Sheffield 'Star' Tigers Match Reports 2000

Sunday 22nd October, Young Shield Semi-final
Swindon 'Softwater' Robins								49	92	DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								40	87
Alan Mogridge (g)	0	3	3	ef				6		Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	3	3		18
Martin Dixon	2	2'	0	2	0			6	1	Paul Lee	1	0	0	0				1
Neil Collins (c)	rider replacement							(7)	(1)	Simon Stead	1	1	2'	2	2			8	1
Claus Kristensen	3	1'	1	3	3	2		13	1	Adam Allott	0	f	1					1
Paul Fry	3	2'	0	2	ef	1'		8	2	André Compton (g)	0	2	3	1'	2'	0		8	2
Oliver Allen	3	2	3	1'	2'			11	2	Darren Pearson	0	1'	0					1	1
Mark Steel	1	2'	1'	1				5	2	Andy Moore	2	1	0					3

 1. 67.21 2-4 ( 2-4 ) Wilson, Dixon, Lee, Mogridge(r/rem)
 2. 68.89 4-2 ( 6-6 ) Allen, Moore, Steel, Pearson
 3. 68.15 5-1 (11-7 ) Kristensen, Dixon(r/r), Stead, Allott
 4. 67.33 5-1 (16-8 ) Fry, Steel, Moore, Compton
 5. 68.21 3-3 (19-11) Wilson, Allen, Kristensen, Lee
 6. 68.30 3-3 (22-14) Mogridge, Compton, Pearson, Dixon(r/rem)
 7. 68.08 5-1 (27-15) Allen, Fry, Stead, Allott
 8. 67.33 3-3 (30-18) Wilson(t/s), Dixon, Steel, Lee
 9. 67.05 1-5 (31-23) Compton, Stead(t/s), Kristensen, Fry
10. 66.90 3-3 (34-26) Mogridge, Stead, Compton(t/s), Dixon(15 yds)
11. 66.55 3-3 (37-29) Wilson, Fry, Allen, Lee
12. 67.30 4-2 (41-31) Kristensen(r/r), Stead, Steel, Moore
13. 68.71 0-5 (41-36) Wilson, Compton, Mogridge(ef), Fry(ef)
14. 68.30 5-1 (46-37) Kristensen, Allen, Allott, Pearson
15. ??.?? 3-3 (49-40) Wilson, Kristensen, Fry, Compton

Having put up such a good show at Owlerton the KO Cup champions were extremely confident that they would be able to contain the Tigers at the Abbey Stadium. Indeed many Tigers fans were sceptical about their chances, but thanks in no uncertain terms to a brilliant unbeaten display by Sean Wilson the Tigers were still in with a glimmer of a chance right up the the final flag.

André was the only other race winner for the Tigers, and he and Simon Stead took the fight to the Robins in support of their gallant captain. Andy Moore rose to the occasion to follow Oliver Allen home in heat 2 and richly deserved more rides than he was given. Paul Lee looked disinterested compared to his Blunsdon form in the League match in July and should have been sent packing after his compulsory 3rd ride. Adam was another who looked as if this was one match too many, while Darren Pearson was just off the pace.

The Robins fans were out in force to cheer their side on and their lads should give the League Champions a stern test in the final.

Thursday 19th October, Young Shield Semi-final
Sheffield 'Dixon Ford STAR' Tigers								47		Swindon 'Softwater' Robins								43
Sean Wilson	3	1	3	3	3	3		16		Alan Mogridge (g)	1'	2'	2	2	2			9	2
Paul Lee	r	3	0	2'				5	1	Martin Dixon	2	3	3	2	1'	0		11	1
Simon Stead	2	1	3	3	1			10		Neil Collins (c)	rider replacement							(6)
Adam Allott	1'	0	2					3	1	Claus Kristensen	0	3	1	2	3			9
André Compton (g)	3	2	2'	3	1			11	1	Paul Fry	2	2	1	1	x2			6
Darren Pearson	0	0	0					0		Ollie Allen	3	1'	0	0	1'	0		5	2
Andrew Moore	1	ef	ef	1'				2	1	Mark Steel	2'	tps	1'	0	0			3	2

 1. 63.0 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Dixon, Mogridge, Lee(r)
 2. 64.2 1-5 ( 4-8 ) Allen, Steel, Moore, Pearson
 3. 62.4 3-3 ( 7-11) Dixon(r/r), Stead, Allott, Kristensen
 4. 61.9 3-3 (10-14) Compton, Fry, Allen, Moore(ef), Steel(tps)
 5. 62.6 1-5 (11-19) Dixon, Mogridge, Stead, Allott
 6. 62.3 4-2 (15-21) Lee, Fry, Wilson, Allen
 7. 62.8 2-4 (17-25) Kristensen, Compton, Fry(r/r), Pearson
 8. 62.1 3-3 (20-28) Wilson(t/s), Dixon, Steel, Lee
 9. 62.1 5-1 (25-29) Stead, Compton, Fry, Allen
10. 63.0 5-1 (30-30) Wilson, Lee, Kristensen, Steel(r/r)
11. 62.7 3-3 (33-33) Compton, Mogridge, Dixon, Pearson
12. 62.5 3-3 (36-36) Stead, Kristensen(t/s), Allen, Moore(ef)
13. 63.2 4-2 (40-38) Wilson, Mogridge, Compton, Allen, Fry(2mins)
14. 63.0 3-3 (43-41) Kristensen, Allott, Moore, Steel
15. 63.0 4-2 (47-43) Wilson, Mogridge, Stead, Dixon

A real thriller of a match with no quarter asked or spared from both sides. Darren Pearson's debut replacing the injured Simon Cartwright was somewhat inauspicious as he failed to score and the Tigers cause suffered further when Andy Moore suffered 2 broken chains, the first on the final lap when he had held Paul Fry at bay for three fantastic laps in heat 4!

To be fair Martin Dixon also suffered machine problems and at the end of the day it was the Robins strength in depth that won them a tremendous chance of qualifying for the Young Shield final. The Robins having twice extended their lead to 8 points it was all the Tigers could do to haul themseleves back into the match and preserve their home record, thanks mainly to the home heat leaders including old favourite André Compton.

Sunday 15th October, Conference League
Peterborough Pumas									47	81	Sheffield Prowlers									43	99
Ian Barney	3	3	3	1'	3	1			13	1	Adam Allott	2	2	3	3	3	3	1		17
James Horton	1	1	0						2		David Speight	0	0	2						2
Adam Pryer	3	2	2	2	2'				11	1	James Birkinshaw (c)	rider replacement
David Nix	1	1'	0	2					4	1	Luke Priest	0	1'	f						1	1
Chris Schramm	1'	3	2	2					8	1	Andrew Moore	3	2	3	3	0	0			11
Gordon Meakins	1'	0	f	1'					2	2	Richie Hawkins	x2	0	1	1	0				2
Derek Harrison	2	2	1	2'	x				7	1	Matt Cambridge	3	0	2'	1	1	3			10	1

 1. 65.6 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Barney, Allott,Horton, Speight
 2. 67.2 3-3 ( 7-5 ) Cambridge, Harrison, Meakins, Hawkins(2mins)
 3. 66.4 4-2 (11-7 ) Pryer, Allott(r/r), Nix, Priest
 4. 67.2 3-3 (14-10) Moore, Harrison, Schramm, Cambridge
 5. 66.7 3-3 (17-13) Allott, Pryer, Nix, Speight 
 6. 65.6 4-2 (21-15) Barney, Moore, Horton, Hawkins
 7. 67.6 3-3 (24-18) Schramm, Speight(r/r), Priest, Meakins(fx)
 8. 67.3 1-5 (25-23) Allott(t/s), Cambridge, Harrison, Hawkins
 9. 67.6 2-4 (27-27) Moore, Pryer, Hawkins, Nix
10. 66.6 5-1 (32-28) Barney, Harrison, Cambridge(r/r), Priest(f)
11. 67.3 2-4 (34-32) Allott, Schramm, Cambridge, Meakins
12. awd  2-4 (36-36) Moore(r/r), Pryer, Hawkins(f), Harrison(fx
13. 67.3 3-3 (39-39) Allott, Schramm, Barney, Moore
14. 68.0 3-3 (42-42) Cambridge, Nix, Meakins, Hawkins
15. 66.5 5-1 (47-43) Barney, Pryer, Allott, Moore

Some fine racing in this second half of a double header, with Andy, Adam and Matt all featuring in some tremendous battles with the Pumas. The Prowlers clawed their way back to level pegging when Derek Harrison was excluded from heat 12 having brought down Richie Hawkins on the 3rd turn. Chris Schramm and Ian Barney both passed Andy Moore to keep the scores level in heat 13, and while Matt won heat 14 young Richie couldn't quite get on terms with Graham Meakins at the back.

Dead level into the last race and the championship there to be won, unfortunately it was Ian Barney that leapt into the lead, to be joined by Adam Pryer who breezed past Adam Allott with ease. No champagne for the Prowlers then, but a big vote of appreciation to all the riders who have donned the Tigers bib this year.

Friday 13th October, Young Shield Quarter-final
Hull Vikings								55	90	DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								35	90
Paul Thorp (c)	3	3	3	3	3			15		Sean Wilson	2	3	3	3	2	2		15
René Aas	1	1	2	2'				6	1	Paul Lee	0	0	1	1	1			3
Paul Smith	1	1'	3	2				7	1	Simon Stead	2	ef	0	1	3			6
Lee Dicken	3	2	1	3				9		Adam Allott	0	1	0	fx				1
Garry Stead	2	2'	2	1	1			8	1	André Compton (g)	3	2	2	1	0	0		8
Mike Smith	3	3	fx	2'				8	1	Andrew Moore	2	0	0					2
Jamie Smith	0	0	1					1		Simon Cartwright	dnr							0

 1. 66.6 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Thorp, Wilson, Aas, Lee
 2. 71.4 4-2 ( 8-4 ) M. Smith, Moore, J.Smith, Cartwright(inj)
 3. 67.9 4-2 (12-6 ) Dicken, S.Stead, P.Smith, Allott
 4. 68.6 3-3 (15-9 ) Compton, G.Stead, J.Smith, Moore
 5. 67.8 3-3 (18-12) Wilson, Dicken, P.Smith, Lee
 6. 67.6 4-2 (22-14) Thorp, Compton, Aas, Moore
 7. 67.5 5-1 (27-15) M.Smith, G.Stead, Allott, S.Stead(ef)
 8. 69.3 2-4 (29-19) Wilson(t/s), Aas, Lee, J.Smith(fx)
 9. 68.2 4-2 (33-21) P.Smith, Compton, Dicken, S.Stead(t/s)
10. 67.6 5-1 (38-22) Thorp, Aas, S.Stead, Allott 
11. 68.2 2-4 (40-26) Wilson, G.Stead, Lee, M.Smith(fx)
12. 68.1 2-4 (42-30) S.Stead, P.Smith, Compton(t/s), J.Smith
13. 67.7 4-2 (46-32) Thorp, Wilson, G.Stead, Compton
14. 70.6 5-1 (51-33) Dicken, M.Smith, Lee, Allott(fx)
15. 67.6 4-2 (55-35) Thorp, Wilson, G.Stead, Compton

Deciding run-off: 67.3 - S.Wilson beat P.Thorp

Friday the 13th part one! Another meeting which went on forever with the decider exceeding the 10pm curfew. Crap racing, crap refereeing (courtesy of Dave Dowling this time) but with the tension being wound tighter and tighter before the unbelievable climax in the run-off.

Paul Thorp cut across Sean on the first turn in heat 1 but when Paul Lee slipped past René out of turn 2 things looked promissing. Paul then went so wide on turn 3 René had no option but to regain 3rd place and that's how things stayed with Paul Lee dropping further and further behind. How has he so quickly forgotten how to ride what used to be his home track? The rot really set in in heat 2 when Jamie Smith collected Simon Cartwright on the first turn and rode him full tilt into the fence. Jamie walked away with damaged front forks while Simon was whisked away to hospital suffering concussion. Justice was served in the rerun when Jamie Smith (not excluded for some inexplicable reason) led for 3 laps before developing a miss-fire. Adam Allott flew from the start in heat 3 only to be stone dead last by the back straight, but guest André Compton was the convincing winner of heat 4, and Sean made no mistakes in heat 5.

René forced André onto the grass in heat 6 but a determined André eventually made a sweet outside pass on turn 2 of the last lap to take second place. After a terrible start to heat 7 things took on a bad complexion as Simon Stead ground to a halt with a blown motor and the Tigers were now only 8 ahead on aggregate. With Simon's bikes already being en-route to the Czech Republic this meant Simon was on borrowed bikes for the rest of the evening. Jamie Smith was at it again in heat 8 falling on the first bend and collecting Paul Lee. The referee showed how consistent his decisions were by excluding him this time! René had the audacity to pass Sean exiting turn 2 but Sean simply blasted around the outside of turns 3 & 4 to regain the lead and put the Tigers back to 10 ahead on aggregate.

Tactical substitute Simon trailed in last in heat 9 but André atoned for a poor start by passing Lee Dicken, but couldn't get the better of Paul Smith. Simon out again in heat 10, this time on Sean's bike, couldn't get past René and the aggregate lead is now 4! Mike Smith goes straight on into the 3rd turn fence in heat 11, but walks away. Sean easily outpaces Garry and the lead is now 6.

Simon traps on Paul Lee's bike in heat 12, and with André in close company the Tigers look on for a 5-1, until 'Black Friday' strikes again with André's bike developing a terrible backfire on the 3rd lap, and Paul Smith gleefully sweeing past down the back straight on the last lap. Heat 13 sees Sean go round Paul Thorp wide into turn 3, but he can't hold it tight enough and Paul regains the lead out of turn 4 while André just can't wrestle Paul Lee's bike around fast enough to catch Garry Stead. Lead is now 6.

Adam makes a lightning start to heat 14 and while Lee Dicken goes clear, Paul Lee slots in behind Adam for a potential 3-3. Inexplicably Adam does the same as Mike Smith in heat 11 and piles into the 3rd turn fence. With no-one to help him in the rerun Paul trundles around last as if a 2 point lead is ample for this stage of the match! The nominated heat sees elbows flashing on the first turn before Paul Thorp emerges in the lead, but Andreé on his spare machine cannot make up ground and the match is drawn on aggregate.

With a run-off to decide who goes through to the semi-finals, and Paul Thorp with home track advantage having beaten Sean three times already the Sheffield supporters heads were down. Just as well Sean doesn't believe in statistics as he set the stadium alight with his own forcefull first turn and the ride of the night to sink the Vikings. The Tigers hardly deserved to go through and Sean could be expected to have some harsh words for certain members of the team who seemed far too complacent. Having said that the fates seemed to be against us with two of our heat leaders suffering mechanical failures and our trump card reserve being hopitalised before reaching the second turn. Swindon are our semi-final opponents and have a tasty looking side. Adam didn't have much idea of how to get around Blunsdon and if Simon isn't fit I fear that Sean may have bought himself and the team just two more pay days.

Friday 13th October, Conference League (at Armadale)
Ashfield									58	98	Sheffield Prowlers									32	79
Jamie Swales	2'	3	3	3	3	1			15	1	Jon Priest	0	1	0						1
Robert McNeil	3	3	2'	2'	2'				12	3	Richie Hawkins	1	r	x	2'	2	1	2		8	1
Aiden Collins	rider replacement										Carl Downs	2	0	x						2
Garry Flint	f	2'	1	1					4	1	Luke Priest	1'	1	1	0					3	1
Craig Branney	0	2'	x	1	2'				5	2	James Birkinshaw (c)	rider replacement
Derek Sneddon	3	3	3	3	3	3	3		21		Matt Cambridge	2	2'	1	3	2	2			12	1
Jaz Denholm	0	1	0						1		David Speight	1'	3	1	1'	0	f			6	2
Steven McAlister

 1. 62.8 5-1 ( 5-1 ) McNeil, Swales, Hawkins, J.Priest
 2. 61.1 3-3 ( 8-4 ) Sneddon, Cambridge, Speight, Denholm
 3. 61.8 3-3 (11-7 ) McNeil(r/r), Downs, Speight, Flint(f)
 4. 62.7 1-5 (12-12) Speight, Cambridge(r/r), Denholm, Branney
 5. 60.7 5-1 (17-13) Sneddon(r/r), Flint, J.Priest, Hawkins 
 6. 62.1 5-1 (22-14) Swales, McNeil, Cambridge, 
 7. 60.1 5-1 (27-15) Sneddon, Branney, L.Priest, Downs
 8. 61.6 5-1 (32-16) Sneddon, McNeil, Speight, Hawkins
 9. 62.9 1-5 (33-21) Cambridge, Hawkins(r/r), Flint, Branney(r/r)(x)
10. 62.3 5-1 (38-22) Swales, McNeil, L.Priest, Downs(x)
11. 61.3 4-2 (42-24) Sneddon, Hawkins, Branney, J.Priest
12. 62.7 3-3 (45-27) Swales(r/r), Cambridge, Speight, Denholm
13. 63.6 5-1 (50-28) Swales, Branney, Hawkins(t/s), L.Priest(r/r)
14. 6?.? 4-2 (54-30) Sneddon, L.Priest, Flint, Speight
15. 6?.? 4-2 (58-32) Sneddon, Hawkins, Priest, Speight(f)

Missing all three heat leaders, the Prowlers were on a hiding to nothing although Matt Cambridge, Richie Hawkins and David Speight were all commended for their efforts. Derek Sneddon rode to a perfect 7 ride maximum, and Robert McNeil got in on the act with an 18 point paid maximum. Jamie Swales missed out on his finishing behind Richie Hawkins in heat 15.

Thursday 12th October, Conference League
Sheffield Prowlers									56		Peterborough Pumas									34
Adam Allott	3	3	tps	3	2'				11	1	Ian Barney (c)	2	2	3	3	0	1			11
Richie Hawkins	0	tps	0	1'	ef				1	1	James Horton	1'	0	0						1	1
Andrew Moore	3	3	3	3	3				15		Adam Pryer	2	2	2	3	2	0			11
Luke Priest	1	1	0	1'					3	1	Michael Mitchell	fx	0	0						0
James Birkinshaw (c)	rider replacement								(6)	(1)	Chris Schramm	1	0	1'	2	3				7	1
Matt Cambridge	3	3	3	2	2	2			15		Gordon Meakins	0	0	1	0					1
David Speight	1	2'	2'	2	1	1			9	2	David Nix	2	0	1						3
Carl Downes	tps	1	1'	tps					1	1

 1. 64.6 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Allott, Barney, Horton, Hawkins 
 2. 65.0 4-2 ( 7-5 ) Cambridge, Nix, Speight, Meakins 
 3. 66.1 4-2 (11-7 ) Moore, Pryer, Priest, Nix 
 4. 66.0 5-1 (16-8 ) Cambridge, Speight, Schramm, Meakins, Downs(tps)
 5. 64.2 4-2 (20-10) Moore, Barney, Priest, Horton 
 6. 65.4 5-1 (25-11) Allott, Speight, Meakins, Schramm, Hawkins(tps)
 7. 66.5 4-2 (29-13) Cambridge, Pryer, Downs, Mitchell(fx)
 8. 66.4 2-4 (31-17) Horton, Speight, Nix, Hawkins
 9. 64.5 3-3 (34-20) Moore, Pryer, Schramm, Priest
10. 67.0 3-3 (37-23) Pryer, Cambridge, Hawkins, Mitchell, Allott(tps)
11. awd  3-3 (40-26) Barney, Cambridge, Downs(f), Horton(f/x)
12. 65.1 4-2 (44-28) Moore, Pryer, Speight, Meakins
13. 66.3 4-2 (48-30) Allott, Schramm, Speight, Barney, Downs(tps)  
14. 67.7 3-3 (51-33) Schramm, Cambridge, Priest, Mitchell
15. 64.2 5-1 (56-34) Moore, Allott, Barney, Pryer.

