Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2007

Early arrivers at Owlerton were met with the sight of a quagmire where the back straight normally is, legacy of a stockcar meeting in the rain last Sunday. The track staff had to wait until the afternoons greyhound meeting had finished but then got stuck in and performed a miracle with the start being delayed by just 20 minutes. The Redcar Bears were missing their top two with Gary Havelock and Matt Tressarieu both injured, but on loan Sheffield asset and Owlerton favourite Robbie Kessler has been in fine form for the Bears, and elite league Magnus Karlsson is another Owlerton specialist. Reserve Jamie Courtney is another injury victim and his place was also taken by a Tigers asset, Mark Thompson so Chris Van Straaten certainly played his cards right, although Josh Auty would have been my choice for the other reserve position.

The Sheffield Window Centre Tigers started with a 5-1 from the gate with all four riders cautious on the entry to turn three, and Birko just staying ahead of Magnus while Ricky Ashworth pulled clear in the lead. Paul Cooper and Rusty Hodgson collided on the first corner in heat 2 with Rusty taking a tumble and Paul giving him a lift back to the pits. James Cockle and Paul trapped ahead in the rerun and were never troubled. In form James Grieves shocked the Owlerton regulars by leading heat 3, albeit only as far as the third bend where André Compton swooped around him, but Ben Wilson trailed home a poor last behind Herr Kessler. Chris Kerr made the gate to lead heat 4 with Cooperman keeping him on his toes, and André brushed aside Magnus to win heat 5 with Ben working hard to take a point from Dan Giffard. Tigers lead by 10 points but the track is improving with each race.

Birko didn't even reach the second bend in heat 6 and Ricky found himself chasing Chris Kerr. Ricky gambled on the inside line on the greasy third turn on the second lap but Chris regained the place exiting the pits turn. Undaunted Ricky had another go on the third lap and this time his bravery was rewarded. Good speedway racing. James Grieves was given a tactical in heat 7, although I'd have given it to his team mate. Robbie Kessler scorches into the lead from James with Joel Parsons hard on his heels. Entering the last lap Robbie cleverly lets James through into the lead and then cuts across Joel's line and keeps him at bay to the chequered flag for an excellent 1-8! The racing is getting better by the minute. The Bears were easy prey for the Tigers in heat 8 with Cooperman and Birko rebuilding the lead. Ben Wilson gated and showed us what he is capable of in heat 9 with Chris Kerr trying all he could to get past. André seemed reluctant to go around Chris and just couldn't make the inside line work the way Ricky had earlier. Robbie traps again to lead heat 10 from James. Ricky ventures up the inside of the third turn again and picks off James but nearly collides with Robbie and has to bale out, with James and Birko just avoiding him. You can't fault his courage though. Birko is outpaced in the rerun and commits the crime (again) of giving up as they enter the last lap. The Sheffield Window Centre Tigers lead by 5 points.

Magnus Karlsson leads the way in heat 11 but Joel Parsons in hungry for points. Joel makes a pass on the inside of the 3rd and 4th turns on the second lap to steal the lead but Magnus has the power to blast around him as they enter the first turn, and the pair are still locked together as they cross the finish line. James Grieves took a flyer in heat 12 but Dave Dowling was having none of that and called all four back. André led from tapes to flag in the rerun with Paul unable to catch James.

This account of heat 13 is reproduced from the British Speedway forum with the authors permission;

‘This next heat should be a cracker,’ I observed to my nephew of heat 13. With a line up containing Ricky Ashworth, Joel Parsons, Magnus Karlsson and Chris Kerr you would expect fireworks of one sort or another.

With Ashworth pulling up exiting the first bend it wasn't unreasonable to assume we’d been deprived of the race of the meeting with Ricky no longer taking part in the race. With Karlsson and Kerr taking advantage of the situation and in a 5-1 position it was safe to assume the points were already in Redcar’s bag.

But Joel Parsons once again demonstrated what speedway racing is all about. He provided a brilliant exhibition of proper speedway racing as first he harassed Chris Kerr and passed him then took on Magnus Karlsson and passed him too. So intense was the efforts they put in to this race both Parsons and Karlsson were still going full tilt half way down the back straight after the race was over, before they shut off.

I like Joel Parsons when I see him race. He might be hit and miss in his performances on the track. But in that one race he showed what speedway is all about. And that race should be videoed and sent round to all the speedway tracks in the UK with a message attached to it that reads, ‘Please note: this is what you are supposed to do on a Speedway track.’

So impressive was Parsons’ riding that his team-mates were out on the track to congratulate him as he came round the pits bend. I even got up off my backside to give him a round of applause as he came round to receive the well earned plaudits of the supporters of both teams.

Thanks Ray. I couldn't have put it better myself, so I didn't. Heat 14 was won comfortably by Herr Kessler but Ben and Paul were always going to share it even before Rusty slid off at the back of the field. André and Ricky were nominated by the Tigers to face Robbie and James for the Bears in heat 15. André storms into the lead but Robbie takes Ricky very wide on the first corner to stop his outside swoop. Ricky is hungry though, following two non-finishes and he gets his head down and gives chase and pulls off a brilliant outside pass on the pits turn at the end of the third lap for yet another standing ovation. All the hard work put in by the track staff was rewarded with the best match so far this season.

The visitors top four were always in the thick of the action and James Grieves can have no excuses in the future after such a stirling display, although he was greatly helped by Robbie Kessler riding in his last meeting as a Bear. Only Birko didn't take the chequered flag for the Tigers tonight in a good team display with Ricky and Joel in particular making light of the conditions and producing some brilliant racing. If the Tigers reserves and second-strings can outscore their counterparts at Teeside as they did tonight we might be in with a chance of the bonus. Referee Dave Dowling's choices for 'rider of the night' were; 1st, Joel Parsons. 2nd, Chris Kerr and 3rd Paul Cooper.

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