BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 29, 2022
(SPEEDWAY 1)
KING’S LYNN ARE LIVING THE DREAM
KING’S Lynn’s dream start to the season continued with a 46-44 win at local rivals Ipswich in their final League Cup group fixture.
Once again the Stars came out on top in a last-heat decider, this time with Richie Worrall and Niels-Kristian Iversen securing the 3-3 they needed from the final race ahead of home captain Danny King.
Worrall top-scored for the visitors with 11 points as they made it four wins out of four, whilst Iversen added 8+2. Jason Doyle scored 13+1 and King 11 for the Witches, who were without both regular reserves due to illness.
King’s Lynn boss Alex Brady said: “All four of our meetings have gone to last heat deciders which has been entertaining, not great for my heart rate, but the boys are a dream to work with, “It was a phenomenal performance from the reserves, and it was crucial to us when we built this team, we wanted to have strong reserves.
“I’ve said all along that I believe Richie is the strongest reserve in the league, and on tonight’s performance Jack (Thomas) isn’t too far behind him, so it’s really pleasing, and it’s nice to have that flexibility.”
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Obviously it was a very good performance from the top four, but the scores don’t lie and unfortunately the rest of the team contributed very little, and that proved to be the big difference.
“Clearly, we would have much preferred it if we could have had Starkey (Paul Starke) back tonight, and Anders (Rowe) too had a really good meeting in Poland in the week, so he would have been coming back here with his confidence back up, and that certainly would have made us stronger tonight.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SCOTTISH rivals Edinburgh and Glasgow face derby weekend with their first clash coming at Armadale tonight (Friday).
The Monarchs have opened their season with three wins from four, but manager Alex Harkess expects their toughest test yet against a Tigers side who are chasing away points after missing out at Leicester last week.
Harkess said: “This week is obviously harder, the top teams have to come to Armadale eventually and we’ve got to go to their places.
“It’s never an easy fixture, no matter what the record books might say. They have riders that are more than capable of doing well round Armadale, we’ve seen it all in the past, it’s up to us to nip them in the bud and not let them get in front.
“That’s the plan, it will not be easy, that’s for sure!”
Glasgow star Tom Brennan said: “We will keep fighting for results everywhere we go. We have a big weekend ahead against Edinburgh.
“These are the meetings that the fans look forward to the most. Last year we had two semi-finals with the Monarchs, we won one and lost one over two legs.
“There’s not much between the sides so we are in for two tough meetings. Armadale is such a cool little track and we are all looking forward to being there.”
*LIVE STREAMING: https://www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk/emtv
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SCUNTHORPE look to build on an encouraging recent run when they host Plymouth in the Championship tonight (Friday).
The Scorpions have taken seven points from their last three matches, including one at the Coliseum in Tuesday’s reverse fixture thanks to a late comeback.
Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It was an excellent result at Plymouth on Tuesday and perhaps a point we weren’t expecting giving the way that Gladiators had smashed Leicester the previous week. To get a point there has given us a lot of confidence.
“We can’t rest though because we have got to do it again tonight and make sure we take all three points against what is a good Plymouth team at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
“I think this year’s Championship will come down to away points because I don’t think there are going to be many away wins. It means you’re actively trying to stop the away team from getting a point because it will be crucial at the end of the season.”
*LIVE STREAMING: https://tv.scunthorpe-speedway.com
(SPEEDWAY 4)
OXFORD boss Jason Crump is confident his side will relish conditions when they visit Redcar in the KO Cup tonight (Friday).
The Cheetahs take a narrow four-point lead into the meeting after being pegged by a Bears fightback in Wednesday’s first leg at Cowley.
Crump said: “Redcar is a great racing track. I’m sure our boys will like going there – it’s always well prepared and is a fair circuit to ride on.
“We have the talent to win this tie on aggregate, there’s no doubt about it. At the moment, we’re struggling to get five or six of the boys firing during a meeting. “We definitely haven’t had all seven firing at the same time. That’s a challenge for Peter (Schroeck) and myself – and the riders too, they know that.
“We’ll have to dig deep and work hard if we’re to find that perfect formula.”
The Cheetahs have Nathan Stoneman guesting for Josh Macdonald at reserve, with the home side at full strength.
*LIVE STREAMING: https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY APRIL 30:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Newcastle 7pm, Leicester v Redcar 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 1:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Edinburgh 6pm, Newcastle v Berwick 4pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Kent v Mildenhall 12pm
MONDAY MAY 2:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Peterborough 12pm, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 8pm
NO PRESSURE ON ZMARZLIK AFTER LATVIAN GP WIN