This match seemed to take forever, primary cause being the inordinate length of time referee Graham Flint held the riders on the green light before releasing the tapes. This led to 4 sets of tapes being destroyed, with another set going after a starting gate malfunction.

Ian Barney was the pick of the visitors, although he had no response when young David Speight passed him out of turn 2 in heat 13 relegating him to last place! Chris Schramm took time to settle in, surprising as you would have thought Owlerton would have required a similar set-up to Alwalton?

Adam only dropped points when he went through the tapes, Andrew was untouchable as he rode to a 5 ride maximum on Robbie K's wide outside line, and Matt Cambridge continues to improve looking confident and stylish. David Speight deserved his paid 11 score and the margin of victory would have been much greater had the Prowlers not given all Jamie's rider replacement rides to No.8 Carl Downs. This was probably intended to give him an idea of what to expect tomorrow when he moves into the team propper at Armadale in the absence of Adam and Andrew!

Sunday 8th October, Conference League
Sheffield Prowlers									40	72	Rye House Rockets									38	96
Adam Allott	3	3	3	3	3				15		Simon Wolstenholme (c)	2	2	2	2	3	1'			12	1
Richie Hawkins	ef	1	1	1	ef				3		Daniel Gifford	1'	1'	3	0					5	2
Andrew Moore	3	3	3	1'					10	1	David Mason	2	2	2'	2	3	2			13	1
Luke Priest	1	0	0						1		Russell Payne	fx								0
James Birkinshaw (c)	rider replacement								(7)	(1)	Phil Ambrose	rider replacement								(7)
Matt Cambridge	3	3	r	2	1				9		Nathan Morton	2	1	0	x					3
David Speight	f	2'	0	0					2	1	Garry Sweet	1'	0	1'	1'	2'				5	4

 1. 65.1 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Allott, Wolstenholme, Gifford, Hawkins
 2. 67.7 3-3 ( 6-6 ) Cambridge, Morton, Sweet, Speight(f)
 3. 66.0 4-2 (10-8 ) Moore, Mason, Priest, Payne(fx)
 4. 69.2 5-1 (15-9 ) Cambridge(r/r), Speight, Morton(r/r), Sweet
 5. 66.9 3-3 (18-12) Moore, Wolstenholme, Gifford, Priest
 6. 66.3 4-2 (22-14) Allott, Wolstenholme(t/s), Hawkins, Morton
 7. 66.1 3-3 (25-17) Allott(r/r), Mason, Sweet, Cambridge(r)
 8. 69.5 1-5 (26-22) Gifford, Mason(t/s), Hawkins, Speight
 9. 67.1 3-3 (29-25) Moore, Wolstenholme(r/r), Sweet, Priest
10. 65.3 4-2 (33-27) Allott, Mason, Hawkins, Morton(x)
11. 67.3 3-3 (36-30) Wolstenholme, Cambridge, Moore, Gifford
12. 66.6 1-5 (37-35) Mason, Sweet, Cambridge, Speight
13. 66.2 3-3 (40-38) Allott, Mason, Wolstenholme, Hawkins(ef)
14. match abandoned

The second half of the double header saw the Rockets claw back from an eight point defecit despite losing Russell Payne after a spectacular off on the first turn first time out. It's hard to tell if his ancient Weslake would have had been on the pace at Owlerton. After six or seven outings each in the first match the Prowlers top men were beginning to struggle as they discovered aches in muscles they didn't even know they had!

The Rockets 5-1 in heat 12 brought them back to just two behind and a mouthwatering conclusion was in prospect. Adam Allott outpaced the Rockets top pair to win heat 13 but had to receive medical attention as he returned to the pit gate in obvious distress. After a lengthy delay he was taken straight to hospital in the ambulance suffering from a partially collapsed lung! With a considerable delay likely until the ambulance returned and the evening wearing on the referees decision was to abandon the match with the result standing.

While the Rockets could be justifyably peeved as they could have turned over the weakened and exhausted Prowlers, David Mason should consider himself very lucky as he would have had little or no chance of defending his Bronze Helmet against the Prowlers top scorer. Fingers crossed that the Prowlers can re-group in time for the Peterborough match on Thursday.

Sunday 8th October, Conference League
Sheffield Prowlers									48	100	St. Austell BWOC Gulls									42	80
Adam Allott	3	3	3	3	3	3			18		Wayne Barrett	rider replacement								(6)
Richie Hawkins	0	0	1						1		Richard Ford	1'	2	2'	0					5	2
Andrew Moore	3	3	2	3	3	2'			16	1	Gary Phelps	2	1	2	2	2				9
Luke Priest	0	1	1'	1'					3	2	Darren Andrews	1'	ef							1	1
James Birkinshaw (c)	rider replacement								(6)		Jason Prynne (c)	2'	2	2	3	1'	0			10	2
Matt Cambridge	3	0	2'	fx	1	fx	2		8	1	Martin Williams	1'	0	1'	0	1'	tps			3	3
David Speight	0	1	1	0					2		Gary Lobb	2	3	3	2	3	1			14

 1. 63.8 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Allott, Prynne(r/r), Ford, Hawkins
 2. 65.2 3-3 ( 6-6 ) Cambridge, Lobb, Williams, Speight
 3. 64.4 3-3 ( 9-9 ) Moore, Phelps, Andrews, Priest
 4. 66.9 1-5 (10-14) Lobb, Prynne, Speight, Cambridge(r/r)
 5. 64.4 4-2 (14-16) Moore, Ford, Priest, Williams(r/r)
 6. 64.0 3-3 (17-19) Allott, Prynne, Williams, Hawkins
 7. 64.2 5-1 (22-20) Allott(r/r), Cambridge, Phelps, Andrews(ef)
 8. 67.3 1-5 (23-25) Lobb, Ford, Speight(f/rem), Cambridge(fx)
 9. 65.9 3-3 (26-28) Prynne, Moore, Priest, Williams
10. 63.7 4-2 (30-30) Allott, Phelps, Hawkins, Andrews(ns)
11. 66.5 4-2 (34-32) Moore(r/r), Lobb(r/r), Cambridge, Ford
12. 68.6 3-3 (37-35) Moore, Phelps, Williams, Speight(f/rem)
13. 68.6 3-3 (40-38) Allott, Phelps|(r/r), Prynne, Cambridge(fx)
14. 73.6 3-3 (43-41) Lobb, Cambridge, Priest, Williams(tps)
15. 66.8 5-1 (48-42) Allott, Moore, Lobb, Prynne

The Prowlers were missing James Birkinshaw, Lee Hodgson, Andrew Taylor and Malcolm Carter, all injured, and chose to give Richie Hawkins his debut against the experienced St. Austell Gulls. Having won comfortably in Cornwall it must have been a shock to find themselves trailing by four points after four heats, quick staring reserve Gary Lobb responsible for most of the damage. As the rain began to fall track conditions became a little slippy, but it was mostly the Prowlers who were caught out, Matt Cambridge in particular as he was just trying that little bit too hard.

Andy Moore dropped just one point to the opposition in six rides, but Adam Allott went one better with a perfect six ride maximum. The Prowlers had a long tail however with David Speight, Luke Priest and Richie Hawkins only managing 3rd places after some sluggish starts.

The match was delicately ballanced until Martin Williams touched the tapes in heat 14 earning himself an exclusion after which the Prowlers twin spearhead romped away to win the nominated heat. The deciding factor in the Gulls defeat was probably Darren Andrews withdrawal from the meeting following machine failure, after all this junior has in the past beaten Robbie Kessler around Owlerton!

Thursday 5th October, Premier League Play-Off
Sheffield 'Dixon Ford STAR' Tigers								55		Hull Vikings								35
Sean Wilson	2	3	3	2	3			13		Paul Thorp (c)	3	3	r	1	1	1		9
Paul Lee	1'	1	3	2'				7	2	René Aas	0	0	1					1
Simon Stead	2	2	3	3	2'			12	1	Paul Smith	0	1	0					1
Adam Allott	1'	1'	2'	x2				4	3	Lee Dicken	3	3	1	2	fx			9
Robert Kessler	3	2	2	0				7		Garry Stead	2	2	1	3	3	r		11
Simon Cartwright	3	ef	0	2'				5	1	Jamie Smith	0	0	1'	1				2	1
Andrew Moore	1	1	2'	0	3			7	1	Mike Smith	2	ef	0					2

 1. 63.1 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Thorp, Wilson, Lee, Aas
 2. 65.6 4-2 ( 7-5 ) Cartwright, M.Smith, Moore, J.Smith
 3. 66.0 3-3 (10-8 ) Dicken, S.Stead, Allott, P.Smith
 4. 66.1 4-2 (14-10) Kessler, G.Stead, Moore, M.Smith(ef)
 5. 64.6 3-3 (17-13) Thorp, S.Stead, Allott, Aas
 6. 66.2 4-2 (21-15) Wilson, G.Stead, Lee, J.Smith
 7. 65.4 2-4 (23-19) Dicken, Kessler, P.Smith, Cartwright(ef)
 8. 65.6 5-1 (28-20) Lee, Moore, Aas, M.Smith
 9. 64.1 5-1 (33-21) S.Stead, Allott, G.Stead, Thorp(t/s)(r)
10. 65.0 5-1 (38-22) Wilson, Lee, Dicken, P.Smith
11. 63.8 2-4 (40-26) G.Stead(t/s), Kessler, Thorp, Cartwright
12. 64.9 3-3 (43-29) S.Stead, Dicken(t/s), J.Smith, Moore
13. 63.6 2-4 (45-33) G.Stead, Wilson, Thorp, Kessler
14. awd  5-1 (50-34) Moore, Cartwright, J.Smith, Dicken(fx), Allott(2min)
15. 64.4 5-1 (45-35) Wilson, S.Stead, Thorp, G.Stead(r)

After a couple of nail biting encounters between the Tigers and Vikings this season this match at first appeared to be yet another in the same vein. Paul Thorp sped away from Sean to win the first heat, and with Lee Dicken passing Robbie to win heat 7 the Tigers held a narrow 4 point advantage. Heat 8 saw Andy Moore bravely squeezing around René on the 4th turn to join Paul in a 5-1 and suddenly the wind had left the Vikings' sails.

Tactical substitute Paul Thorp rode through the tapes (before the green light) in heat 9 and despite frantic activity in the pits to sort out his clutch he was forced onto Lee Dicken's bike. It was obviously not to his liking and he retired in last place. With Garry Stead too far behind Adam to mount any sort of challenge the Tigers lead was now up to 12. When Paul Lee made an uncharacteristic fast start and team rode with Sean to yet another 5-1 the Viking were now 16 points down and looking broken.

Eric Boocock put Garry Stead in as a tactical in heat 11 and he responded by claiming his first win while Robbie consolidated second place ahead of Thorpy and Simon C (who was Andy Moore's spare machine). Lee Dicken was drafted into heat 12 but to little effect as Simon Stead came through from 3rd to claim the win and preserve the Tigers 14 point lead. The Vikings sped into the lead in heat 13 and while Sean went around Thorpy on turn 2 of the 3rd lap, Garry Stead was by then too far ahead, and the Tigers lead was down to 12.

The vital heat 14 was delayed when Adam developed engine problems and despite a frantic rush to get him a spare machine he exceeded the 2 minute allowance. This left the Sheffield reserves against the Vikings top scorer, but in a tremendous race young Andy Moore took the lead from Lee Dicken with an audacious wide 4th bend pass before pulling out a slight lead. Lee kept up the pressure, all the while resisting Simon C (on Paul Lee's bike) trying to find a way through on the inside, until the last lap when he collected young Andy full astern (red mist? stuck throttle?) throwing then both headlong into the fence. Andy was able to walk away from the debris but Lee left the track in the Ambulance. The race awarded 5-1 and the lead back to 16. Perhaps the Vikings heads went down as Garry Stead retired from heat 15 and Thorpy could only watch as Sean and Simon blasted away to another 5-1 and the comfort of a 20 point first leg advantage.

An unexpected big win for the Tigers on a track which was obviously not at its best. Times were slow and passing seemed more difficult than usual, probably due to recent stock cars and the wet weather. The second leg next Wednesday should be a formality, especially if Lee Dicken is unfit.

Saturday 30th September, Premier League
Berwick 'ACC BT Cellnet' Bandits								51	82	DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								39	98
Paul Bentley	2	2	3	1				8		Sean Wilson (c)	3	2	3	2	r			10
Jorg Pingel	rider replacement							(4)	(1)	Paul Lee	0	0	2	1				3
David Meldrum	1'	1'	3	3	3	2'		13	3	Simon Stead	ef	2	1'	2				5	1
Scott Smith	2	1	3	2'	3			11	1	Simon Cartwright	3	1'	2	1				7	1
Alan Mogridge	2	3	2	3	3			13		Robbie Kessler	3	3	r	0	1			7
Dean Felton	2	0	0	0	1	2'		5	1	Andrew Moore	0	1	1					2
Phil Pickering	1'	0	0	0				1	1	Adam Allott	3	1	1'	0	0			5	1

 1. 68.5 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Bentley, Meldrum(r/r), Lee
 2. 70.3 3-3 ( 6-6 ) Allott, Felton, Pickering, Moore
 3. 68.9 3-3 ( 9-9 ) Cartwright, Smith, Meldrum, Stead(ef)
 4. 67.5 2-4 (11-13) Kessler, Mogridge, Allott, Pickering
 5. 67.8 4-2 (15-15) Meldrum, Wilson, Smith, Lee
 6. 68.1 2-4 (17-19) Kessler, Bentley, Moore, Felton(r/r)
 7. 67.4 3-3 (20-22) Mogridge, Stead, Cartwright, Felton 
 8. 68.2 3-3 (23-25) Smith(r/r), Lee, Allott, Pickering
 9. 67.7 5-1 (28-26) Meldrum, Smith, Moore, Kessler(r)
10. 67.5 3-3 (31-29) Bentley, Cartwright, Stead, Felton(r/r)
11. 66.6 2-4 (33-33) Wilson, Mogridge, Lee, Pickering
12. 67.7 4-2 (37-35) Meldrum, Stead, Felton, Allott
13. 66.3 4-2 (41-37) Mogridge, Wilson, Bentley, Kessler
14. 70.3 5-1 (46-38) Smith, Felton, Cartwright, Allott
15. 67.2 5-1 (51-39) Mogridge, Meldrum, Kessler, Wilson(r)

The Tigers kept the scoreline close throughout the early stages of the match but then collapsed in the latter stages. Very little passing in evidence, Paul Bentley went under Robbie in heat 13, and Simon Stead battled around Dean Felton in heat 10 and that was about it! At the time there was still a mathematical possibility that the Tigers could have won the League if they had amassed a big enough win, but it looked as if heads went down when they realized it wasn't going to happen. Good display by Scud against his owning club and a very impressive show by Simon Cartwright who looked fast and confident (and moves back to reserve for October).

Thursday 28th September, Premier League
DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								54	93	Edinburgh Monarchs								39	92
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	2'			14	1	Robert Eriksson	1'	2	3	2	1	0		9	1
Paul Lee	0	2'	2	1				5	1	Blair Scott	2	0	f	0	1'			3	1
Simon Stead	2	3	3	2				10		Peter Carr	3	2	2	3	6	1		17
Simon Cartwright	1'	1	1	1				4	1	Ross Brady	0	1'	0					1	1
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	2'	3			14	1	Kevin Little	1	0	0					1
Andrew Moore	3	0	0	fx				3		Christian Henry	2	1	2	2'				7	1
Adam Allott	1	2'	1'	0				4	2	Will Beveridge	0	fx	1					1

 1. 61.2 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Eriksson, Scott, Lee
 2. 62.3 4-2 ( 7-5 ) Moore, Henry, Allott, Beveridge
 3. 60.9 3-3 (10-8 ) Carr, Stead, Cartwright, Brady
 4. awd  5-1 (15-9 ) Kessler, Allott, Little, Beveridge(fx)
 5. 62.0 4-2 (19-11) Stead, Eriksson, Cartwright, Scott
 6. 63.5 5-1 (24-12) Wilson, Lee, Henry, Little
 7. 61.8 3-3 (27-15) Kessler, Carr, Brady, Moore
 8. 62.2 3-3 (30-18) Eriksson(t/s), Lee, Allott, Scott(f)
 9. 62.6 4-2 (34-20) Stead, Henry, Cartwright, Scott(t/s)
10. 61.8 4-2 (38-22) Wilson, Carr, Lee, Brady
11. 62.0 3-3 (41-25) Kessler, Eriksson, Scott, Moore
12. 61.1 2-4 (43-29) Carr, Stead, Beveridge, Allott
13. 62.3 5-1 (48-30) Wilson, Kessler, Eriksson, Little
14. 62.8 1-8 (49-38) Carr(G*D), Henry, Cartwright, Moore(fx)
15. 61.5 5-1 (54-39) Kessler, Wilson, Carr, Eriksson

A tremendous win for the Tigers against the old adversary who yet again displayed their dislike for the wide open spaces of Owlerton. The Tigers clawed back the fouteen point defecit by heat 9 but were always facing a Peter Carr golden double in heat 14. Not wanting to disappoint the Owlerton public Peter Carr twice blasted his way from the handicapped start to steal six points after Andrew Moore fell into the fence on the first occasion. This set the meeting alight as it meant the Tigers required a 5-1 over Carr and Eriksson to claim the bonus point, which they accomplished in style with PC trailed off well behind.

PC was the cream of the Monarchs but he received scant support. Eriksson's points were all cheap and he failed to beat any Sheffield heat leader. Kevin Little disgraced himself by finishing last in all his rides, even succumbing to reserve Adam Allott! Blair Scott and Ross Brady were little better, both riding below their best Owlerton form and Will Beveridge was a pale shadow of the heat leader who visited with Glasgow last season. The only saving grace was the excellent form showed by Christian Henry who looks to be a potential star of the future if he maintains that kind of improvement!

Paid maximums for Sean and Robbie who both brushed PC aside with imperious ease. Simon Stead was however my man-of-the-match for his excellent wins from the back in heats 5 and 9. The first saw him make up yards of ground on quick starting Robert Eriksson (after being baulked by his own team mate on the first turn). He then squeezed through the smallest of gaps on the outside of the last turn on lap 3. The second was even better! Trapping last he passed Simon C out of turn 2 and gave chase to Blair Scott and Christian Henry. After a breathtaking first bend he powered straight past Scott on the inside out of turn 2, and then without a pause for breath he went straight around Henry on the outside of turn 3! Brilliant!!

Paul was his usual frustrating self as he steadfastly refused to move off the white line. He luckily had Sean to cover him in heat 6, but Tigers fans are beginning to seriously doubt whether Paul will ever get any better. A quiet day for Simon Cartwright whose only moment worthy of note was when he blasted around Blair Scott on the very last bend of heat 9. Andrew Moore was the comfortable winner of heat 2, but thereafter found the competition a little tough and he took a nasty tumble when he caught his arm in the fence in heat 14. Adam Allott still hasn't got his bike right and he trailed in last in heat 12 issueing clouds of blue smoke. His moment of glory was the ease with which he dismissed heat leader Kevin Little in heat 4, but he lost a place to Blair Scott in heat 8 before Blair threw it all away on the last bend.

With the Tigers out of the title chase this result was only important in deciding who we get to pick in the play-offs!

