BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

Date: Thursday September 14, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

SCUNTTHORPE DIG DEEP

SCUNTHORPE stunned title holders Poole by taking a potentially vital point from their Cab Direct Championship play-off opener at Wimborne Road.
The Scorpions came from 33-27 down with five races remaining to level the scores at 45-45 after Heat 15, giving them a league point in Group A, with the Pirates collecting two as they were successful in the subsequent Super Heat.

Ryan Douglas gave another inspirational performance for the visitors with 17 points on a track where he frequently excels, whilst former Poole rider Drew Kemp returned to haunt his former club with 13+2 at reserve.
Steve Worrall (11+1) and Richard Lawson (10+2) got the Pirates over the line in the Super Heat but they will now be under pressure to secure results on the road themselves.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It was an amazing result for us – we always knew we had it within us and that the boys were capable of putting in a performance like this. We’d already enjoyed a decent night at Poole earlier in the season, so we had no fears coming here.
“You could even argue a couple of the refereeing decisions went against us, but I’m happy to hold them to 45-45.

“In the Super Heat, Dougie tried to slow it down and help Drew, but it wasn’t to be. But we’ve got to look at the bigger picture and realise that this result puts us in complete control of our group.”
Lawson said: “It was a very tough meeting tonight, we all tried really hard, we nearly threw that away going to in Heat 15, but we came through it and really we know that we will now have to go to Scunthorpe and win like we did before.

“It is certainly looking like the winner of that meeting will be topping the table, but that is not to write Edinburgh off of course.
“We all like the track there at Scunthorpe and whilst we haven’t got the lead that we wanted to take, we can still claim that we are unbeaten at home. We are the Pirates and we have come from worse.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

OXFORD are off the mark in Group B of the Cab Direct Championship play-offs after a hard-fought 50-40 win over Glasgow.
The Tigers had pegged the Cheetahs to a two-point lead with four races remaining at Cowley, but the Cheetahs finished strongly to leave the aggregate point situation also intriguingly poised.

Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls combined for a crucial 5-1 over Vadim Tarasenko and Chris Harris in Heat 13, before Jordan Jenkins and Henry Atkins secured victory on the night by relegating Tom Brennan to the back in Heat 14.
Oxford were on another 5-1 in Heat 15 but Harris (14) split Nicholls (12+1) and Masters (10+1) to leave the final margin at ten points.

Cheetahs manager Peter Schroeck said: “We had to dig deep against a good team tonight and we’re pleased with the end result.
“After Heat 11 we banged our heads together and regrouped after a couple of frustrating results and I couldn’t have asked for a better response. The supporters played a crucial role too – we could hear them in the pits all night and hand on heart it absolutely contributed to our final score.

“It will be a tough return fixture, but we’ve built a lead we are more than capable of defending which is what matters. Before that we have to refocus our attention to two big meetings against Redcar where we hope to do the job required of us.”
Glasgow boss Cami Brown said: “It was disappointing to let it slip towards the end of the meeting. We trailed by just a couple of points after Heat 11, so we’re a bit frustrated by that.

“But it’s very much on a knife-edge really. The aggregate point will be crucial and we are very capable of overturning that deficit at Ashfield later this month. But it’s going to be very hard.
“I feel we will get stronger as the play-offs unfold. We’ve got to beat Redcar at home to keep the destiny of the group in our own hands before the return meeting with Oxford.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

IPSWICH and Sheffield will race the Premiership KO Cup Final to a conclusion at Foxhall tonight (Thursday) with the Tigers holding a six-point advantage.
The teams are unchanged from Monday’s first leg with Joe Thompson again standing in for brother Dan in the Rising Star berth for the hosts, whilst Max Fricke and Kyle Newman come in as guests for the visitors.
Ipswich are chasing their first KOC triumph since way back in 1998 whilst Sheffield are the reigning holders of the top-flight Cup competition.

Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I think everyone is confident that we are capable of overturning it, but we are six points down against a very good team that are capable of coming to Ipswich and winning.
“I would prefer to be six points up than six points down so we will need a massive effort, like we have shown over the last two months to get ourselves to this point where we are going for a Cup and the league.

“We are going to need all of that effort and determination we have shown if we are going to win the Knockout Cup on Thursday.”
Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “We know it’s going to be tough, but we’re far from giving up and throwing in the towel.
“At the end of the day we’ve got a lead, it is what it is and six points is six points.
“It’s still all to play for and it’s game on as far as we’re concerned.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

PETERBOROUGH meet King’s Lynn tonight (Thursday) in the final Sports Insure Premiership meeting of the regular season ahead of the play-offs.
Neither side have qualified in the top four but the Panthers go into the meeting in great form having won their last five matches in all competitions.

It is also set to be an emotional night as the match is scheduled to be the last league fixture at the venue, which is subject to a proposed redevelopment.
The home side bring in Richard Lawson and Zach Cook to guest for Artem Laguta and Ben Cook respectively, with the latter ruled out after a crash at Poole on Wednesday. Meanwhile the Stars track Lewis Kerr and Connor Mountain as stand-ins.

Panthers boss Rob Lyon said: “It’s the last league meeting here and Robert (Lambert) is a good attraction. It will be nice to see him around here again.
“But the focus for us is to get another win and get as many points on the board as we can. We want to make it a respectable end to the season, and I think we’ve certainly done that so far with some great racing as well.”

King’s Lynn manager David Hoggart said: “We had hoped to have a full complement of riders but with injuries and Emil (Breum) riding in the SGP2, we weren’t able to do that.
“We are grateful that Robert re-scheduled a few things at his end to ensure he could ride, and that means we should be able to put on a good show at least.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP ROUND 2: Peterborough (46) v King’s Lynn (44) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Ipswich (42) v Sheffield (48) 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick (29) v Belle Vue (61) 7pm, Workington (40) v Kent (50) 3pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 5pm