get into second and get the draw, but it wasn’t to be. Both teams never had more than a couple of points between them for most of the night and a draw might have been the fairest result.

“I want to give a special mention to Danyon Hume, who was immense – it was a brilliant performance from the kid – his best since he joined, and at a track he had never been to. There were flashes of better form from Craig as well.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE were held to a 45-45 draw by Plymouth despite the visitors losing Michael Palm Toft after two rides.
Richard Lawson secured the result for the Pirates by winning the re-run of Heat 15 after team-mate Danny King had been disqualified for a first-bend fall.

The Gladiators were ten points up at the halfway stage but Palm Toft, who had won his first two rides, was ruled out after a clash with Lawson.
Lawson scored 11+1 for the hosts with reserve Drew Kemp and King both on 10 – whilst Kyle Howarth was a superb guest for the visitors with 15+2, and skipper Hans Andersen scored 12.

Said Lawson: “After Danny fell first time he came up to me and said, ‘go on Rich, do it for me please,’ and I thought, ‘right, let’s do it!

“Hearing the fans that were right behind me, I knew I had to get out there and do it. Then I shed my steel shoe early on and I am one of those riders who likes to use my steel shoe, some riders out there don’t mind leg trailing, but it’s not my style.

“So I just threw myself into it on the last couple of laps on turns three and four, hung in there and got the job done.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

BIRMINGHAM produced their best performance of the season to beat play-off chasing Redcar 50-40 at Perry Barr.
The Brummies stunned their opponents with four 5-1s in the first six races, and then withstood a mid-meeting fightback to secure the result.

The Bears had trimmed the gap to ten points ahead of Heat 12 but tactical substitute Lewis Kerr suffered mechanical trouble at the start-line, which effectively ended the visitors’ hopes even though they provided the majority of race wins.

Justin Sedgmen won Heats 13 and 15 to top-score for a solid Birmingham side with 10 points, whilst Kerr (11) and Erik Riss (10+1) reached double figures for the Bears.

Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “50-40 makes it sound much closer than it actually was. “That was a walloping really, and the final scoreline flatters Redcar a bit. We were the better side all the way through and it could and probably should’ve been an even bigger victory.
“All the boys were on it though, it was a great team performance, they were all on it from 1-7 and understandably we’re all going home very happy.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

IPSWICH and Peterborough meet at Foxhall tonight (Thursday – UK time) in a rapid return clash of the local rivals.
The Panthers won 50-39 at Alwalton on Monday but are now without two of their top five, with skipper Scott Nicholls ruled out after crashing in that fixture, whist Michael Palm Toft damaged a shoulder at Poole on Wednesday.

Justin Sedgmen guests for Nicholls for the visitors, who also operate rider replacement at No.1 for Palm Toft. The Witches bring in Broc Nicol to guest for the injured Ben Barker.

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Peterborough got the win on Monday and prevented us from getting anything, so over the course of the two meetings we want to match that and stop Peterborough taking anything from us on Thursday.

“The main objective is to get another win on the board and three points. Peterborough will be a tough test with a team of riders that like Foxhall so we need to regroup.

“Everyone is going to have to put in a good performance to cover for Ben because he has been very good of late.”
Panthers manager Rob Lyon said: “It would be great to get another win at Ipswich. It’s been a good, happy hunting ground there for the last couple of years.

“But like all teams and all matches this year it won’t be easy, it’s a tough league – but we’ll go there with renewed confidence that we can pull off a good result.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

KING’S Lynn hand a debut to Rising Star Jason Edwards in tonight’s (Thursday) Premiership fixture against Sheffield.

Edwards is an injury replacement for Jack Thomas, whilst the Stars also bring in Nick Morris to guest for the unavailable Niels-Kristian Iversen as they bid to bounce back from a home defeat to Ipswich last time out.

The Tigers travel at full strength as they look to make ground from fourth place in the league table.
Stars boss Alex Brady said: “We recognise the importance of this meeting. Losing at home is something obviously no-one intends to do, but we felt we were strong enough this season to win every match at home, and the odd away point would carry us through to the play-offs.

“We now know that the equation is quite simple, we need to catch that home defeat up with an away win somewhere, or two potentially.
“If we can get back to winning ways on Thursday night then we’re right back in the mix for the play-offs, and we’re confident we can do that if we do our jobs correctly.”

Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “We were disappointed after letting the lead slip at Peterborough, so we know we need to get focussed again.
“A win away at King’s Lynn would be a real good way of not only getting some more important points on the board, but also establishing ourselves right back up there.

“We know it’s not going to be easy though; they’re a tough team who have been very well made-up this year, so we’ll have to be very, very good to go there and win.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

ARMADALE have made a double change with the signings of Lee Complin and Elliot Kelly.
Complin had made his comeback to the sport at Championship level with Newcastle this season prior to their withdrawal, whilst Kelly was set to start the campaign with Mildenhall before electing to take time out of the sport.

The Devils have released William Lawson and replaced George Rothery, who is also taking a break.
Complin said: “Originally the plan was to join the Devils to get extra rides alongside Newcastle but obviously that isn’t the case now, so I am just happy to be able to keep riding.

“I’ve always liked Armadale and I think I got something like six points there for Newcastle earlier in the season in what was my first visit in 11 years, so I am looking forward to riding it more.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY JUNE 23:
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 24:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30, Glasgow v Leicester 7.30, Redcar v TBC 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Berwick 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 25:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Scunthorpe 7pm, Leicester v Birmingham 7pm

SUNDAY JUNE 26:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Poole OFF
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Leicester 3pm