Thursday 21st September, Premier League
DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								50	94	Hull Vikings								43	88
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	2	3			14		Paul Thorp (c)	2	3	6	1	3	r		15	1
Paul Lee	1	1	1	2'				5	1	René Aas	0	1	2'	2	1			6	1
Simon Stead	2'	2	2	2				8	1	Paul Smith	0	2	1	3				6
Simon Cartwright	3	0	1'	2				6	1	Lee Dicken	1	1'	r					2	1
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	1'	1			11	1	Garry Stead	2	2	3	3	0	2		12
Andrew Moore	3	0	0	0				3		Phil Pickering	1	ef	0					1
Adam Allott	2'	1	0	0				3	1	Jamie Smith	0	0	1					1

 1. 61.2 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Thorp, Lee, Aas
 2. 63.8 5-1 ( 9-3 ) Moore, Allott, Pickering, J.Smith
 3. 62.0 5-1 (14-4 ) Cartwright, S.Stead, Dicken, P.Smith
 4. 62.4 4-2 (18-6 ) Kessler, G.Stead, Allott, J.Smith
 5. 60.4 2-4 (20-10) Thorp, S.Stead, Aas, Cartwright
 6. 60.7 4-2 (24-12) Wilson, G.Stead, Lee, Pickering(ef)
 7. 61.2 3-3 (27-15) Kessler, P.Smith, Dicken, Moore 
 8. 63.0 1-8 (28-23) Thorp(G*D), Aas, Lee, Allott
 9. 62.4 3-3 (31-26) G.Stead, S.Stead, Cartwright, Pickering
10. 64.5 5-1 (36-27) Wilson, Lee, P.Smith, Dicken 
11. 62.6 3-3 (39-30) Kessler, Aas, Thorp, Moore
12. 62.3 2-4 (41-34) G.Stead(t/s), S.Stead, J.Smith, Allott
13. 61.1 3-3 (44-37) Thorp, Wilson, Kessler, G.Stead
14. 63.6 2-4 (46-41) P.Smith(t/s), Cartwright, Aas(t/s), Moore
15. 61.3 4-2 (50-43) Wilson, G.Stead, Kessler, Thorp(r)

The injury hit Vikings found the Tigers still smarting from the 1 point reversal at New Craven Park. No mistakes were made this time, and despite a spirited Golden Double fightback at the half-way stage the match points were never really in doubt.

Thorp beat Sean fair and square in heat 13 after a flying start, but pulled out of heat 13 as Robbie Kessler relegated him to last place. He can consider himself lucky in the heat 8 Golden Double as for 2 laps he had no idea what to do about the wide riding Paul Lee, until Paul turned off his brain and tried his favourite inside line. Thorpy gratefully accepted the place on the next bend and with René almost stopping before the line the 8-1 was secured. Bruce seems not to have learned anything about Owlerton in the last two years! Garry Stead twice beat his namesake Simon but couldn't gate alongside Sean or Robbie. Paul Smith claimed a cheap win as a heat 14 tac-sub but didn't ride like a heat-leader, and with René and Lee Dicken struggling the Vikings had too long a tail.

Sean rode well, Robbie claimed three wins, although Steady was a little subdued. Simon Cartwright got stuck in although the same could not be said for comeback man Paul Lee who was still in pain from his broken big toe. Adam Allott burned out two sets of clutch plates before Nicky let on he had changed the clutch spring cups over to titanium ones(!) and Andy struggled after his heat 2 win.

David Speight looked sharp in his after the match rides and it took Matt Cambridge a couple of laps to find his way past. Hopefully we will return from Peterborough on Sunday with a full complement of juniors.

Saturday 16th September, Premier League
Stoke Potters								50	94	DIXON Ford Sheffield 'STAR' Tigers								40	88
Paul Pickering (c)	3	2	2'	1	2			10	1	Sean Wilson (c)	1	3	3	3	2'	3		15	1
Mark Burrows	2'	1'	1'	3	inj			7	3	Paul Lee	rider replacement							(1)
David Walsh	3	1'	3	3				10	1	Simon Stead	1	ef	2	0	1	2		6
Tony Atkin	2'	2	1	3				8	1	Simon Cartwright	0	0	2	1	2			5
Rene Madsen	2	3	2	0				7		Robbie Kessler	3	3	fx	3	fx	1		10
Wayne Broadhurst	3	1	2	0	1	0		7		Andrew Moore	0	2	0					2
Neil Painter	1	0	0					1		Adam Allott	0	1	0	1'				2	1

 1. 62.8 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Pickering, Burrows, Wilson, Moore(r/r)
 2. 66.0 4-2 ( 9-3 ) Broadhurst, Moore, Painter, Allott
 3. 64.4 5-1 (14-4 ) Walsh, Atkin, Stead, Cartwright
 4. 65.4 2-4 (16-8 ) Kessler, Madsen, Allott, Painter
 5. 63.4 3-3 (19-11) Wilson, Atkin, Walsh, Cartwright(r/r)
 6. 64.1 3-3 (22-14) Kessler, Pickering, Burrows, Moore
 7. 65.1 4-2 (26-16) Madsen, Cartwright, Broadhurst, Stead(ef)
 8. 64.8 3-3 (29-19) Wilson(t/s), Broadhurst, Burrows, Allott
 9. 64.4 4-2 (33-21) Walsh, Stead(t/s), Atkin, Kessler(fx)
10. 64.7 5-1 (38-22) Burrows, Pickering, Cartwright, Stead
11. 64.9 2-4 (40-26) Wilson, Madsen, Stead(r/r), Painter
12. 64.5 3-3 (43-29) Walsh, Stead, Allott, Broadhurst
13. 64.2 1-5 (44-34) Kessler, Wilson, Pickering, Madsen
14. awd  4-2 (48-36) Atkin, Cartwright, Broadhurst, Kessler(fx)
15. 64.1 2-4 (50-40) Wilson, Pickering, Kessler, Broadhurst, Burrows(inj)

After a lot of rain on Friday and with puddles all over the infield the track looked amazingly good, and indeed there was no evidence of the usual Loomer Road hazzards. Unfortunately there was neither any evidence of grip and the racing was mainly processional. Sean locked up on the very first turn allowing Pickers and Buzz into an unassailable lead, and when Adam let every one go first on the first bend in heat 2 it started to look glum. Tony Atkin graciously accepted 2nd place when Steady went far too wide on the 4th bend in heat 3 but thankfully Robbie romped away with heat 4, although Adam surrendered 2nd place to Rene Madsen.

Sean was quick to make ammends making no mistake in heat 5, and Robbie gave Pickers and Buzz a good view of his rear wheel in heat 6. Steady was hit by gremlins in heat 7 and although Simon Cartwright just squeezed ahead of Rene out of turn 2, Rene dived back into the lead on the next turn. Sean came in as a tac-sub to win heat 8 but Adam was welded to the white line.

Walsh and Atkin made a real hash of the 2nd turn in heat 9 and just as tac-sub Steady swooped into the lead Robbie slid off at the back. Steady took second in the rerun, but out again in the next heat he contrived to forget to turn his fuel on! Out again in heat 11 as rider replacement and set for a 5-1 with Sean he too pulled a locker on turn 1 from which he barely recovered. Setting off on a long chase he eventually passed Neil Painter on the second bend on the last lap. Guess who was out in heat 12 and tiring in his comeback meeting, although Adam made his sole contribution to the entertainment sneaking under Broadhurst on the 4th turn. Robbie popped out to win heat 13 with Sean diving past Pickers out of the 2nd turn on lap 2 to join him for the maximum.

Reg now resorted to the Golden Double in a desperate attempt to salvage the bonus point, and it looked as if it might pay off for a few seconds as Simon Cartwright led the field into the first turn. Robbie off 15 meters had already made up the defecit and was going to breeze past Wayne Broadhurst just as Wayne pulled a locker on the second turn. Left with the option of collecting Wayne or baleing out Robbie did the decent thing and waited for the race to be stopped, but to the very evident joy of the partisan Loomer Road faithful the referees decision was to exclude Robbie, and to award the race which had'nt even completed a single lap. A delay ensued while the Sheffield team manager (I could think of a better term) protested to Mr Craig Ackroyd but the only outcome was a £100 fine for Robbie for not attempting to leave the track.

Robbie's nomination for heat 15 brought huge boos from the Potties which were merely amplified by the first bend bunching which saw Robbie and Buzz tumbling hard into the first turn fence. Mark received trackside attention before going to hospital complaining of lower back pain. Best wishes to Mark for a speedy recovery. Robbie rode to a spirited 3rd place behind Sean and Pickers in the rerun on an uncontrollable bike which was later found to have a wrecked diamond and forks, Altogether an expensive evening for Robbie who must learn to stop falling as it doesn't do him or his bikes any good whatsoever!

Monday 11th September, Premier League
Newcastle KBS Diamonds								47	91	'Dixon Ford' Sheffield STAR Tigers								43	91
Jesper Olsen	rider replacement									Sean Wilson	2	1	3	3	3	3		15
Krister Marsh	1	1	2	0	0			4		Paul Lee	0	0	1	1				2
Stuart Swales	2'	3	1'	2	2	1'		11	3	Paul Bentley (g)	fx	3	1	2'	3			9	1
André Compton	3	2'	3	2	2'	2		14	2	Simon Cartwright	1	0	0					1
David Walsh (g)	3	3	1'	0	1			8	1	Robbie Kessler	2	2	3	3	2'	0		12	1
Rob Grant	3	2	1	0	3			9		Andrew Moore	ef	0	0					0
Paul Macklin	1	f	f					1		Adam Allott	2	1'	1					4	1

 1 64.6 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Walsh, Wilson, Marsh, Lee
 2 66.5 4-2 ( 8-4 ) Grant, Allott, Macklin, Moore(ef)
 3 65.9 5-1 (13-5 ) Compton, Swales, Cartwright, Bentley(fx)
 4 66.6 3-3 (16-8 ) Walsh, Kessler, Allott, Macklin(f) 
 5 64.7 5-1 (21-9 ) Swales, Compton, Wilson, Lee 
 6 65.7 4-2 (25-11) Compton, Kessler, Marsh, Moore 
 7 65.8 3-3 (28-14) Bentley, Grant, Walsh, Cartwright
 8 awd  2-4 (30-18) Wilson(t/s), Marsh, Lee, Macklin(f)
 9 65.2 3-3 (33-21) Kessler, Compton, Swales, Moore
10 65.9 2-4 (35-25) Kessler(t/s), Swales, Bentley, Marsh
11 65.7 1-5 (36-30) Wilson, Bentley(t/s), Grant, Walsh
12 65.3 2-4 (38-34) Bentley, Swales, Lee(t/s), Grant
13 66.1 1-5 (39-39) Wilson, Kessler, Walsh, Marsh
14 66.4 5-1 (44-40) Grant, Compton, Allott, Cartwright
15 65.6 3-3 (47-43) Wilson, Compton, Swales, Kessler

Run-off for bonus point: Compton, Wilson 64.7

A thrilling meeting in which a below-strength Newcastle team rode superbly to pull out a fourteen point lead after seven heats, only to see themselves outgunned in the six following as Sheffield, reinforced by four tactical substitutions, pulled level after heat 13. Newcastle then worked hard to create a four point winning margin, and Andre Compton (who was control personified all evening) excelled himself by defeating Sean Wilson in the bonus point run-off.

Newcastle had David Walsh as guest for Bjarne Pedersen, who is still ill, and used r/r for Jesper Olsen (who said on the PA that he hopes to return in a couple of weeks). Sheffield had Paul Bentley guesting for Simon Stead.

Sheffield stuttered in the opening heats. In heat 1 Walsh had a surprisingly easy win over Wilson, while in the reserves' race Rob Grant was unchallenged and Paul Macklin (who seemed to have machinery problems from the ride-around) picked up a point when Andy Moore packed up.

Things went from bad to worse from a Sheffield perspective in heat 3 as Andre Compton and Stuart Swales had an easy win over Simon Cartwright in a rerun caused by a fall involving Swales and Paul Bentley on turn 3 in which Bentley appeared to lock up and was collected by Swales.

In heat 4 Macklin spectacularly somersaulted at the tapes but was thankfully unhurt: meanwhile Robbie Kessler led out of turn 2 but was overhauled by Walsh, who was unchallenged to the flag.

Heat 5 saw Wilson surprisingly passive as Swales and Compton took another 5-1. Compton was out again in heat 6, and scored a comfortable win, with Marsh snapping at Kessler's heels throughout the last two laps.

David Walsh (who had blown his engine at the end of the first heat) completely missed the gate in heat 7, but overhauled Cartwright to follow Rob Grant in his (fruitless) chase of Bentley.

Sean Wilson was the first of four Sheffield tac subs, being introduced for Adam Allott in heat 8, and winning easily ahead of Krister Marsh, himself a distance ahead of Paul Lee. The points were shared in heat 9 as Kessler stayed well clear of Compton and Swales, but in the next four heats the Tigers moved up a gear and wiped out a twelve point deficit through use of tac subs.

Sheffield were set for a 5-1 in heat 10, but Stuart Swales produced a fine pass of Bentley on the third lap and set off in pursuit of tac sub Kessler, but without success. A 5-1 did come in the next heat, in which Walsh was the meat in a sandwich of Wilson and Bentley on the second bend, and dropped away to fourth. The arrears were further reduced in heat 12, where Lee was the tactical, and beat Grant for one point, with Bentley keeping Swales at bay for the win.

Rider replacement in heat 13 had to be Krister Marsh, and perhaps unsurprisingly he was never competitive with Wilson and Kessler: disappointingly, however, neither was David Walsh, who followed the Sheffield pair without being able to make a real challenge.

Newcastle had to pull something out of the bag in heat 14, and did so as Compton helped Grant to his second win of the evening, leaving the Diamonds four ahead going into the last heat, in which Wilson was the unchallenged winner ahead of Compton and Swales, with Kessler curiously quiet at the back.

The 3-3 in heat 15 set up a run-off for the bonus point between Sean Wilson and Andre Compton, and the tension produced a superb match race. Compton made the gate and led out of turn 2, but Wilson ate up the ground on the back straight and passed on the inside on turn 3, only for Compton to take the lead back off turn 4, a position he held to the finish.

For Newcastle, Andre Compton was back to his best, and very much the rider of the night. He was solidly supported by Stuart Swales and David Walsh, whose performance tailed off somewhat. Rob Grant continues to develop in leaps and bounds, and again made a very meaningful contribution.

Sheffield relied almost entirely on their heat leaders. Sean Wilson was not his usual dominant self, however, particularly early on, but he was well supported by Robbie Kessler and the perennial guest at Newcastle, Paul Bentley. The second strings made little contribution, with Paul Lee - who has ridden Brough Park very well in the past - particularly disappointing.

All in all, by far the best meeting at Newcastle this season, in my view.

Match report by Vaughan Jones.

Sunday 10th September, Premier League Riders Championship
Paul Fry	2	2	2	2	0			8	9th
Anders Henriksson	fx	0	1	1	2			4	=12th
Robbie Kessler	3	1	fx	2	2			8	8th
Michael Coles	1	2	1	0	1			5	11th
Ray Morton	0	r						0	16th
Carl Stonehewer	3	3	2	3	3			14	1st
Colin White	2	0	0	1	1			4	=12th
Les Collins	1	1	1	3	1			7	10th
Paul Pickering	3	3	2	3	3			14	3rd
Alan Mogridge	2	2	3	3	2			12	6th
Peter Carr	1	2	1	2	3			9	2nd
Paul Thorp	0	3	2	3	1			9	5th
Phil Morris	0	1	2	r	0			3	14th
André Compton	2	1	3	0	2			8	7th
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	1	3			13	4th
Robert Eriksson	1	r	r					1	15th
Adam Allott (res)	0	1	0	0				1

 1 (re-run) 62.5  Kessler, Fry, Coles, Henriksson (FX)
 2 63.0 Stonehewer, White, Collins, Morton
 3 62.5 Pickering, Mogridge, Carr, Thorp
 4 61.9 Wilson, Compton, Eriksson, Morris
 5 62.5 Pickering, Fry, Morris, Morton (R)
 6 61.7 Stonehewer, Mogridge, Compton, Henriksson
 7 60.9 Wilson, Carr, Kessler, White
 8 62.2 Thorp, Coles, Collins, Eriksson (R)
 9 61.3 Stonehewer, Fry, Carr, Eriksson (R)
10 61.3 Wilson, Thorp, Henriksson, Allott
11 (re-run) 62.2 Compton, Pickering, Collins, Kessler (FX)
12 62.4 Mogridge, Morris, Coles, White
13 61.3 Thorp, Fry, White, Compton
14 61.9 Collins, Carr, Henriksson, Morris (R)
15 61.6 Mogridge, Kessler, Allott (three riders only)
16 61.9 Pickering, Stonehewer, Wilson, Coles
17 61.5 Wilson, Mogridge, Collins, Fry
18 62.6 Pickering, Henriksson, White, Allott
19 62.0 Stonehewer, Kessler, Thorp, Morris
20 62.1 Carr, Compton, Coles, Allott
semi final 61.0 Wilson, Carr, Thorp, Mogridge (F)
FINAL (re-run) 60.9 Stonehewer, Carr, Pickering, Wilson (X)

An excellent meeting marred only by Jim McGregor's inconsistent refereeing. The track improved as the meeting progressed and was still offering excellent racing after 22 heats. As is often the case with top class line-ups, the racing was a little poor in the opening heats. Les Collins picked up a place in heat 2 but nothing much happened until André battled past Pickers in heat 11.

Les Collins and Peter Carr featured in a real hummdinger in heat 14 with PC resorting to his classic 3rd bend dive on the last lap. Les has seen it all before though and brilliantly cut back to the inside line out of turn 4 to take the win.

Heat 16 was a classic with Pickers flying into the lead while Sean fought from the back passing both Michael Coles and Stoney. Stoney then got the bit between his teeth and pressured Sean into a rare mistake on the last lap to snatch back second place.

Robbie Kessler looked set for a semi-final place as he led heat 19 but incredibly went too wide and gifted Stoney the win on the last bend! Michael Coles then waved PC through to the front in heat 19 to make doubly sure that it was PC and not Robbie in the semi's.

The semi-final looked settled as Sean powered to an emphatic win, but a desperate PC attempted another 3rd bend dive from a long way behind which resulted in Alan Mogridge being deposited in the fence. Unbelievably Jim McGregor decided that this was a legitimate maneouvre and Moggo was dumped out of the final!

With Jim McGregor now taking even firmer control he proceeded to exclude Sean as Peter Carr failed in a suicidal attempt to go around Sean on the outside of turn 2, exactly at the point where the camber runs out for the tractor gate. PC knew he wouldn't make it and was later heard to admit that Sean shouldn't have been excluded, but significantly omitted to pass this on to Mr. McGregor's guide dog! Stoney could hardly beleive his luck as he hit the front in the rerun, and although PC barged his way past Pickers, Jimmy Mac failed to find any way to exaggerate PC's second place into the PLRC title.

A good meeting as PLRC's go with excellent riding on a beautifully prepared track but tragically marred by abysmal and inconsistent refereeing.

Thursday 7th September, Premier League
Sheffield 'Dixon Ford STAR' Tigers								48	89	Workington 'Kirkland Carpets' Comets								42	90
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	3			15		Carl Stonehewer	2	1	2	2'	2	2		11	1
Paul Lee	1	2'	0	1				4	1	Lee Smethills	rider replacement
André Compton	1	2'	3	2	0			8	1	Peter Karlsson	2'	2	2	r	3	1'		10	2
Simon Cartwright	0	3	0	3				6		Brent Werner	3	1'	1'	2	3	2		12	2
Robert Kessler	r	3	1	1				5		Mick Powell	3	1	1'	0	1'			6	2
Andrew Moore	1	0	0					1		James Mann	2	0	0	0				2
Adam Allott	3	2	3	1'	0			9	1	Adrian Newman	0	0	1					1

 1.      4-2 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Stonehewer, Lee, Newman(r/r)
 2.      4-2 ( 8-4 ) Allott, Mann, Moore, Newman
 3.      1-5 ( 9-9 ) Werner, Karlsson, Compton, Cartwright
 4.      2-4 (11-13) Powell, Allott, Newman, Kessler(r)
 5.      5-1 (16-14) Cartwright, Compton, Stonehewer, Mann
 6.      5-1 (21-15) Wilson, Lee, Powell, Mann
 7.      3-3 (24-18) Kessler, Karlsson, Werner, Moore
 8.      3-3 (27-21) Allott, Karlsson(t/s), Werner(t/s), Lee
 9.      3-3 (30-24) Compton, Stonehewer(t/s), Powell, Cartwright
10.      4-2 (34-26) Wilson, Werner, Lee, Karlsson(ef)
11.      1-5 (35-31) Werner, Stonehewer, Kessler, Moore
12.      3-3 (38-34) Karlsson, Compton, Allott, Mann
13.      4-2 (42-36) Wilson, Stonehewer, Kessler, Powell
14.      3-3 (45-39) Cartwright, Werner, Powell(t/s), Allott
15.      5-1 (48-42) Wilson, Stonehewer, Karlsson, Compton

Despite a lukewarm display from Grand Prix star Carl Stonehewer the Comets have sufficient strength in depth to take the bonus point by the odd point. Stoney never won a race, but Brent Werner put on one of his better Owlerton performances. Sean was untouchable as he sped to a perfect maximum, but André made very hard work of his score, and failed yet again when the chips were down in heat 15, so often a characteristic of his 1999 season. Dismal displays by Robbie Kessler and Paul Lee have to be the reasons why this bonus point was lost, and the Tigers will now require some serious away wins if they want to keep the trophy cabinet stocked!

