BRITISH SPEEDWAY OCTOBER 3, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)
 POOLE’S GRAND FINAL QUALIFICATION

POOLE sailed into the Championship Grand Final with a 50-39 win at Glasgow to wrap up a massive 41-point aggregate victory.The Pirates will now defend the league title against Leicester as the two most recent champions go head to head for the major silverware.

Already leading 60-30 from the first leg, the Pirates had no real alarms at Ashfield and pulled clear to win on the night with Steve Worrall top-scoring on 11+2, whilst guest Paul Starke scored 10+1 for the Tigers – whose wait for the title goes on despite making the play-offs in every season since 2015.

Poole co-promoter Danny Ford said: “The lads came here knowing that they needed a pressure-free 31 points but what we saw instead was a phenomenal performance.
“To be returning home from Scotland for the second week in a row on a Sunday, this time with mission accomplished, they can all justifiably feel very proud indeed.

 “We are now in all three Finals, which is where we wanted to be and now we’re just looking to finish the job in all three of them.”
Glasgow boss Cami Brown said: “Congratulations to Poole. They did a professional job tonight, and they’ve been the best side over the two legs.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue take a comfortable 14-point lead into the home leg of their Premiership play-off semi-final against Ipswich tonight (Monday). The Aces delivered a tremendous display to win 52-38 at Foxhall last Thursday and will now look to finish the job of qualifying for a second successive Grand Final.

Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “Thursday’s meeting at Ipswich went better than we could have ever imagined. The boys came together as a unit and everyone put in their two cents’ worth.
“I’m delighted to be bringing such a strong lead into our home leg, but we’ve only done half a job, and we’re mindful that the Witches will be coming here with nothing to lose. 

“They are quite capable of flipping this whole semi-final in their favour, so we need to stay focused and get on with finishing what we’ve started.”
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “We have already messed it up, so we have nothing to lose now and everything to gain. The pressure is off.  

“We have got a team of riders capable of beating Belle Vue riders. The history and stats won’t be in our favour, but we have no pressure on us and we can go and race and enjoy ourselves.
“We need to put in a much better performance than we did on Thursday for all the fans watching at home or travelling. We need to put in a performance that they have seen all season with that fighting spirit and give them something to be proud of.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

WOLVERHAMPTON and Sheffield make a second attempt at their play-off semi-final at Monmore Green after last week’s planned clash was frustrated by the weather.
The tie is now scheduled to be completed in the space of four nights, with the return at Owlerton on Thursday.
With new averages in force for October, Jack Holder returns to the No.1 position for the Tigers, exchanging places with former Wolves man Tobiasz Musielak, who lines up at No.5.

Wolves star Steve Worrall said: “Based on previous results we’ve had against them this year it should be close.
“These meetings are so important; we’ve raced our hearts out all season long and it essentially comes down to this.
“So we’ll be doing everything to try and get past the semi-finals, but Sheffield are a good team so it should be two good meetings.”

Tigers star Adam Ellis said: “There hasn’t really been anything between us and Wolves when we’ve raced each other this season.
“There’s been a few 46-44s and they’ve always been pretty close meetings all the way through.
“Wolves have got a pretty strong team but if we can ride how we have been in our last few meetings then hopefully we’ll have enough to get into that Final.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

MILDENHALL will hand an opportunity to motocross star Ashton Boughen in their upcoming trophy deciding fixtures at the conclusion of the National Development League campaign.

15-year-old Boughen has raced at junior league level this season and now sees his long-term future in speedway.
He will take the place of Sam Bebee for the Fen Tigers, who is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, and will line up for the reigning champions in their play-off semi-final at Berwick on Saturday.

Said Boughen: “I’m really excited about being asked to finish off the season for Mildenhall, and with the home track being just 45 minutes away from us it was a no brainer to say yes.
“It’s still early doors in my career of course, so I’m not expecting to go straight into the NDL and set the world alight, but one thing is for sure is I will give it 100 per cent.”
 
(FIXTURES)
 
MONDAY OCTOBER 3:
PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Belle Vue (52) v Ipswich (38) 7.30, 1st leg: Wolverhampton v Sheffield 7.30

TUESDAY OCTOBER 4:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Plymouth v Armadale 7pm

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 5:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Oxford v Leicester 7.30

THURSDAY OCTOBER 6:
PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Sheffield v Wolverhampton 7.30