Thursday 24th August, Premier League
Sheffield 'Dixon Ford STAR' Tigers								59		Berwick 'ACC BT Cellnet' Bandits								31
Sean Wilson	2'	3	3	3	3			14	1	Paul Bentley	1	0	1'	0				2	1
Paul Lee	3	1	0	2'				6	1	Jorg Pingel	r	1	1	2	3	r		7
Simon Stead	dnr	2'	3	3				8	1	David Meldrum	1	1'	1	1				4	1
Adam Allott	2	3	1	2				8		Scott Smith	3	2	ef	fx				5
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	1	2'			12	1	Alan Mogridge	2	2	3	2	2	1		12
Andrew Moore	2'	0	fx	0				2	1	Wesley Waite	fx	0	0					0
Simon Cartwright	3	1	2	2'	1'			9	2	Dean Felton	1	0	0					1

 1. 62.7 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Lee, Wilson, Bentley, Pingel(r)
 2. awd  5-1 (10-2 ) Cartwright, Moore, Felton, Waite(fx)
 3. 62.6 2-4 (12-6 ) Smith, Allott, Meldrum, Moore, Stead(dnr)
 4. 62.8 4-2 (16-8 ) Kessler, Mogridge, Cartwright, Felton
 5. 63.2 5-1 (21-9 ) Allott, Stead, Pingel, Bentley
 6. 62.7 4-2 (25-11) Wilson, Mogridge, Lee, Waite
 7. awd  3-3 (28-14) Kessler, Smith, Meldrum, Moore(fx)
 8. 62.5 2-4 (30-18) Mogridge(t/s), Cartwright, Pingel, Lee
 9. 61.0 4-2 (34-20) Stead, Mogridge, Allott, Waite
10. 63.1 5-1 (39-21) Wilson, Lee, Meldrum, Smith(ef)
11. 62.3 3-3 (42-24) Kessler, Pingel, Bentley, Moore
12. 63.1 5-1 (47-25) Stead, Cartwright, Meldrum, Smith(t/s,fx)
13. 62.6 4-2 (51-27) Wilson, Mogridge, Kessler, Bentley
14. 63.7 3-3 (54-30) Pingel(t/s), Allott, Cartwright, Felton
15. 62.3 5-1 (49-31) Wilson, Kessler, Mogridge, Pingel(r)

Steady took a real purler in heat 3 when it was four abreast around the first 2 corners and he just ran out of track. He missed the rerun as he was being checked out by the paramedics, but returned painfully to the saddle with a very sore back to go unbeaten in his remaining rides, including posting the fastest time of the year in heat 9! As if he didn't have enough aches and pains already he was also the innocent victim of a nasty spill in heat 12 when Scud bounced off the fence on the second turn and his bike collected Simon who was right on his tail. Simon Cartwright also had to lay down having just blasted around David Meldrum and all three spent quite some time on the track before managing to walk back to the pits. Scud's helmet saved the day again, but split apart and was impounded by the referee, and Scud withdrew from the meeting suffering from concussion.

The Bandits' had two ineffectual heat leaders and nothing in reserve and were easy prey for the fired up Tigers. Adam and Simon both left straight after the meeting for long hauls to Slovenia and Poland respectively, Adam for the World U19 Final, and Simon for the World U21. Another good home return from Simon C who is destined to return to the team come September...

Wednesday 23rd August, Premier League
Hull Vikings								45		'Dixon Ford' Sheffield STAR Tigers								44
Paul Thorp	2	3	3	2	2			12		Sean Wilson	1	x	3	1	3			8
Mike Smith	0	0	3					3		Paul Lee	3	1	2	1				7
Paul Smith	0	2'	3	2	0			7	1	Simon Stead	2'	2	2	3	1			10	1
Lee Dicken	1	x2	2'	3				6	1	Adam Allott	3	0	1'	2				6	1
Garry Stead	3	1	2	0				6		Robbie Kessler	tx	2	r	3				5
René Aas	3	3	3	1	0	1'	x	11	1	Andrew Moore	1'	1'	1'	1	0			4	3
Jamie Smith	fx	0	f					0		Simon Cartwright	2	2	0	fx				4

 1 67.6 2-4 ( 2-4 ) Lee, Thorp, Wilson, M.Smith 
 2 68.4 3-3 ( 5-7 ) Aas, Cartwright, Moore, J.Smith(fx)  
 3 67.3 1-5 ( 6-12) Allott, S.Stead, Dicken, P.Smith   
 4 67.9 3-3 ( 9-15) G.Stead, Cartwright, Moore, J.Smith, Kessler(tx)  
 5 68.8 5-1 (14-16) Aas, P.Smith, Lee, Wilson(x), Dicken(x2)  
 6 66.7 3-3 (17-19) Thorp, Kessler, Moore, M.Smith  
 7 66.5 4-2 (21-21) Aas, S.Stead, G.Stead. Allott  
 8 67.8 4-2 (25-23) M.Smith, Lee, Aas, Cartwright  
 9 66.9 5-1 (30-24) P.Smith, Dicken, Moore, Kessler(r)  
10 67.8 3-3 (33-27) Thorp, S.Stead, Allott, J.Smith(f)  
11 67.2 2-4 (35-31) Wilson, G.Stead, Lee, Aas  
12 67.5 3-3 (38-34) S.Stead, P.Smith, R.Aas, A.Moore  
13 67.7 2-4 (40-38) Kessler, Thorp, Wilson, G.Stead  
14      3-2 (43-40) Dicken, Allott, Aas(x), Cartwright(fx)  
15 68.3 2-4 (45-44) Wilson, Thorp, S.Stead, P.Smith

Robbie excluded for nearly touching the tapes in heat 4, and Sean for allegedly fencing René in heat 5, and our 6 point lead had vanished. The Tigers rallied in the latter stages and were on a 5-1 in heat 14 until the 3rd bend caught Simon(C) out again. Adam missed the gate in the re-run and despite René throwing away a point we were left needing a 5-1 in heat 15. Steady did get his nose ahead of Thorpy towards the end of the race, but Paul got the better line on the exit of the bend to deny the Tigers by one point!

Tuesday 22nd August, Conference League
St. Austell Gulls									38		Sheffield Prowlers									52
Wayne Barrett	2	2	1	2					7		Adam Allott	3	3	3	3	3	3			18
Richard Ford	0	1'	0						1	1	Luke Priest	1	1	1	0					3
Jason Prynne	2	2	3	1	0				8		Andy Moore	3	2	2	3	3	1			14
Michael Williams	1'	0	x2	0					1	1	David Speight	0	0	1						1
Garry Phelps	3	3	2	f	2				10		James Birkinshaw	rider replacement
Will James	1'	1	1'	1	1				5	2	Matt Cambridge	3	0	f	0	2'	3			8	1
Garry Lobb	2	2'	2	0	0				6	1	Jamie Young	0	1	3	2'	2'				8	2

 1. 56.0  2-4 ( 2-4 ) Allott, Barrett, Priest, Ford
 2. 55.8  3-3 ( 5-7 ) Cambridge, Lobb, James, Young
 3. 56.35 3-3 ( 8-10) Moore, Prynne, Williams(f/rem), Speight(f/rem)
 4. 55.56 5-1 (13-11) Phelps, Lobb, Young, Cambridge
 5. 55.31 2-4 (15-15) Allott, Prynne, Priest, Williams
 6. 55.43 3-3 (18-18) Allott, Barrett, Ford, Cambridge(f)
 7. 55.72 4-2 (22-20) Phelps, Moore, James, Speight
 8. 57.0  2-4 (24-24) Young, Lobb, Priest, Ford
 9. 56.7  4-2 (28-26) Prynne, Moore, James, Cambridge, Williams(x2)
10. 56.8  1-5 (29-31) Moore, Young, Barrett, Lobb
11. 55.9  3-3 (32-34) Allott, Phelps, James, Priest
12. 56.71 1-5 (33-39) Moore, Cambridge, Prynne, Lobb
13. 55.78 2-4 (35-43) Allott, Barrett, Speight, Phelps(f)
14. 56.8  1-5 (36-48) Cambridge, Young, James, Williams
15. 56.2  2-4 (38-52) Allott, Phelps, Moore, Prynne

Monday 21st August, Conference League
Rye House Rockets									58		Sheffield Prowlers									32
Simon Wolstenholme	1'	1'	3	3	2	2'			12	3	Adam Allott	3	3	3	2	3	f			14
Simon Moon	2	3	2	2	2'				11	1	Luke Priest	0	0	0	0	0				0
David Mason	3	3	3	3	3	3			18		Andy Moore	2	1	2	1	2	3	1		12
David Osborn	0	2'	1	1'					4	2	David Speight	1'	0	0	0					1	1
Phil Ambrose	rider replacement										James Birkinshaw	rider replacement
Nathan Morton	3	1	1	2	2				7		Matt Cambridge	0	1	0	2	0	1			4
Garry Sweet	2'	2'	1'	1	0				6	3	Lee Hodgson	1	fx							1

 1. 58.4 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Allott, Moon, Wolstenholme, Priest
 2. 60.9 5-1 ( 8-4 ) Morton, Sweet, Hodgson, Cambridge
 3. 58.7 3-3 (11-7 ) Mason, Morre, Speight, Osborn(f/rem)
 4. 60.1 5-1 (16-8 ) Moon, Sweet, Moore, Hodgson(f/x)
 5. 58.0 5-1 (21-9 ) Mason, Osborn, Cambridge, Priest
 6. 58.9 3-3 (24-12) Allott, Moon, WOlstenholme, Cambridge
 7. 58.1 4-2 (28-14) Mason, Moore, Morton, Speight
 8. 57.6 3-3 (31-17) Allott, Moon, Sweet, Priest
 9. 58.4 4-2 (35-19) Mason, Cambridge, Osborn, Priest
10. 60.9 5-1 (40-20) Wolstenholme, Moon, Moore, Speight(f/rem)
11. 59.3 4-2 (44-22) Wolstenholme, Allott, Morton, Priest
12. 57.9 4-2 (48-24) Mason, Moore, Sweet, Cambridge
13. 58.2 2-4 (50-28) Allott, Wolstenholme, Cambridge, Sweet
14. 59.7 3-3 (53-31) Moore, Morton, Osborn, Speight
15. 58.3 5-1 (58-32) Mason, Wolstenholme, Moore, Allott(f)

Bronze Helmet: David Mason beat Andy Moore(holder)

The Prowlers, already weakened by the loss of James Birkinshaw through injury, suffered a further blow when Lee Hodgson suffered a broken leg in his second outing. Adam and Andy battled away but the Prowlers tail was too long for the very strong Rye House outfit.

 1. 66.7 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Wilson, Lee, Macklin, Burrows, Pickering(2 mins)
 2. 68.8 4-2 ( 9-3 ) Cartwright, Broadhurst, Birkinshaw, Macklin(2 mins)
 3. 66.6 3-3 (12-6 ) Stead, Walsh, Atkin, Allott(ef)
 4. 66.7 4-2 (16-8 ) Kessler, Thorp, Cartwright, Macklin
 5. 67.7 1-5 (17-13) Pickering, Burrows, Stead(pushed), Allott(ef)
 6. 66.4 4-2 (21-15) Wilson, Thorp, Lee, Broadhurst
 7. 66.5 3-3 (24-18) Kessler, Walsh, Atkin, Birkinshaw
 8. 67.1 1-5 (25-23) Burrows, Pickering(t/s), Lee, Cartwright
 9. 65.4 3-3 (28-26) Thorp, Stead, Allott, Broadhurst
10. 66.3 4-2 (32-28) Wilson, Walsh, Lee, Atkin 
11. 66.0 2-3 (34-31) Pickering, Birkinshaw, Kessler(f), Burrows(f)
12. 65.3 4-2 (38-33) Stead, Walsh, Cartwright, Broadhurst
13. 65.2 5-1 (43-34) Kessler, Wilson, Pickering, Thorp(15yds)
14. 67.1 1-8 (44-42) Thorp(G/D), Burrows(t/s), Cartwright, Allott
15. 63.8 4-2 (48-44) Kessler, Thorp, Wilson, Pickering(fx)

Where do you start to write this match up? The track was saturated by a steady downpour for an hour or more just before the start and both teams allowed Graham Trollope extra time to work on the track. With a good forecast for the evening it was worth the 30 minute wait, and indeed the resulting surface was eminently raceable. After a delayed start we then experienced Paul Pickering running into Sean before the 30 yard post and the race was restarted. Paul and Sean both went into the pits to sort out machinery but only Sean returned within the 2 minutes. Paul Macklin came out to replace his captain, and went into the tapes! Electing to go from a 15yd handicap he then very nearly earned an exclusion under the 2 minute time allowance as his bike wouldn't start. Paul then came back out for heat 2 having been given extra time for two on the trot and guess what? He got excluded under the 2 minute rule as he couldn't get his bike started! Half an hour late starting, it now has taken 25 minutes to run 2 races!

Proceedings stepped up a pace now although both Steady and Adam suffered engine failures in heat 5, and the Stoke management had the audacity to ask for a track inspection after heat 6. Extra time was allowed for Graham and his tractor to do his stuff on the rapidly drying track.

The Potters benefitted from a Paul Pickering tactical substitution in heat 8 as he pushed Buzz home for another 5-1 and narrowed the magin to just 2 points. Sean blasted around Dave Walsh to win heat 10 and with Paul Lee 3rd the margin was stretched back to 4, but disaster struck in heat 11. Pickers was leading comfortably from Robbie while Buzz was comfortable in 3rd until he made a right dogs dinner of the 1st bend on the last lap and fell heavily gifting 3rd place to James. Not to be outdone Robbie needlessly attacked the last bend and also overdid things taking an awkward tumble which will have done his ribs no good at all. In an attempt to keep the bike going Robbie tried to scramble back on board only to end up being dragged right off the circuit which MUST have hurt his ribs!

Heat 12 and the margin goes to 5 points thanks to the ride of the night from Steady. Chasing wide riding David Walsh Simon made a gallant attempt up the inside out of turn 4 on the third lap and very nearly got alongside. David obviously decided he needed to cover the inside line and left Simon a run at the grippy outside which Simon grabbed with both hands to lead by 4 bike lengths down the rear straight!

At this point everyone on the terraces including grannies, babes in arms, and the greyhounds in their kennels knew that a 3-3 was required from heat 13 to prevent a double tactical substitution in heat 14, and that a 5-1 would be murderous as it would allow a Golden Double. Did our championship winning team manager tell our riders what the score was? If he did they bloody ignored him! The surprising thing was that they went for Burrows to accompany Thorp when I would have expected Walsh to have been given the job. It made no difference as Buzz trapped, Adam cocked up the second turn and Thorpy was soon in second place. Buzz kept checking over his shoulder but it took a full throttle last turn from Thorpy to claim the 6 points. It's time someone told the management that Reg isn't respected out on the terraces, more like he's a laughing stock!

Just two up into heat 15 and it looked good as Robbie sped from the tapes. Sean joined him by passing Paul Pickering down the back straight and Paul took a high speed tumble into the fence on the 3rd turn as he went ever wider looking to get back on terms. Robbie repeated the exercise in the rerun, but when Thorpy blasted around Sean out of turn 2 and scraped the fence as he chased after Robbie, Sean decided enough was enough with such a busy weekend ahead and settled for 3rd.

The junior second-half was now cancelled as it was already past 10pm and the Tim Lucking memorial Trophy will have to be restaged at a later date. We have now had 2 consecutive matches at Owlerton where heat 14 Golden Doubles by visiting riders and their guests have been used against us. I wonder who Arena will use next week?

Sunday 30th July, Premier League
Workington 'Kirkland Carpets' Comets								48		Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								41
Carl Stonehewer	ef	2	3	3	2'	3		13	1	Sean Wilson	3	3	3	x	2	2		13
Lee Smethills	f	1'	1					2	1	Paul Lee	2'	0	1	1				4	1
Peter Karlsson	2	2	2'	3	3			12	1	Simon Stead	3	1'	2	ef				6	1
Brent Werner	1'	1'	1	2				5	2	Adam Allott	0	2	0					2
Mick Powell	2	3	2	3	1			11		Paul Fry (g)	3	3	2	1	3	0		12
Geoff Powell	0	0	f					0		James Birkinshaw	1'	0	0					1	1
Adrian Newman	3	0	2'	0				5	1	Simon Cartwright	2	1	0	f				3

 1.  Wilson, Lee, Stonehewer (ef), Smethills (f)    ( 0-5 ) 
 2.  Newman, Cartwright, Birkinshaw, G. Powell      ( 3-8 )  
 3.  Stead, Karlsson, Werner, Allott                ( 6-11)   
 4.  Fry, M. Powell, Cartwright, Newman             ( 8-15)  
 5.  Wilson, Karlsson, Werner, Lee                  (11-18)  
 6.  Fry, Stonehewer, Smethills, Birkinshaw         (14-21)  
 7.  M. Powell, Allott, Stead, G. Powell            (17-24)  
 8.  Stonehewer, Karlsson, Lee, Cartwright          (22-25)  
 9.  Karlsson, Fry, Werner, Birkinshaw              (26-27)  
10.  Stonehewer, Stead, Smethills, Allott           (30-29)  
11.  Wilson, M. Powell, Lee, G. Powell (F)          (32-33)  
12.  Karlsson, Newman, Cartwright (F), Stead (EF)   (37-33)  
13.  M. Powell, Stonehewer, Fry, Wilson (EX)        (42-34)  
14.  Fry, Werner, Wilson, Newman                    (44-39)  
15.  Stonehewer, Wilson, M. Powell, Fry             (48-41)

Not the result Sheffield deserved, but excellent speedway and a real crowd thriller. It should nicely set the scene for the return at Owlerton.

Thursday 27th July, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								48		Newcastle 'KBS' Diamonds								44
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	3	3		18		Bjarne Pedersen	2	3	3	3	1'	1'		13	2
Paul Lee	1	1	2	1	0			5	0	Grant MacDonald	0	r	0					0
Simon Stead	3	2	3	3	2	0		13		Stuart Swales	1'	1'	x	0				2	2
Adam Allott	0	1'	1	1				3	1	Jesper Olsen (c)	2	2	2	3	3			12
Robert Kessler	rider replacement							(7)	(1)	André Compton	2	2	2	2	4'	2		14	1
James Birkinshaw	2	0	2	0				4		Rob Grant	3	0	0					3
Simon Cartwright	1'	1	1'	1'	1'			5	4	Darren Pearson	f	0	0					0

 1. 63.2 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Pedersen, Lee, MacDonald
 2. 68.7 3-3 ( 7-5 ) Grant, Birkinshaw(f/rem), Cartwright(ef), Pearson(f)
 3. 63.9 3-3 (10-8 ) Stead, Olsen, Swales, Allott
 4. 62.9 4-2 (14-10) Wilson(r/r), Compton, Cartwright, Pearson
 5. 63.2 3-3 (17-13) Pedersen, Stead, Allott, MacDonald(r)
 6. 62.4 4-2 (21-15) Wilson, Compton, Lee, Grant
 7. 63.5 3-3 (24-18) Stead(r/r), Olsen, Swales, Birkinshaw
 8. awd  3-3 (27-21) Pedersen(t/s), Lee, Cartwright(f/awd), Swales(t/s)(fx)
 9. 63.0 4-2 (31-23) Stead, Compton, Allott, Grant
10. 61.9 4-2 (35-25) Wilson, Olsen, Lee, Swales 
11. 62.0 3-3 (38-28) Pedersen, Birkinshaw, Cartwright(r/r), MacDonald
12. 62.1 3-3 (41-31) Olsen(t/s), Stead, Cartwright, Pearson
13. 62.4 3-3 (44-34) Wilson, Compton, Pedersen, Lee(r/r)
14. 63.3 1-7 (45-41) Olsen, Compton(G/D), Allott, Birkinshaw
15. 62.8 3-3 (48-44) Wilson, Compton, Pedersen, Stead

The Tigers were always going to struggle with Robbie Kessler missing due to his broken ribs suffered while riding for his country last weekend. With no suitable guests available rider replacement was utilised meaning that only two of his rides could be taken by heat leaders, and at the end of the day there were only 2 Sheffield riders who won a race! The Diamonds came to town with Pedersen, Olsen and last season's Tigers star André Compton all in determined mood, but luckily heat leader Stuart Swales let them down. With the reserves and Grant MacDonald unable to score a point (save the fluke win in heat 2) the Diamonds just didn't have the legs.

Sean romped to a perfect six ride maximum and was razor sharp from the tapes. Paul Lee failed to rise to the occasion having his worst show for weeks. When will he come to terms with his new home track? Steady made some of his hallmark appaling starts but never gave in trying, passing Jesper on the final bend of heat 3, and again on the last lap of heat 7, although his worst gate in the final heat was more than he could make amends for. Adam Allott never looked like getting stuck in on a track made heavy by a pre-meeting downpour, although he put up a spirited but unsuccesful attempt to keep Golden Double André at bay in heat 14. James had a couple of good first bends and well deserved his meagre score, while Simon had a quiet night by recent standards while still scoring paid 9.

Bjarne looked good on his first ever visit to Owlerton and I'm sure he would have been an asset to the club had we signed him some time ago. Grant MacDonald was an embarrasment and Stuart Swales was little better. Jesper was back to typical Owlerton form although he could have helped André to a Golden Double win in heat 14 if only he hadn't scampered off into such a big lead. André rode very well without claiming a single heat win and participated in the race of the night as he just failed to outwit Steady in heat 9. Rob Grant fluked a win in heat 2 when first James fell & remounted, then Darren slid off on the next lap, and finally Simon Cartwright shed a chain as he started the final lap!

Robbie Kessler was at the track to support the Tigers and it seems his injuries are not nearly as bad as first reported. His doctor has told him not to ride until the 17th of August but it seems Robbie wants to be back by next Thursday!

Friday 21st July, Conference League
Newport Mavericks									41		Sheffield Prowlers									49
Lee Herne	1	0	1	0					2		Adam Allott	3	2	2	1					8
Steve Aston	0	0	1						1		Matt Cambridge	2'	tx	1	1'					4	2
Chris Courage	3	3	3	3	3	3	3		21		James Birkinshaw	2	2	2'	2	2				10	1
Rob Finlow	1	r	1	1'					3	1	Carl Downs	0	0	0						0
Scott Pegler	rider replacement										Andy Moore	3	2	2	3	1'				11	1
Jamie Holmes (c)	x	1	0	2	2	0			5		David Speight	1	0	f						1
Graig Gough	2	2	3	2	f	f			9		Lee Hodgson	3	1	1'	3	3	1'	3		15	2

 1. 62.64 1-5 ( 1-5 ) Allott, Cambridge, Aston, Herne
 2. 65.24 2-4 ( 3-9 ) Hodgson, Gough, Speight(f/rem), Holmes(fx)
 3. 62.28 4-2 ( 7-11) Courage Birkinshaw, Finlow, Downes
 4. 63.37 2-4 ( 9-15) Moore, Gough, Hodgson, Herne
 5. 63.34 3-3 (12-18) Courage, Allot, Hodgson, Finlow(r), Cambridge(tx)
 6. 63.70 4-2 (16-20) Gough, Moore, Herne, Speight
 7. 63.38 4-2 (20-22) Courage, Birkinshaw, Holmes, Downs
 8. 63.52 2-4 (22-26) Hodgson, Gough, Cambridge, Aston
 9. 63.58 4-2 (26-28) Courage, Moore, Finlow, Speight(f)
10. 64.74 1-5 (27-33) Hodgson, Birkinshaw, Aston, Gough(f)
11. 62.96 3-3 (30-36) Courage, Allott, Cambridge, Holmes
12. 62.96 3-3 (33-39) Courage, Birkinshaw, Hodgson, Herne
13. 63.56 2-4 (35-43) Moore, Holmes, Allott, Gough(f)
14. 63.54 3-3 (38-46) Hodgson, Holmes, Finlow, Downs
15. 62.61 3-3 (41-49) Courage, Birkinshaw, Moore, Holmes

Bronze Helmet: Andy Moore beat Chris Courage(holder) 63.84

Carl Downs replaced Jamie Young at the Hayley stadium and found the racing just a little too hectic for his debut. The track was a bit unpredictable and there were a number of fallers, and quite a few near fallers along the way. The Prowlers took a four point lead in the first heat and despite some heroic riding by Chris Courage the Mavericks never even managed to draw level. Local lad Graig Gough fell in both his last two races while his counterpart in the Prowlers had a magnificent paid 17 point total including four wins.

Andy Moore got the honour of challenging for the Bronze helmet and became the first man to pass Chris Courage on the night as he wrote his name into the record books.

Thursday 20th July, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								59	89	Exeter Falcons								31	91
Sean Wilson	3	3	ef	2'	2'			10	2	Mark Simmonds (c)	1	2	2	1	1			7
Paul Lee	2'	1	1'	3				7	2	Graeme Gordon	0	1'	0					1	1
Simon Stead	3	3	2	1'				9	1	Brent Werner (g)	1	2	1'	3	1	0		8	1
Adam Allott	2'	0	0	2'				4	2	Roger Lobb	0	1'	2	0				3	1
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	3	3			15		Michael Coles	1	2	3	1	0	0		7
James Birkinshaw	2'	ef	0					2	1	Chris Harris	f	0	3	0				3
Simon Cartwright	3	2'	2	2	3			12	1	Bobby Eldridge	1	0	1'					2	1
Andy Moore	dnr

 1. 61.9 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Wilson, Lee, Simmons, Gordon
 2. awd  5-1 (10-2 ) Cartwright, Birkinshaw, Eldridge, Harris(f)
 3. 63.1 5-1 (15-3 ) Stead, Allott, Werner, Lobb(15m)
 4. 63.6 5-1 (20-4 ) Kessler, Cartwright, Coles, Eldridge
 5. 62.6 3-3 (23-7 ) Stead, Simmons, Gordon, Allott
 6. 62.4 4-2 (27-9 ) Wilson, Coles, Lee, Harris
 7. 62.7 3-3 (30-12) Kessler, Werner, Lobb, Birkinshaw(ef)
 8. 62.7 3-3 (33-15) Coles(t/s), Cartwright, Lee, Gordon
 9. 62.3 2-4 (35-19) Harris, Stead, Coles, Allott
10. 62.1 3-3 (38-22) Lee, Lobb, Werner, Wilson(ef)
11. 62.2 3-3 (41-25) Kessler, Simmons, Eldridge, Birkinshaw
12. 62.6 3-3 (44-28) Werner, Cartwright, Stead(15m), Harris
13. 62.0 5-1 (49-29) Kessler, Wilson, Simmons, Coles
14. 62.9 5-1 (54-30) Cartwright, Allott, Werner(t/s), Lobb
15. 63.1 5-1 (59-31) Kessler, Wilson, Simmons, Werner

The Falcons were easy prey for the rampant Tigers who would have secured the bonus point if not for a rare engine failure for Sean Wilson when leading in heat 10. The Falcons made the occasional lightning starts but just seemed disinterested once they were passed.

Sean made 3 super fast starts, but after his engine problems in heat 10 he was content to team ride Robbie home in heat 13, and indeed slowed to allow Robbie his full maximum in heat 15.

Paul Lee had a good night joining Sean for the 5-1 in heat 1, scything under Greame Gordon in heat 8 and passing Roger Lobb down the back straight in heat 10.

Simon was his usual action packed self squeezing past Michael Coles on the last bend of heat 9, and making up a 15 meter handicap to pass Chris Harris in heat 12 after Chris Harris had spooked him into the tapes.

Adam looked good when he gated beating Brent Werner twice, but he rode like a Falcon when behind.

Robbie powered his way to an impressive maximum with his best ride being from the back in heat 15, scraping the boards to get around Mark Simmons.

James was unlucky with engine problems while Simon Cartwright is a totally different rider now he is at reserve and finished ahead of both Brent Werner and Michael Coles.

Chris Harris rode into the back of James Birkinshaw in heat 2 and fell awkwardly into the fence. He then flew from the gate in heat 9 but that win constituted his only points of the night. None of the other Falcons merit a mention and they can consider themselves very lucky to take the bonus point. Remember that Robbie Kessler was suffering from the flu when we visited the County Ground and that could prove costly later in the season. The Falcon's team management must be worried about the team for 2001. On current averages the Falcons reserve pair would be heat leaders for Sheffield, except they ride like reserves. Who is going to employ an ex-Exeter reserve or second string as a heat leader next year? There are going to be three or possibly more riders that Exeter can't employ under the 45 point limit and who will probably find themselves un-employable!

Sunday 16th July, Conference League
Buxton Hitmen									46	86	Sheffield Prowlers									44	94
Lee Smethills	3	3	2	2	3				13		Adam Allott	tx	3	3	f	3	2			11
Lee Howard	1	2'	1'						4	2	Matt Cambridge	f	f	3						3
Paul Burnett	1	2	3	2	1				9		James Birkinshaw (c)	3	2	r	3					8
Steve Mildoon	0	1'	1						2	1	Jamie Young	2'	0	3						5	1
James Mann	1'	3	2	r					6	1	Andrew Moore	3	f	2	3	1	0			9
Neil Painter (c)	2	1	1'	1'	2				7	2	David Speight	f	1	0						1
Phil Pickering	1'	2	2	f	0				5	1	Lee Hodgson	2	3	ef	fx	1	1			7

 1. 56.1 4-2 ( 2-4 ) Smethills, Hodgson, Howard, Cambridge(f), Allott(tps)
 2. 57.5 3-3 ( 7-5 ) Hodgson, Painter, Pickering, Speight(f)
 3. 56.8 1-5 ( 8-10) Birkinshaw, Young, Burnett, Mildoon
 4. 57.9 3-3 (11-13) Moore, Pickering, Mann, Hodgson(ef)
 5. 55.8 3-3 (14-16) Allott, Burnett, Mildoon, Cambridge(f)
 6. awd  5-1 (19-17) Smethills, Howard, Speight, Moore(f)
 7. 56.5 4-2 (23-19) Mann, Birkinshaw, Painter, Young
 8. 57.8 3-3 (26-22) Cambridge, Pickering, Howard, Hodgson(fx)
 9. 56.9 4-2 (30-24) Burnett, Moore, Mildoon, Speight
10. 55.2 3-3 (33-27) Allott(t/s), Smethills, Painter, Birkinshaw(f/rem/ret) 
11. 57.5 3-3 (36-30) Moore(t/s), Mann, Painter, Allott(f)
12. awd  2-4 (38-34) Birkinshaw, Burnett, Hodgson, Pickering(f)
13. 57.9 2-4 (40-38) Allott, Smethills, Moore, Mann(r) 
14. 59.0 2-4 (42-42) Young, Painter, Hodgson, Pickering
15. 58.2 4-2 (46-44) Smethills, Allott, Burnett, Moore

The Prowlers effectively gave this match away as they struggled to come to terms with the tricky Buxton track. Jamie Young was the only Prowler who didn't come to grief while only Phil Pickering was a faller for the Hitmen. Andrew Moore cited a badly ridged area around the 3rd & 4th bends which was very tricky, but he himself fell downhill into the second bend.

Adam Allott had a real Jeckyl & Hyde meeting; breaking the tapes in heat 1, setting a new track record in heat 10, falling behind his team mate while on a 5-1 in the very next race and then allowing Lee Smethills to drift both himself and Andrew Moore out of contention in the final deciding heat.

Matt Cambridge discovered the ruts on the 3rd turn in heat 1, overslid on the 1st turn in heat 5, but then rode a smashing race in heat 8 putting leader Phil Pickering under more and more pressure until he forced a mistake on the last bend and claimed the heat win.

James Birkinshaw looked a confident and assured winner first time out, but was taken out on the first turn by Lee Smethills in heat 10 and then fell while trying to make up ground on the 4th turn. He won heat 12 in fine style and it was a big surprise when he was not nominated for heat 15.

Jamie Young was instrumental in complaining about the state of the track. As a Buxton rider last season he should know what he was talking about. Jamie complained to the ref. about Neil Painters tactics in heat 7, and gained revenge with a forceful inside maneouvre on the 2nd turn of heat 14.

Andrew Moore continues to develop, but was taken right out of contention in the deciding heat after making a quite decent start from the outside gate. Andrew looked good when in front, but the Buxton track does not lend itself to passing and Andrew was not able to slice through the field as he is accustomed to at Owlerton.

David Speight struggled but I'm sure he will have benefitted from the experience, while Lee Hodgson started strongly but following an engine failure (whilst set for a 5-1 in heat 4) and a fall he only picked up two more points.

Lee Smethills was pick of the Hitmen but he was twice beaten by Adam Allott. When the chips were down in heat 15 it was Lee's forecful first turn which allowed Paul Burnett through into second and won the match for the home side. James Mann retired while running last in heat 13 and left the centre green shouting the odds at the home promoter so loudly that he could be heard on the second turn!

The Prowlers took the bonus point, but you have to say they threw away 2 league points which were there for the taking.

Saturday 15th July, Conference League
Boston Barracuda Braves									45	74	Sheffield Prowlers									45	103
Peter Boast	2	1'	r	1					4	1	Adam Allott	3	3	0	2'					8	1
David Chadburn	1'	2	3	1					7	1	Matt Cambridge	0	f	2m						0
Luke Clifton	2	2'	0	2	3				9	1	James Birkinshaw (c)	3	2'	3	1	tx				9	1
Rob Hollingworth	1'	3	3	2'	1				10	2	Jamie Young	0	2'	fx						2	1
Freddie Stephenson	0	1	1'	fx					2	1	Andrew Moore	3	3	2	3	2				13
Carl Wilkinson	2'	0	2	3					7	1	David Speight	f	0	2	1	0				3
Ricki Scarboro	3	2	1	0					6		Lee Hodgson	1	1	1	2m	1'	3	3		10	1

 1 - Allott; Boast; Chadburn; Cambridge;                    63.8  (3-3)( 3-3 )
 2 - Scarboro; Wilkinson; Hodgson; Speight(F);              64.4  (5-1)( 8-4 )
 3 - Birkinshaw; Clifton; Hollingworth; Young;              64.0  (3-3)(11-7 )
 4 - Moore; Scarboro; Hodgson; Stephenson;                  64.0  (2-4)(13-11)
 5 - Hollingworth; Clifton; Hodgson; Cambridge(F);          65.9  (5-1)(18-12)
 6 - Moore; Chadburn; Boast; Speight;                       64.3  (3-3)(21-15)
 7 - Allott; Birkinshaw; Stephenson; Wilkinson;             64.0  (1-5)(22-20)
 8 - Chadburn; Speight; Scarboro; Cambridge(2mins);         65.5  (4-2)(26-22)
 9 - Hollingworth; Moore; Hodgson; Clifton;                 65.1  (3-3)(29-25)
10 - Birkinshaw; Young; Chadburn; Boast(R);                 66.2  (1-5)(30-30)
11 - Hodgson; Wilkinson; Stephenson; Allott;                64.6  (3-3)(33-33)
12 - Hodgson; Clifton; Birkinshaw; Scarboro;                64.5  (2-4)(35-37)
13 - Moore; Allott; Boast; Stephenson(Fx);                  64.6  (1-5)(36-42)
14 - Wilkinson; Hollingworth; Speight; Young(Fx);           65.2  (5-1)(41-43)
15 - Clifton; Moore; Hollingworth; Speight; Birkinshaw(tps) 65.4  (4-2)(45-45)

After several one-sided encounters at 'home' the Cuda-Braves were taken right to the wire in this one, losing a six point lead to trail 36-42 with two to go. A wonderful last bend by Clifton grabbed a draw against a Sheffield side with three excellent heat-leaders.

When Hodgson started to provide effective support from reserve the match swung Sheffield's way.

A rare double time exclusion for Cambridge and Hodgson in heat 8 had long-term effect with Hodgson denied a place in heat 14 due to the time exclusion counting to his maximum allowance of seven rides.

A tape exclusion for Birkinshaw in heat 15 handed Cudas a chance but until Clifton's dramatic last bend burst Moore appeared to have the win sewn up for a very impressive Prowlers side.

Report by Rob McMcCaffery.

Thursday 13th July, Conference League
Sheffield Prowlers									58		Boston Barracuda Braves									29
Adam Allott	3	3	3	3					12		Peter Boast	r	2	2	2	1	2			9
Matt Cambridge	2'	2'	2'	2'	ef				8	4	Dean Garrod	1	0	0						1
James Birkinshaw (c)	3	3	3	3					12		Luke Clifton	1	1'	1	1					4	1
Jamie Young	2'	1	fx						3	1	Rob Hollingworth	0	2	0	1					3
Andrew Moore	3	3	3	2'	3				14	1	Freddie Stephenson	2	1	0	1'	0				4	1
David Speight	tx	0	1	f					1		Carl Wilkinson	fx	0	dnr						0
Lee Hodgson	tx	1	3	2'	2				8	1	Ricki Scarboro	3	0	1	3	1'				8	1

 1. 64.0 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Allott, Cambridge, Garrod, Boast(r)
 2. 3lap 0-3 ( 5-4 ) Scarboro, Wilkinson(f), Speight(tx), Hodgson(tx)
 3. 66.2 5-1 (10-5 ) Birkinshaw, Young, Clifton, Hollingworth
 4. 63.4 4-2 (14-7 ) Moore, Stephenson, Hodgson, Scarboro
 5. 65.0 4-2 (18-9 ) Birkinshaw, Boast, Young, Garrod
 6. 64.2 5-1 (23-10) Allott, Cambridge, Stephenson, Wilkinson
 7. 64.7 3-3 (26-13) Moore, Hollingworth, Clifton, Speight
 8. 64.1 5-1 (31-14) Hodgson, Cambridge, Scarboro, Stephenson(t/s)
 9. 64.1 3-3 (34-17) Birkinshaw, Boast(t/s), Stephenson, Young(fx)
10. 63.5 5-1 (39-18) Allott, Cambridge, Clifton, Hollingworth 
11. 63.6 4-2 (43-20) Moore, Boast, Speight, Garrod
12. 64.6 5-1 (48-21) Birkinshaw, Hodgson, Clifton, Wilkinson(dnr)
13. 63.2 5-1 (53-22) Allott, Moore, Boast, Stephenson
14. 64.3 2-4 (55-26) Scarboro, Hodgson, Hollingworth, Speight(f)
15. 64.2 3-3 (58-29) Moore, Boast, Scarboro, Cambridge(ef)

The Prowlers had a field day as the powerful Barracuda Braves were never at the races. Each of the Prowlers heat leaders claimed a maximum and the winning margin could have been bigger but for some problems for their team mates.

Both Lee and David touched the tapes in heat 2 leaving the Braves pair to race un-opposed. Carl Wilkinson must be kicking himself then for making a mess of the first turn on the last lap and falling spectacularly when well in front!

Jamie Young made a similar mistake on turn 2 in the next heat but just recovered his composure in time to retain second place.

Lee Hodgson was sent back to the pits for his goggles before heat 4, and must have been wrongly geared for he made no impression after a tardy start.

JY passed Dean Garrod on turn 2 in heat 5, but had to give second best as Peter Boast rounded him on the final lap.

David Speight had some hairy moments as he tried to round Luke Clifton in heat 7 but to no avail.

JY tried a Peter Carr dive up the inside on the 3rd turn in heat 9 but got it all wrong as he wiped out Freddie Stephenson and very nearly took James with him as well.

David Speight rounded Dean Garrod on turn 2 in heat 11, and tried valiantly for lap after lap in heat 14 but couldn't catch Rob Hollingworth. In a final 'all or nothing' blast on the final turn he clipped the fence as he entered the straight and somersaulted over the finish line.

With four Prowlers on maximums it was Matt and Andrew who got the nominations for heat 15. Andrew powered around Peter Boast to lead on the 3rd turn but Matt suffered mechanical problems.

An impressive display from the youngsters, and credit to Ricki Scarboro who was the deserved race winner for the Braves. It's a long time since I recall a 1 man finish at Owlerton, but he passed Lee Hodgson to win heat 14 in style. Can the Prowlers do the business at Kings Lynn on Saturday?  

Friday 7th July, Premier League
Edinburgh Monarchs								53		Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								39
Robert Eriksson	3	2	3	3	3			14		Sean Wilson (c)	2	1	4	3	1'	0		11	1
Blair Scott	0	1'	3	2'				6	2	Paul Lee	1'	0	1'	0				2	2
Peter Carr	3	3	3	3	2'			14	1	Simon Stead	2	3	1	2	2'			10	1
Ross Brady	1	2'	1	1				4	1	Adam Allott	0	1	0					1
Kevin Little	2	2	2	0				6		Robbie Kessler	3	3	2	2	3	1		14
Will Beveridge	3	0	1'	0				4	1	Simon Cartwright	ef	0	fx					0
Christian Henry	2'	1'	0	1				4	2	James Birkinshaw	1	0	0					1

 1: Eriksson, Wilson, Lee, Scott                      57.4 3-3 ( 3-3 ) 
 2: Beveridge, Henry, Birkinshaw(-15), Cartwright(ef) 59.6 5-1 ( 8-4 ) 
 3: Carr, Stead, Brady, Allott                        58.6 4-2 (12-6 ) 
 4: Kessler, Little, Henry, Birkinshaw                58.1 3-3 (15-9 ) 
 5: Carr, Brady, Wilson, Lee                          58.1 5-1 (20-10) 
 6: Kessler, Eriksson, Scott, Cartwright              58.9 3-3 (23-13) 
 7: Stead, Little, Allott, Beveridge                  58.8 2-4 (25-17) 
 8: Scott, Wilson(GD), Lee, Henry                     58.1 3-5 (28-22) 
 9: Carr, Kessler, Brady, Cartwright(fx)              58.7 4-2 (32-24) 
10: Eriksson, Scott, Stead, Allott                    58.9 5-1 (37-25) 
11: Wilson, Little, Beveridge, Lee                    58.9 3-3 (40-28) 
12: Carr, Stead, Henry, Birkinshaw                    58.2 4-2 (44-30) 
13: Eriksson, Kessler, Wilson, Little                 58.7 3-3 (47-33) 
14: Kessler, Stead, Brady, Beveridge                  59.2 1-5 (48-38) 
15: Carr, Eriksson, Kessler, Wilson                   57.9 5-1 (53-39)

Edinburgh produced possibly their best performance of the year at Armadale to beat Premier League leaders and championship favourites Sheffield by a margin of 14 points.

With Sheffield effectively a three-man team and only Robbie Kessler providing serious resistance, most of the home riders got amongst the points. The match was free from controversy. This is rare in an Edinburgh-Sheffield encounter. Referee David Peet (from Sheffield!) didn't have a call to make all evening. The only incident worthy of comment was Simon Stead showing some petulance after being held off by Blair Scott in heat 10.

The highlight of the meeting was heat 8 when Sean Wilson came in as a golden double tactical substitute but was easily held off by a flying Blair Scott. Armadale once more escape the forecast rain although there was hint of a light drizzle in the air for part of the meeting. The track was quite grippy and some of the riders, notably the Sheffield reserves, had problems on the second bend.

Peter Carr and Robert Eriksson dominated the meeting with Robbie Kessler the only threat. Kevin Little found it tough going at number 5 against the powerful Sheffield heat leaders but was always in contention.

Blair Scott let things slip in heat 1 but was excellent value after that with a great win over Wilson and also a paid win ahead of Stead. Ross Brady did well on his comeback including a paid win ahead of Wilson. Will Beveridge produced his first Armadale win for Monarchs and was unlucky to be on the wrong end of a double tactical substitution in heat 14. Christian Henry looked very assured.

Sean Wilson didn't have one of his best Armadale meetings and never came near Carr or Eriksson. Robbie Kessler was very fast out of the gate and difficult to dislodge when in front. Simon Stead had a good meeting without troubling the top two home riders. He didn't like it when Blair Scott beat him in heat 10.

Paul Lee remains an enigma. He certainly can ride Armadale as he proved when taking third place in the Under-21 championship earlier this season. He wasn't really in contention apart from a good point in the opening heat and third behind Wilson in heat 8. The rest of the Sheffield team only scored two points between them. Allott was on the pace as was Birkinshaw after a ragged first ride but were never likely to pick up more than gift points. Simon Cartwright showed his customary inability to get around Armadale culminating with a fall in heat 10 that probably denied Kessler a win over Carr.

One unusual thing about this match was that Peter Carr won the toss twice for gate position. With the tape penalty for Birkinshaw in heat 2 and the Sean Wilson golden double in heat 8, Edinburgh riders took 1 and 3 for six of the first eight heats and ten out of fifteen in total.

Man of the match: Blair Scott, most exciting rider: Peter Carr.

Report by John Lowe.

Thursday 6th July, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								60		Glasgow Tigers								30
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	2'	2'			13	2	James Grieves	1'	0	0					1	1
Paul Lee	r	1	3	2'				6	1	Emiliano Sanchez	2	1	1'	2	1			7	1
Simon Stead	3	2'	3	1				9	1	Rusty Harrison	1	1	1	3	1	1		8
Adam Allott	2'	3	0	2'				7	2	Mark Courtney	r	0	0					0
Robert Kessler	2	2'	3	3	3			13	1	Les Collins (c)	3	2	2	2	0	0		9
Simon Cartwright	3	3	1	ef	3			10		Aidan Collins	1	0	1'	2'				4	2
James Birkinshaw	2'	ef	0					2	1	Scott Courtney	0	1	0					1

 1. 64.6 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Sanchez, Grieves, Lee(r)
 2. 67.5 5-1 ( 8-4 ) Cartwright, Birkinshaw, A.Collins, M.Courtney
 3. 66.0 5-1 (13-5 ) Stead, Allott, Harrison, M.Courtney
 4. 66.7 2-4 (15-9 ) L.Collins, Kessler, S.Courtney, Birkinshaw(ef)
 5. 68.0 5-1 (20-10) Allott, Stead, Sanchez, Grieves
 6. 65.8 4-2 (24-12) Wilson, L.Collins, Lee, A.Collins
 7. 67.4 5-1 (29-13) Cartwright, Kessler, Harrison, M.Courtney
 8. 64.9 3-3 (32-16) Lee, L.Collins(t/s), Sanchez, Birkinshaw
 9. 65.6 3-3 (35-19) Stead, L.Collins, A.Collins, Allott
10. 66.6 5-1 (40-20) Wilson, Lee, Harrison, M.Courtney
11. 66.1 4-2 (44-22) Kessler, Sanchez, Cartwright, Grieves
12. 66.8 1-5 (45-27) Harrison, A.Collins, Stead, Cartwright(ef)
13. 65.0 5-1 (50-28) Kessler, Wilson, Harrison(t/s), L.Collins
14. 66.1 5-1 (55-29) Cartwright, Allott, Sanchez(t/s), S.Courtney
15. 65.1 5-1 (60-30) Kessler, Wilson, Harrison, L.Collins

After torrential rain on the previous day and persistent drizzle throughout Thursday the meeting started on a greasy, but rideable track. Les Collins was first to demonstrate that the penalty for moving out wide was not harsh, as he rounded Robbie Kessler on the second bend, lap 3, heat 4. Robbie experienced engine problems in heat 7 making some terrible noises and only holding 2nd place because Rusty Harrison, hard on his tail, was too circumspect on his first visit to Owlerton. Heat 11 saw Simon Cartwright getting into trouble on the outside of turn 2 allowing both Grieves and Sanchez to pass him. He blasted around James on the very next bend but had no chance of catching Emiliano. In heat 13 Robbie and Sean demonstrated absolutely perfect team riding which augers very well for the pairs on Saturday, and Adam Allott caused a few astonished looks as he passed Sanchez on the OUTSIDE(!) of turn 2 in heat 14.

Race of the night was reserved for heat 15 when Rusty had the audacity to trap ahead of both Robbie & Sean. Robbie made a beautiful move around the outside of the 4th bend on lap 2 to take the lead and then Sean made up yards of ground and sliced through on the inside of turn 1 on the last lap to join him for the 5-1.

Spirited showings by both Simon C and Adam were the highlights for the TCH Tigers while new boy Rusty Harrison certainly caught the eye for the Scottish breed.

 

Sunday 2nd July, Premier League
Swindon 'Soft Water' Robins								49	83	Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								41	97
Frank Smart	1	3	3	1'				8	1	Sean Wilson (c)	3	3	3	3	3	3		18
Oliver Allen	0	2'	0					2	1	Paul Lee	2'	2'	1	1	0			6	2
Neil Collins (c)	2	1	2'	1				6	1	Simon Stead	3	2	2	0	3	1		11
Martin Dixon	1'	0	3	2				6	1	Adam Allott	0	0	0					0
Paul Fry	2'	3	2	2	2			11	1	Robbie Kessler	0	fx	1	2				3
Nathan Murray	2'	1	0	1'				4	2	James Birkinshaw	1	1	0					2
Claus Kristensen	3	3	2	1	3	0		12		Simon Cartwright	0	1	0					1

 1. 67.53 1-5 ( 1-5 ) Wilson, Lee, Smart, Allen
 2. 67.91 5-1 ( 6-6 ) Kristensen, Murray, Birkinshaw, Cartwright
 3. 67.59 3-3 ( 9-9 ) Stead, Collins, Dixon, Allott
 4. 67.25 5-1 (14-10) Kristensen, Fry, Cartwright, Kessler
 5. 67.64 1-5 (15-15) Wilson, Lee, Collins, Dixon
 6. 67.57 5-1 (20-16) Smart, Allen, Birkinshaw. Kessler(f/x)
 7. 67.46 4-2 (24-18) Fry, Stead, Murray, Allott
 8. 67.08 2-4 (26-22) Wilson(t/s), Kristensen, Lee, Allen
 9. 68.06 5-1 (31-23) Dixon, Collins, Kessler, Birkinshaw
10. 67.59 4-2 (35-25) Smart, Stead, Kristensen, Allott
11. 66.74 2-4 (37-29) Wilson, Fry, Lee, Murray(15m)
12. 68.64 4-2 (41-31) Kristensen, Kessler(t/s), Collins, Stead
13. 67.05 3-3 (44-34) Wilson, Fry, Smart, Lee(t/s)
14. 68.25 3-3 (47-37) Stead, Dixon, Murray, Cartwright
15. 67.30 2-4 (49-41) Wilson, Fry, Stead, Kristensen

Every one of the Robins had a win or a paid win in a good solid team effort. Paul Fry was only beaten by Sean Wilson, and super sub Claus Kristensen had a field day. Even the pedestrian Nathan Murray picked up points as the Tigers tail failed to wag. Neil Collins featured in the race of the night as he harried and eventually passed Simon Stead in heat 12, and even Martin Dixon picked up a win after stitching up Robbie on the first turn in heat 9.

Sean Wilson was in magnificent form as he streaked to six perfect wins, and Simon Stead was usually up there with the leaders. Paul Lee teamed up with Sean for 5-1's in their first two outings, but he couldn't keep up the momentum. As for the rest of the team; Robbie started with a last trailed off well behind and was unable to catch even Simon Cartwright. He then threw away the lead with a sucker fall leading heat 6 and never looked like a heat leader all night. Simon made some decent starts but just went too wide and let everyone past. James had more idea but just couldn't make it to the first bend ahead of anyone. Adam was just the opposite making some lightning starts, and even passing people out of the second turn, but then slowing almost to walking pace for the third turn and watching all and sundry go streaming past. Why should half the team have Exeteritis at Swindon? The bonus point puts us top of the League, but on this showing we hardly deserve it!

Thursday 29th June, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								56		Swindon 'Soft Water' Robins								34
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	2'	3			14	1	Frank Smart	1	2	3	1	0			7
Paul Lee	2'	1	2	0				5	1	Ollie Allen	0	0	0					0
Simon Stead	3	3	f	2				8		Neil Collins (c)	1	2	1'	1	3	0		8	1
Simon Cartwright	2'	1	2	2				7	1	Martin Dixon	0	1'	2	0				3	1
Robert Kessler	2	3	3	3	2'			13	1	Paul Fry	3	2	3	3	1	1		13
James Birkinshaw	1	0	2'					3	1	Nathan Murray	0	0	1					1
Adam Allott	3	1'	1'	0	1'			6	3	Claus Kristensen	2	0	0					2

 1. 62.5 5-1 ( 5-1 ) Wilson, Lee, Smart, Allen
 2. 63.5 4-2 ( 9-3 ) Allott, Kristensen, Birkinshaw, Murray
 3. 62.0 5-1 (14-4 ) Stead, Cartwright, Collins, Dixon
 4. 62.2 3-3 (17-7 ) Fry, Kessler, Allott, Kristensen
 5. 62.3 4-2 (21-9 ) Stead, Smart, Cartwright, Allen
 6. 62.0 4-2 (25-11) Wilson, Fry, Lee, Murray
 7. 62.1 3-3 (28-14) Kessler, Collins, Dixon, Birkinshaw
 8. 63.0 3-3 (31-17) Smart(t/s), Lee, Allott, Kristensen
 9. 62.4 2-4 (33-21) Fry, Cartwright, Murray, Stead(f)
10. 61.8 3-3 (36-24) Wilson, Dixon, Collins, Lee
11. 61.7 5-1 (41-25) Kessler, Birkinshaw, Smart, Allen
12. 61.6 2-4 (43-29) Fry(t/s), Stead, Collins, Allott
13. 61.2 5-1 (48-30) Kessler, Wilson, Fry, Smart
14. 63.1 3-3 (51-33) Collins(t/s), Cartwright, Allott, Dixon
15. 61.8 5-1 (56-34) Wilson, Kessler, Fry, Collins

I guess the lads were given a good talking to after Mondays defeat as there seemed to be some reformed characters on track tonight. Simon Cartwright gave his best display of the season, the highlight being when he passed Neil Collins in heat 3! Even Adam looked determined and he resisted some strong challenges as he raced to his biggest home score of the season. Not sure why James was dropped from his last ride, scant reward for passing both Ollie Allen and Frank Smart in heat 11. Paul Lee looked much sharper from the gate although he seemed to lose ground as the night wore on and the grip moved out wide.

Steady made some blistering passes and nearly brought the house down as he wound it up for an all-or-nothing blast past Paul Fry in heat 9. Unfortunately it ended with him picking the bike up off the track, but seemingly with no ill effect. Robbie finished heat 4 with flames shooting from the silencer, but after that he looked back to his best and didn't drop another point. Sean was once again in supreme form and his two 5-1's with Robbie bode very well for the imminent Premier Pairs Final.

Paul Fry was the pick of the visitors, but he always rides Owlerton well. Once he trapped and went out wide there was little anyone could do about it. Neil was below usual form, Frank Smart struggled as the meeting progressed, and the only back-up came from the intermitent Martin Dixon. I'm glad we didn't make a large investment in Nathan Murray!

The bonus point should be a formality, although after tonight's demolition job I can imagine the management looking for something even better from Sunday's return.

Monday 26th June, Premier League
Exeter Falcons								60		Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								30
Mark Simmonds	1	3	3	1'				8	1	Sean Wilson (c)	2	3	3	3	3	2		16
Graeme Gordon	3	1	2	2'				8	1	Paul Lee	0	0	0	0				0
Seemond Stevens	3	2	2	3	1			11		Simon Stead	1'	1	0	x				2	1
Roger Lobb	0	1'	1'	2'				4	3	Simon Cartwright	2	0	1	1	0			4
Michael Coles	3	3	2	2	3			13		Robbie Kessler	1	2	3	1	0			7
Chris Harris	3	2'	1'	3				9	2	James Birkinshaw	f	0	0					0
Bobby Eldridge	2'	2'	1'	2'				7	4	Adam Allott	1	0	0					1

 1. 67.9 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Gordon, Wilson, Simmonds, Lee
 2. 66.1 5-1 ( 9-3 ) Harris, Eldridge, Allott, Birkinshaw(f)
 3. 67.5 3-3 (12-6 ) Stevens, Cartwright, Stead, Lobb
 4. 67.3 5-1 (17-7 ) Coles Eldridge, Kessler, Allott
 5. 67.5 3-3 (20-10) Wilson, Stevens, Lobb, Lee
 6. 67.2 4-2 (24-12) Simmonds, Kessler, Gordon, Birkinshaw
 7. 67.5 5-1 (29-13) Coles, Harris, Stead, Cartwright
 8. 66.4 3-3 (32-16) Wilson(t/s), Gordon, Eldridge, Lee
 9. 68.5 3-3 (35-19) Kessler, Stevens, Lobb, Stead
10. 68.1 5-1 (40-20) Simmonds, Gordon, Cartwright, Stead(fx)
11. 66.7 3-3 (43-23) Wilson, Coles, Harris, Lee
12. 68.7 5-1 (48-24) Stephens, Eldridge, Kessler, Birkinshaw
13. 66.1 3-3 (51-27) Wilson, Coles, Simmonds, Kessler
14. 67.4 5-1 (56-28) Harris, Lobb, Cartwright, Allott
15. 66.4 4-2 (60-30) Coles, Wilson, Stephens, Cartwright

Where would Sheffield be without Sean, a magnificent 16, more than half the Tigers total, and by all accounts the best visitor to the County Ground so far this year. Robbie was suffering from flu and it was the intention to rest him after his three compulsory rides, but he battled on to take five as his team mates all came down with Exeteritis. Paul and Adam in particular were badly infected. Simon looped in his last race and trapped his steel shoe under his bike damaging his toes. He faces a fitness battle to be fit for Thursday and cancelled a guest booking on the IOW.

Sunday 25th June, Premier League
Newport 'Talkback' Wasps								43	79	Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								47	101
Anders Henriksson	2	3	3	1'	2			11	1	Sean Wilson (c)	3	3	3	3	3			15
Jon Armstrong	1'	2	0	2	1			6	1	Paul Lee	0	1	3	1				5
Chris Neath (c)	1'	2	2	2	3			10	1	Simon Stead	3	2	2	3	1			11
Andrew Appleton	rider replacement							(5)		Simon Cartwright	0	0	0					0
Ben Howe	3	3	2	2	f			10		Robbie Kessler	ef	2	3	f				5
Craig Taylor	r	0	1	0	0	1		2		James Birkinshaw	1	1'	1	fx	f			3	1
Chris Courage	2	1	0	1'				4	1	Adam Allott	3	2	1	2				8

 1. 60.9 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Henriksson, Armstrong, Lee
 2. 63.2 2-4 ( 5-7 ) Allott, Courage, Birkinshaw, Taylor(r)
 3. 62.4 3-3 ( 8-10) Stead, Armstrong(r/r), Neath, Cartwright
 4. 61.2 4-2 (12-12) Howe, Allott, Courage, Kessler(ef)
 5. 61.7 2-4 (14-16) Wilsom, Neath, Lee, Taylor(r/r)
 6. 60.6 3-3 (17-19) Henriksson, Kessler, Birkinshaw, Armstrong
 7. 61.1 4-2 (21-21) Howe, Stead, Taylor, Cartwright
 8. 61.3 2-4 (23-25) Lee, Armstrong, Allott, Courage
 9. 62.3 2-4 (25-29) Kessler, Neath, Birkinshaw, Taylor(r/r)
10. 60.6 4-2 (29-31) Henriksson, Stead, Armstrong, Cartwright 
11. 59.9 2-4 (31-35) Wilson, Howe, Lee, Taylor
12. awd  3-3 (34-38) Stead, Neath, Courage, Birkinshaw(fx)
13. 60.4 3-3 (37-41) Wilson, Howe, Henriksson, Kessler(f)
14. 62.5 4-2 (41-43) Neath(r/r), Allott, Taylor, Birkinshaw(f)
15. 59.8 2-4 (43-47) Wilson, Henriksson, Stead, Howe(f)

The 'Talkback' Wasps had no answer for the Tigers on what must be their best ever showing at Queensway Meadows. Skipper Sean was in determined form and led by example with a perfect maximum. Robbie led his first race until the gremlins struck again, and fell in heat 13 while under pressure from Anders Henriksson. Steady passed Jon Armstrong off the final bend to steal heat 3, but was passed by Ben Howe next time out. Simon again passes Armstrong in heat 10 and left it late to pass Chris Neath on the run-in to the chequered flag in heat 12. Simon got a well deserved nomination for heat 15 and inherited a point when Ben Howe fell.

Paul was the deserved winner of heat 8, but was too slow to garner much from his other rides. James was always in the thick of the action and survived some hair-raising maneouvers as he battled for his points. Adam once more displayed his liking of the tricky Newport track although he only beat Chris Courage and Craig Taylor of the Wasps on his way to a flattering score line.

Andrew Appleton was sorely missed with only 5 points coming from his rider replacements and the Wasps didn't match the Tigers in the heat leader department despite Robbie Kessler having an unusually subdued afternoon at one of his favourite tracks. The Waps also lacked any sting in the tail and were unable to capitalise on the Tigers weak second-strings. Brilliant result for the Tigers who look to be shaping-up for another good league run.

Friday 23rd June, Conference League
Somerset Rebels									41		Sheffield Prowlers									49
Steve Bishop	2	3	3	3	3	2			16		Adam Allott	3	3	2	1'	1				10	1
Andy Carfield	x	0	0	0					0		Matt Cambridge	1	1	3	0					5
Gary Philips	2	2	3	1					8		James Birkinshaw (c)	3	2	2	3	3				13
Matthew Cross	m	0	1	0					1		Jamie Young	1	1'	1'	1'					4	3
Adrian Newman	3	3	3	0	x				9		Andrew Moore	0	2	2	2					6
Simon Philips	1	0	1						2		David Speight	0	1'	0						1	1
Mark Philips	3	0	1	1	0				5		Lee Hodgson	2	2	2'	2'	2				10	2

 1. 61.58 2-4 ( 2-4 ) Allott, Bishop, Cambridge, Carfield(fx)
 2. 62.58 4-2 ( 6-6 ) M.Philips, Hodgson, S.Philips, Speight
 3. 62.70 2-4 ( 8-10) Birkinshaw, G.Philips, Young, M.Philips, Cross(2m)
 4. 61.27 4-2 (12-12) Newman, Hodgson, M.Philips, Moore
 5. 62.70 2-4 (14-16) Allott, G.Philips, Cambridge, Cross
 6. 62.82 3-3 (17-19) Bishop, Moore, Speight, Carfield
 7. 62.08 3-3 (20-22) Newman, Birkinshaw, Young, S.Philips
 8. 63.22 1-5 (21-27) Cambridge, Hodgson, M.Philips(f/rem), Carfield
 9. 61.77 4-2 (25-29) G.Philips, Moore, Cross, Speight
10. 60.78 3-3 (28-32) Bishop, Birkinshaw, Young, Carfield 
11. 61.55 4-2 (32-34) Newman, Allott, S.Philips, Cambridge
12. 61.56 1-5 (33-39) Birkinshaw, Hodgson, G.Philips, M.Philips
13. 61.11 3-3 (36-42) Bishop, Moore, Allott, Newman 
14. 61.10 3-3 (39-45) Bishop, Hodgson, Young, Cross
15. 61.57 2-4 (41-49) Birkinshaw, Bishop, Allott, Newman(fx)

Somerset had to give second best to the Prowlers in their opening home Conference League fixture. Matthew Cross and Simon Philips in particular were both below previous form, and Adrian Newman ended in the fence in heat 15 to add to their worries.

The Prowlers may have been riding away, but they were on their own shale! Somerset bought their shale from Bradford's Odsal stadium, who in turn were supplied by Sheffield. They obviously felt at home and all played their part in the victory with Lee in particular catching the eye.

Thursday 22nd June, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								25		Arena Essex 'Hammers'								11
Sean Wilson	3	3						6		Colin White (c)	2	1						3
Simon Cartwright	r	2'						2	1	Garry Corbett	did not arrive
Simon Stead	2'	3						5	1	Matt Read	0							0
Paul Lee	3	2'						5	1	Jan Pedersen	1							1
Robert Kessler	3							3		Savalas Clouting	1	1						2
James Birkinshaw	2							2		Barrie Evans	1	0						1
Adam Allott	fx	2'						2	1	Justin Elkins	1'	3	0					4	1

 1. 64.4 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, White, Elkins, Cartwright(f/rem, r)
 2. 69.1 2-4 ( 5-7 ) Elkins, Birkinshaw, Evans, Allott(fx)
 3. 69.2 5-1 (10-8 ) Lee, Stead, Pedersen, Read
 4. 70.2 5-1 (15-9 ) Kessler, Allott, Clouting, Elkins
 5. 68.7 5-1 (20-10) Stead, Lee, White, Corbett(dnr)
 6. 67.3 5-1 (25-11) Wilson, Cartwright, Clouting Evans

Sean and Steady attacked the soggy track as if there was nothing wrong with it, but it was always going to be a case of 'lets do 6 heats and then look at the track'. The Arena riders just weren't interested although they cannot argue the track was unrideable as Paul Lee and Simon Stead both stormed from the back to take a 5-1 in heat 3.

The track inspection commenced in the sunshine, but within minutes the rain was lashing down again and the result was inevitable.

Monday 19th June, Premier Trophy
Newcastle KBS Diamonds								42	75	Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								48	105
Paul Bentley (g)	2	3	2'	0				7	1	Sean Wilson (c)	3	3	1'	2'	2'	3		14	3
Jesper Olsen	1'	2'	2	3	1			9	2	Simon Cartwright	f	0	fx					0
Stuart Swales	2	2	2	r				6		Simon Stead	3	2	1	3				9
Grant McDonald	1'	1'	1'	2				5	3	Paul Lee	0	0	0	3				3
André Compton	3	3	3	1	0			10		Robbie Kessler	2	fx	3	2	3	2'		12	1
Darren Pearson	2	1	0	r				3		James Birkinshaw	1	1	0					2
Rob Grant	0	0	1'	1				2	1	Adam Allott	3	1'	3	1				8	1

 1. 61.0 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Bentley, Olsen, Cartwright(f)
 2. 65.7 2-4 ( 5-7 ) Allott, Pearson, Birkinshaw, Grant
 3. 65.9 3-3 ( 8-10) Stead, Swales, McDonald, Lee
 4. 65.6 3-3 (11-13) Compton, Kessler, Allott, Grant
 5. 64.6 3-3 (14-16) Wilsom, Swales, McDonald, Cartwright
 6. 65.9 5-1 (19-17) Bentley, Olsen, Birkinshaw, Kessler(fx)
 7. 65.5 4-2 (23-19) Compton, Stead, Paerson, Lee
 8. 65.2 3-3 (26-22) Allott, Olsen, Grant, Cartwright(fx)
 9. 65.4 3-3 (29-25) Kessler, Swales, McDonald, Birkinshaw
10. 64.6 5-1 (34-26) Olsen, Bentley, Stead, Lee 
11. 64.5 3-3 (37-29) Compton, Kessler(t/s), Wilson, Pearson
12. 65.3 1-5 (38-34) Stead, Wilson(t/s), Grant, Swales(r)
13. 65.5 1-5 (39-39) Kessler, Wilson, Compton, Bentley
14. 66.2 2-4 (41-43) Lee, McDonald, Allott, Pearson
15. 64.8 1-5 (42-48) Wilson, Kessler, Olsen, Compton

The Tigers again fight back from 8 down in the dying stages of the match and indeed take a comfortable 6 point win! Skipper Sean followed up his World Championship qualification with some top notch speedway, including knocking a staggering 2.5 seconds off the track record!

Robbie bounced back from a fall in heat 6 and joined with Sean in two 5-1's in the last three heats. Steady too rode well for his points and was only beaten by the Diamonds top three.

Paul looked out of touch until the vital heat 14 when he stalked Grant McDonald for three laps before making a sweet outside pass on the very last bend. James passed Rob Grant in heat 2 but did little else, and Simon Cartwright fell twice in his three outings when perhaps trying too hard.

The match winning performance though came from reserve Adam Allott whose 8 points included an impressive win over Jesper Olsen. If only Adam could find that kind of form at Owlerton...

Thursday 15th June, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								51	96	Reading Racers								39	84
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	3			15		Armando Castagna	2	2	2'	3	2	2		13	1
Simon Cartwright	ef	2'	0	2'				4	2	Paul Clews	1'	1'	3	1	3	0		9	2
Simon Stead	3	3	2'	1	1			10	1	Phil Morris (c)	2	2	1	2'	2'			9	2
Paul Lee	1	0	3	0				4		Krister Marsh	0	0	0					0
Robert Kessler	3	3	2	ef				8		Ross Brady (g)	1	r	1	3				5
James Birkinshaw	2'	1	ef	1				4	1	Marc Norris	1	1	0					2
Adam Allott	3	2'	1	0				6	1	Shane Colvin	0	0	1'					1	1

 1. 62.6 4-2 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Castagna, Clews, Cartwright(ef)
 2. 64.5 5-1 ( 8-4 ) Allott, Birkinshaw, Norris, Colvin
 3. 64.2 4-2 (12-6 ) Stead, Morris, Lee, Marsh
 4. 64.6 5-1 (17-7 ) Kessler, Allott, Brady, Colvin
 5. 62.6 3-3 (20-10) Stead, Castagna, Clews, Lee
 6. 63.7 5-1 (25-11) Wilson, Cartwright, Norris, Brady(r)
 7. 63.0 4-2 (29-13) Kessler, Morris, Birkinshaw, Marsh
 8. 62.9 1-5 (30-18) Clews, Castagna(t/s), Allott, Cartwright
 9. 63.6 5-1 (35-19) Lee, Stead, Brady, Norris
10. 63.7 5-1 (40-20) Wilson, Cartwright, Morris, Marsh 
11. 62.5 2-4 (42-24) Castagna, Kessler, Clews, Birkinshaw
12. 62.3 1-5 (43-29) Clews(t/s), Morris, Stead, Allott
13. 62.2 3-3 (46-32) Wilson, Castagna, Colvin, Kessler(ef)
14. 64.5 1-5 (47-37) Brady(t/s), Morris(t/s), Birkinshaw, Lee
15. 62.7 4-2 (51-39) Wilson, Castagna, Stead, Clews

Sean looked in a class of his own tonight as he sped to another 5 ride maximum. Lets hope he can find this form at Poole on Sunday. Robbie looked better than last week but had no answer to Armando in heat 11, and ground to halt again in heat 13. I hope he soon gets those gremlins sorted out. Steady survived a hair raising excursion to the fence as Phil Morris tried to prevent him passing in heat 3, and couldn't find any advantage on the freshly regraded track in heat 12. Not a classic display by Steady but excellent by any other standard.

Simon Cartwright had a better meeting, passing Paul Clews in heat 1 before being hit by the gremlins, and pulling clear of Phil Morris after trapping in heat 10. He also battled past Ross Brady in heat 6 before Ross pulled up with a puncture. Adam also passed Ross in heat 4 and was shepherded home by Robbie for the 5-1. Despite getting alongside Armando several times in heat 8 Adam bottled out on the third turn each and every lap. How long before we see some aggression from young Adam?

James was steady and made a much better fist of chasing Phil Morris in heat 14 than his partner. Paul Lee looked disinterested in all his races except heat 9 when he blasted under Ross Brady on the third bend to take the lead. When is Paul going to turn the corner and show us what he is capable of?

The Racers were never in with a chance, although they did fight back after the track was comprehensively regraded after heat 10. Armando rode well, as did surprise package Paul Clews even though both his wins saw him being shielded home by his partner. Ross Brady was very poor until he claimed a tac-sub heat win in the penultimate race. Marsh, Norris and Colvin all failed to beat anyone and looked all at sea on the big Owlerton track. Phil Morris was his typical boorish self, and as expected he made his intentions known as he attempted to stuff Steady into the fence in heat 3. How Simon squeezed through the narrowest of gaps and regained control over his bike I'll never know, and half the stadium must have caught their breath in amazement. It's no wonder people are tempted to take a pop at him in the pits!

Sunday 11th June, Conference League
Sheffield Prowlers									50	89	Mildenhall Fen Tigers									40	91
Adam Allott	2	2'	3	1'					8	2	Steve Camden	3	3	3	2	3	3	3		20
Matt Cambridge	1'	3	2'	0					6	2	Phil Knowles	r	0	1	1'	r				2	1
James Birkinshaw (c)	2	2	3	2	2				11		Barrie Evans	rider replacement								(8)	(1)
Jamie Young	1'	1'	r						2	2	Gavin Hedge	0	3	1'	2	3	2	0		11	1
Andrew Moore	3	2	1'	2	1'				9	2	Ian Etherington	0	0	0						0
David Speight	3	1	0	1					5		Paul Lydes-Uings	1'	1'	0						2	2
Lee Hodgson	fx	3	2	1'	3				9	1	Jitendra Duffill	2	2	1	0	0				5

 1. 65.1 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Camden, Allott, Cambridge, Knowles(r)
 2. 66.2 3-3 ( 6-6 ) Speight, Duffill Lydes_Uings, Hodgson(fx)
 3. 64.8 3-3 ( 9-9 ) Camden(r/r), Birkinshaw, Young, Hedge
 4. 64.3 4-2 (13-11) Moore, Duffill, Speight, Etherington
 5. 64.1 3-3 (16-14) Camden, Birkinshaw, Young, Knowles
 6. 65.2 5-1 (21-15) Cambridge, Allott, Lydes-Uings, Etherington
 7. 65.2 2-4 (23-19) Hedge, Moore, Duffill(r/r), Speight
 8. 64.8 5-1 (28-20) Hodgson, Cambridge, Knowles, Duffill
 9. 64.5 3-3 (31-23) Birkinshaw, Camden(t/s), Hedge(t/s), Young(r)
10. 64.7 3-3 (34-26) Allott, Hedge, Knowles(r/r), Cambridge 
11. 65.0 3-3 (37-29) Camden, Hodgson, Moore, Knowles
12. 64.7 3-3 (40-32) Hedge(r/r), Birkinshaw, Hodgson, Lydes-Uings
13. 65.4 3-3 (43-35) Camden, Moore, Allott, Etherington 
14. 65.0 4-2 (47-37) Hodgson, Hedge, Speight, Duffill(f)
15. 65.7 3-3 (50-40) Camden, Birkinshaw, Moore, Hedge

With Andy Taylor nursing a broken collar-bone young David Speight was drafted into the Prowlers squad. When Lee Hodgson fell on the second turn it left Dave as the sole Prowler in heat 2 against the experienced Jitendra Duffill and Paul Lydes-Uings. Despite a slow start David rode a lovely steady line and breezed past his opponents to claim a classic win on his debut ride!

Lee was to miss his next ride as he received medical attention, but bounced back with a heat 8 win looking none the worse for wear. He nearly beat Steve Camden in heat 11, Steve only catching him on the last lap, and certain terrace managers had him pencilled in for heat 15.

Andy Moore only claimed the one heat win and was passed by Steve Camden in three races, and Gavin Hedge in the other, no disgrace in that. In fact it is a good omen because it suggests Andy is getting out of the starts better.

Matt Cambridge was again riding neat and tidy lines and indeed claimed his first Owlerton heat win (despite Adam Allott trying to steal it on the line). Matt continues to impress and is making good progress.

James found himself facing Steve Camden in four of his five rides, getting the better of him just once, but also featuring in some superb racing. Adam had an easier path to his points but couldn't handle Steve Camden and it was conspicuous that even at Conference League level James and Adam's gating is not up to scratch.

The Fen Tigers should be congratulated on an entertaining meeting with lots of classy speedway racing. Steve Camden single handedly scored half their team total dropping just one point en-route, but the way he rode to those points was more important as he fought from the back time after time. Gavin Hedge recovered from a terrible first ride when he looked like a novice, going on to pass Andy Moore and beat James Birkinshaw. Rider replacement for Barrie Evans accounted for 8 plus one which I guess would have been less than Barrie would have made, but that is academic as the bonus went to the Fen Tigers after Steve Camden battled past James in the crucial final heat.

Those supporters who stayed home for the football on the box missed an excellent meeting. These lads are the future of the sport and really do deserve more support, especially when the racing is as good as this.

Thursday 8th June, Knockout Cup
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								45	87	Hull Vikings								45	93
Sean Wilson	3	r	3	3	3			12		Paul Thorp (c)	2	3	3	2	1			11
Simon Cartwright	1	2	1	0				4		René Aas	0	ef	2'					2	1
Simon Stead	3	2	3	3	2'			13	1	Paul Smith	1	2	2	2				7
Paul Lee	2'	1'	1	2				6	2	Lee Dicken	0	1'	1'	3				5	2
Robert Kessler	2	3	2	0				7		Peter Carr (g)	3	3	2	1'				9	1
James Birkinshaw	1	0	0	1'				2	1	Mike Smith	3	1	3	1	1'	0		9	1
Adam Allott	0	1'	ef	0				1	1	Jamie Smith	2'	0	0	0				2	1

 1. 62.6 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Thorp, Cartwright, Aas
 2. 63.8 1-5 ( 5-7 ) M.Smith, J.Smith, Birkinshaw, Allott
 3. 63.2 5-1 (10-8 ) Stead, Lee, P.Smith, Dicken
 4. 63.0 3-3 (13-11) Carr, Kessler, Allott, J.Smith
 5. 61.9 3-3 (16-14) Thorp, Stead, Lee, Aas(ef)
 6. 62.2 2-4 (28-18) Carr, Cartwright, M.Smith, Wilson(ef)
 7. 62.4 3-3 (21-21) Kessler, P.Smith, Dicken, Birkinshaw
 8. 62.7 1-5 (22-26) M.Smith(r), Aas, Cartwright, Allott(ef)
 9. 61.9 4-2 (26-28) Stead, Carr, Lee, J.Smith
10. 61.9 3-3 (29-31) Wilson, P.Smith, Dicken, Cartwright 
11. 61.6 2-4 (31-35) Thorp, Kessler, M.Smith, Birkinshaw
12. 61.8 3-3 (34-38) Stead, P.Smith, M.Smith, Allott
13. 61.4 3-3 (37-41) Wilson, Thorp, Carr, Kessler
14. 63.1 3-3 (40-44) Dicken, Lee, Birkinshaw, J.Smith
15. 62.7 5-1 (45-45) Wilson, Stead, Thorp, M.Smith

Oh dear! After a much improved display at New Craven Park the Tigers capitulated in style against the rampaging Vikings. Where do you start to allocate blame? An inept display from Adam Allott whose one virtue, gating, was conspicuously absent, and who compounded his woes with an engine failure while second in his only worthwhile attempt of the night. Perhaps it is time for him to look for a new engine tuner? God help us next month when he takes over Simon Cartwrights team place!

James battled away but to little effect, just imagine how difficult it would be to pass him if he could only make it to the first bend in front!

Simon Cartwright at least passed a few riders as he scratched his meagre score, more than Paul Lee achieved. Paul may have impressed the Poles at the weekend in Bydgoszcz but he was extremely average on his home track tonight.

What a meeting for Robbie to be experimenting with a new engine! If he had an alternative then why didn't he use it, if not then how does he call himself a professional speedway rider?

(Peterborough management should skip to the next paragraph). Eventually something to praise. Steady was the first Tiger to beat PC, dropped a point to Thorpy after a poor start, but made up for it in spades when the chips were down in the final heat. What a brilliant ability in one so young.

Sean was so close to his own maximum until forced out of heat 6 when ahead of PC. He never looked like being beaten and made inside and outside passes at will after some sluggish starts. I guess Sean will be gutted after being knocked out of the competition we missed out on last year. Never mind Sean, there's always next year. 2001 the Cup Odyssey!

The Vikings? The gating tarts have little to commend them. I hereby award them honoraray Danish nationality! Jamie Smith passed James in heat 2 when James got it all wrong looking for the grip out wide, and Peter Carr repassed a pedestrian Robbie in heat 13, but that doesn't count as he is a Monarch. I can see the Vikings fortunes changing in July when René drops to reserve, unless of course he is sacked in the meantime. At least the Vikings fans enjoyed themsleves tonight. They would do well to remember that it is only a short drive to Sheffield on a Thursday whenever they want to watch some proper speedway racing, as in Sean's heroics against Thorpy in heat 13, and the brilliance of Steady in the last race.

Wednesday 7th June, KO Cup
Hull Vikings								48		Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								42
Paul Thorp (c)	3	3	3	2	3			14		Sean Wilson (c)	2	3	2'	3	0	2		12	1
René Aas	1	2'	1	0				4	1	Simon Cartwright	fx	0	0					0
Paul Smith	3	2	1'	1				7	1	Simon Stead	2	2	1'	2				7	1
Lee Dicken	1	1'	2	1'				5	2	Paul Lee	0	1'	2	0				3	1
Peter Carr (g)	3	3	2	1'	fx			9	1	Robbie Kessler	2	ef	3	3	3	1'		12	1
Mike Smith	3	0	1'	3	2			9	1	James Birkinshaw	2	1	0	0				3
Jamie Smith	0	0	0					0		Adam Allott	1'	1'	3					5	2

 1.      4-2 ( 4-2 ) Thorp, Wilson, Aas, Cartwright(fx)
 2.      3-3 ( 7-5 ) M.Smith, Birkinshaw, Allott, J.Smith
 3.      4-2 (11-7 ) P.Smith, Stead, Dicken, Lee
 4.      3-3 (14-10) Carr, Kessler, Allott, J.Smith
 5.      3-3 (17-13) Wilsom, P.Smith, Dicken, Cartwright
 6.      5-1 (22-14) Thorp, Aas, Birkinshaw, Kessler(ef)
 7.      3-3 (25-17) Carr, Stead, Lee, M.Smith
 8.      1-5 (26-22) Wilson(t/s), Allott, Aas, J.Smith
 9.      3-3 (29-25) Kessler, Dicken, P.Smith, Birkinshaw
10.      3-3 (32-28) Thorp, Lee, Stead, Aas 
11.      3-3 (35-31) Wilson, Carr, M.Smith, Lee
12.      4-2 (39-33) M.Smith, Stead, P.Smith, Birkinshaw
13.      3-3 (42-36) Kessler, Thorp, Carr, Wilson
14.      3-3 (45-39) Kessler(t/s), M.Smith, Dicken, Lee
15.      3-3 (48-42) Thorp, Wilson, Kessler, Carr(fx)

The Tigers fight back from 8 down thanks to a brilliant piece of team riding from skipper Sean to shepherd home Adam Allott in heat 8. The six point difference could have been much closer as the Tigers were set for a maximum heat win in heat 15 until Peter Carr fell on the 3rd turn and made no move to get up. Paul Thorp flew from the gate to win the rerun and set up a mouthwatering second leg at Owlerton.

Race of the night was heat 7 which saw Simon Stead and Peter Carr exchanging the lead several times. Simon's fall on the last lap of heat 1 and Robbie's engine failure on the last turn of heat 4 proved costly, but all-in-all a much better performance from the Tigers than their last visit to New Craven Park.

Thursday 1st June, Premier League
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								54		Newport 'Talkback' Wasps								36
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	3			15		Anders Henriksson	2	2	3	2	1	2		12
Simon Cartwright	1	2'	fx	1				4	1	Jon Armstrong	ef	0	ef					0
Simon Stead	2	3	3	3				11		Chris Neath (c)	0	1'	0	1'				2	2
Paul Lee	1'	1	2'	1				5	2	Andrew Appleton	3	2	2	2	2'	1'		12	2
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	2'	0			11	1	Ben Howe	2	1	r	r	3			6
James Birkinshaw	3	0	1	0				4		Lee Herne	0	0	1					1
Adam Allott	1	1	2	0				4		Chris Courage	2	0	1					3

 1. 63.0 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Henriksson, Cartwright, Armstrong(ef)
 2. 65.2 4-2 ( 8-4 ) Birkinshaw, Courage, Allott, Herne
 3. 62.9 3-3 (11-7 ) Appleton, Stead, Lee, Neath
 4. 63.4 3-3 (15-9 ) Kessler, Howe, Allott, Courage
 5. 61.8 4-2 (19-11) Stead, Henriksson, Lee, Armstrong
 6. 63.0 5-1 (24-12) Wilson, Cartwright, Howe, Herne
 7. 63.8 3-3 (27-15) Kessler, Appleton, Neath, Birkinshaw
 8. awd  2-4 (29-19) Henriksson(t/s), Allott, Courage, Cartwright(fx)
 9. 61.7 5-1 (34-20) Stead, Lee, Herne, Howe(r)
10. 62.8 4-2 (38-22) Wilson, Appleton, Cartwright, Neath 
11. 62.9 4-2 (42-24) Kessler, Henriksson, Birkinshaw, Armstrong(ef)
12. 62.0 3-3 (45-27) Stead, Appleton(t/s), Neath, Allott
13. 62.7 5-1 (50-28) Wilson, Kessler, Henriksson, Howe(r)
14. 63.1 1-5 (51-33) Howe(t/s), Appleton, Lee, Birkinshaw
15. 62.0 3-3 (54-36) Wilson, Henriksson, Appleton, Kessler

Sean continues in his rich vein of form with his first full maximum of the year to lead his team to a comfortable victory. He received solid backup from his fellow heat leaders. Steady was impressive from behind, only failing to beat Andrew Appleton by inches in heat 3 after wasting too much time waiting for Paul Lee to make a pass, and repeating the heroics after a terrible start in heat 12. He also scraped around a wide riding Anders Henriksson twice in heat 5 to the crowds delight. Robbie too was untroubled until left with nowhere to go on the outside in the final heat. Why does Robbie leave it until heat 15 to make his worst gate of the night? Simon Cartwright continues to improve, beating Ben Howe and even challenging Anders Henriksson on the first lap in heat 1. He did however fall while second to Anders in heat 8 squandering 2 points. Paul Lee was frustratingly slow again and needs to recover the speed from the tapes he demonstrated only a month or so ago. Of the reserves Adam was poor again, only beating their reserves and never looking like challenging anyone while James (melons) Birkinshaw was again spectacular on the track and much more entertaining. He survived some hairy moments in heat 2 when his seat came loose and he found himself sliding back onto the rear mudguard. No wonder the front wheel was a little on the light side!

Anders Henriksson rode well for his points, and young Andrew Appleton was very good value, unlike 11.00 point man Ben Howe who looked uninterested if he didn't gate. I always had Ben down as a real grafter who never gave in, but he did just that tonight. Chris Neath was another who rode well below expectations and the two Wasps reserves were just their to make up the numbers. It looks like being a lean year for the Taffies unless they can find a way to strengthen their team.

Monday 29th May, Premier League
Reading Racers								45		Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								45
Armando Castagna	3	3	3	1	2			12		Sean Wilson (c)	2	3	3	2'	3			13	1
Paul Clews	1	1	3	2'				7	1	Simon Cartwright	0	1	2					3
Phil Morris (c)	2'	2	2	3	1'			10	2	Simon Stead	1	3	ef	2				6
Krister Marsh	3	0	1'	3				7	1	Paul Lee	0	1	1	2				4
Per Wester	1'	2	1	fx				4	1	Robbie Kessler	3	2	3	2'	3	0		13	1
Marc Norris	3	0	0	0				3		James Birkinshaw	2	0	0	1'	1'			4	2
Shane Colvin	ef	2	0	0				2		Adam Allott	1'	0	1'					2	2

 1. 61.58 4-2 ( 4-2 ) Castagna, Wilson, Clews, Cartwright (f/rem)
 2. 63.80 3-3 ( 7-5 ) Norris, Birkinshaw(15 yds), Allott, Colvin(ef)
 3. 61.87 5-1 (12-6 ) Marsh, Morris, Stead, Lee
 4. 62.45 3-3 (15-9 ) Kessler, Colvin, Wester, Allott 
 5. 61.52 2-4 (17-13) Wilson, Morris, Cartwright, Marsh
 6. 62.42 4-2 (21-15) Castagna, Kessler, Clews, Birkinshaw
 7. 62.21 2-4 (23-19) Stead, Wester, Lee, Norris
 8. 62.68 3-3 (26-22) Clews, Cartwright, Allott, Colvin
 9. 62.30 3-3 (29-25) Kessler, Morris, Marsh, Birkinshaw
10. 62.58 5-1 (34-26) Castagna, Clews, Lee, Stead(ef) 
11. 63.21 1-5 (35-31) Wilson, Kessler(t/s), Wester, Norris
12. 63.18 3-3 (38-34) Morris, Stead, Birkinshaw, Colvin
13. 63.02 1-5 (39-39) Kessler, Wilson, Castagna(15 yds), Wester (fx)
14. 63.02 3-3 (42-42) Marsh, Lee, Birkinshaw, Norris
15. 63.17 3-3 (45-45) Wilson, Castagna, Morris, Kessler

Armando Castagna seems to have recovered his old form but it seems he has still got an air of unpredictability. He out rode Sean to win heat 1, and produced the class move of the night to go around Robbie out of turn 4 in heat 6. What transpired in heat 13 very nearly lost them the match. As the Racers led into the first bend Armando (off gate 2) went high and wide looking for what little grip there was leaving Per Wester (off gate 4) with nowhere to go but the fence. With his team mate excluded Armando compounded his mistake by nudging the tapes, earning himself a 15 yard handicap from which he never recovered against the Tigers big guns.

Phil Morris rode his heart out without ever looking like making a pass and Per Wester hardly made a gate all night, hence 4 points. Krister Marsh trapped twice but was passed by Simon Cartwright in heat 5, Paul Clews was flattered by his score and Marc Norris' only notable move was to pass the pedestrian Adam Allott in heat 2. On this show the Racers are going to be in for a torrid run in the League.

Sean Wilson was the star for the Tigers with some snappy starting and accomplished riding. He rode a couple of laps in heat 11 stuck to the white line looking for Robbie to move onto his shoulder while Robbie was waiting for him to go wide. The fiasco in heat 13 allowed them to polish their team riding and he again sped to the front in the vital final race giving the Racers no opportunity to mount a challenge. A real captains performance.

Simon was unlucky not to get his 4th ride as he was showing well in the tough no.2 jacket, an encouraging performance.

Steady was disappointing for a heat leader, his biggest problem was his poor gating. One more point from Simon would have given us a win!

Paul Lee likewise gave the Racers yards to the first bend and while riding a neat and tidy line he never looked like making a pass on the ultra slick inside.

Robbie was another class act until he became victim of the narrow band of grip on the outside of second bend in the vital deciding heat. Slowly away from gate 4 he was squeezed out by Phil Morris after which he just couldn't get back into contention.

James Birkinshaw came from 15 yards behind to pass Adam in heat 2, rode a determined 3rd bend to pass Shane Colvin in heat 12, and a somewhat unconventional (but entertaining) line to deny Mark Norris in heat 14 for a vital point. Keep up the good work James!

Fast starting Adam was just too pedestrian to stay ahead of his rivals, squandered points in all his rides and only finished ahead of Shane Colvin. His problems appeared to be mechanical so perhaps he should have a word with his Grandad.

A brilliant display by Sean and Robbie to get us back into the match after being 8 down, and if only their back-up had been just a little sharper from the gate the match would have been won. A point lost rather than a point gained in my final analysis. The track? Slick as hell inside, light and dusty out wide despite puddles all over the centre green and the car park. How do they do it? When the fast starting teams get to Smallmead they will clean up!

Thursday 25th May, Premier Trophy
Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								50	93	Berwick 'ACC BT Cellnet' Bandits								43	90
Sean Wilson	3	3	3	3	2'			14	1	Scott Lamb	rider replacement							(2)	(2)
Simon Cartwright	0	1	1	0				2		Scott Smith	2	2	2'	2	1'	3	1	13	2
Simon Stead	2'	3	3	3	3			14	1	David Meldrum	1'	1	1'	1'	1'			5	4
Paul Lee	3	1	1	1				6		Paul Bentley	0	0	2	2	2	2'		8	1
Robert Kessler	3	3	3	0				9		Alan Mogridge	2	2	6	2	2	0		14
James Birkinshaw	3	0	1	0	0			4		Adam Pryor	fx							0
Adam Allott	1	0	0					1		Dean Felton	2	1'	0	0	0			3	1

 1. 62.3 3-3 ( 3-3 ) Wilson, Smith, Meldrum(r/r), Cartwright
 2. 64.8 4-2 ( 7-5 ) Birkinshaw, Felton, Allott, Pryor(f/x)
 3. 63.2 5-1 (12-6 ) Lee, Stead, Meldrum, Bentley
 4. 63.5 3-3 (15-9 ) Kessler, Mogridge, Felton, Allott
 5. 62.6 4-2 (19-11) Stead, Smith, Lee, Bentley(r/r)
 6. 61.3 4-2 (23-13) Wilson, Mogridge, Cartwright, Felton
 7. 64.2 3-3 (26-16) Kessler, Bentley, Meldrum, Birkinshaw
 8. 64.0 1-8 (27-24) Mogridge(g/d), Smith, Cartwright, Allott
 9. 62.0 4-2 (31-26) Stead, Mogridge, Lee, Felton
10. 64.1 3-3 (34-29) Wilson, Bentley, Meldrum, Cartwright 
11. 63.4 4-2 (38-31) Kessler, Smith, Birkinshaw, Felton(r/r)
12. 63.5 3-3 (41-34) Stead, Bentley(t/s), Meldrum, Birkinshaw
13. 61.6 3-3 (44-37) Wilson, Mogridge, Smith(r/r), Kessler
14. 64.1 1-5 (45-42) Smith(t/s), Bentley, Lee, Birkinshaw
15. 62.8 5-1 (50-43) Stead, Wilson, Smith, Mogridge

Another excellent return from skipper Sean showing complete mastery of the grippy Owlerton strip, even brushing off the challenges from in-from Alan Mogridge. Heat 15 was a classic example as Alan off gate 1 attempted to move Sean over on the first bend as Scud looked for the fast outside line. While all this was happening Simon off gate 4 switched back to the tight inside line to pass the whole field and lead down the back straight. A determined Sean swooped around Alan on the third bend to join Simon at the front and a dispirited Moggo left Scud to chase after the scraps. Sean & Simon believe in giving value for money at Owlerton!

Simon Cartwright didn't look quite as bad as his score suggests but he would really benefit from making the occasional start instead of being yards behind by the first bend.

Simon breezed past David Meldrum in his first outing, made a lightning start in his second and went around Alan Mogridge on the second bend in his third. A poor start in heat 12 saw him slip inside David Meldrum out of turn 4 on lap 1, and after a brief chase then power around Paul Bentley on the first turn of lap 3. Cap this with the above mentioned heat 15 and you can see why Simon is so popular with the Owlerton faithful.

Paul made a great start in heat 3 and team rode magnificently with Simon, but then gave yards away at the start for the rest of the evening. He passed Paul Bentley on the last lap of heat 5 but surely could have done so earlier and gone after Scott Smith. The bonus point began to look a little rocky when Paul made an awful start in heat 14 and failed miserably to make amends. Indeed for 3 laps it was James Birkinshaw who looked most likely to catch Paul Bentley.

Robbie Kessler was flying from the starts, rode an impressively controlled race to deny Moggo in heat 4 but was clinically taken to the fence on the first turn of heat 13 by Moggo who obviously forgot to turn left! The Berwick team manager was obviously serious about the bonus point. I wonder why?

Adam Allott was collected by Adam Pryor's runaway machine on the first turn in heat 2 and dumped in the fence. After that Adam looked very wary and never looked like scoring.

James on the other hand passed Dean Felton in the rerun heat 2 for a deserved win and came close to passing David Meldrum in heat 7 with some heart stopping, fence scraping manoeuvres. He passed Dean again in heat 11 but then got caught up in the Bandits fight back in the closing stages.

Moggo was the star of the Bandits with a glorious Golden Double win in heat 8, thanks to Scud obeying orders and waiting for him on the third lap. This was to be Moggo's only win of the evening and not up to his usual Owlerton standard, indeed he had to resort to ugly first bend tactics to take points off Robbie in heat 13. Scud was consistent and scored his only win as a tac-sub in heat 14, but his 13 points kept the Bandits in the hunt for the bonus point. Paul Bentley opened his account with two ducks and his 8 points only saw him finish ahead of Birkinshaw, Cartwright and a slow starting Paul Lee. If this was poor then David Meldrum's 5 points were pathetic and were scored at the expense of Birkinshaw and Cartwright alone. Dean Felton looked alright until he was forced onto borrowed machines and Adam Pryor took no futher part following his heat 2 fall when he threw the bike away after rearing on the approach to the first bend.

The fight for the bonus point livened up the last few heats but once again highlighted the Tigers weaknesses. We needed a 4-2 to secure the bp in heat 15 and Simon and Sean responded magnificently to ensure that it was not lost. Our trip to Smallmead on Monday will be fruitless if our riders continue to limp away from the starting gate. Perhaps they should take a leaf from the Falcon's book! Slow starting makes for interesting racing at Owlerton, but will equally make life difficult on our travels.

Friday 19th May, Premier Trophy
Edinburgh Monarchs								47	79	Sheffield 'T.C.Harrison STAR' Tigers								43	101
Robert Eriksson	2'	3	3	r	1			9	1	Sean Wilson (c)	x	2	3	2'	2			9	1
Kevin Little	3	1	3	1				8		Simon Cartwright	1	0	x					1
Peter Carr (c)	3	3	3	3	3			15		Simon Stead	0	2'	2	2'	2			8	2
Blair Scott	1	1	2'	2				6	1	Paul Lee	2	3	0	1'	3			9	1
Ross Brady	2	1	1	1				5		Robbie Kessler	3	2	1	3	r			9
Jonathan Swales	0	0	0					0		James Birkinshaw	1	0	0					1
Christian Henry	2	0	1	0	1'			4	1	Adam Allott	3	1	2	0				6