SHEFFIELD 38 (64) SWINDON 24 (58) Sean Wilson 3 3 3 3 12 Neil Collins 2 3 2 0 7 Scott Smith 3 2 2 3 10 Steve Bishop 1 1 1 0 3 André Compton 3 2 3 3 11 Steve Masters 1 2 1 3 7 Simon Stead 1 0 2 2 5 Glen Cunningham 2 1 2 2 7 Paul Lee Oliver Allen STOKE 20 (46) WORKINGTON 14 (24) Paul Pickering 3 3 3 1 10 Carl Stonehewer 2 3 3 2 10 René Aas 0 2 1 2 5 Brent Werner 0 1 0 1 2 Mark Burrows 2 0 1 1 4 Peter Scully ef 0 0 0 Tony Atkin 1 r 0 0 1 Grant MacDonald 0 1 0 1 2 Jon Armstrong Barry Campbell 0 0 1. 61.6 Pickering, Cunningham, Stead, Werner 2. 61.2 Compton, Stonehewer, Masters, Aas 3. 62.3 Smith, Collins, Atkin, Scully(ef) 4. 61.7 Wilson, Burrows, Bishop, MacDonald 4a. 61.7 Lee, Allen, Campbell, Armstrong(r) 5. 62.3 Collins, Aas, MacDonald, Stead 6. 61.6 Pickering, Compton, Bishop, Scully 7. 61.9 Stonehewer, Smith, Cunningham, Burrows 8. 62.0 Wilson, Master, Werner, Atkin(r) 8a. 63.3 Lee, Allen, Campbell, Armstrong(r) 9. 61.9 Stonehewer, Stead, Bishop, Atkin 10. 61.2 Compton, Collins, Burrows, Werner 11. 61.6 Pickering, Smith, Masters, MacDonald 12. 62.2 Wilson, Cunningham, Aas, Scully 13. 62.2 Compton, Cunningham, MacDonald, Atkin 14. 63.1 Masters, Stead, Burrows, Campbell(res) 15. 62.8 Smith, Aas, Werner, Bishop 16. 62.9 Wilson, Stonehewer, Pickering, Collins
The weather was perfect, the track was watered to perfection, but in the final analysis could have used a bit more shale. Passing was at a premium tonight, but there were some classy bits of action.
René flew from the start in heat 2, but was in 3rd place by the back straight, and just to rub it in Steve Masters went around him exiting the 2nd bend on the last lap.
Sean and Mark exchanged a few jabs of the elbow out of the 2nd bend of heat 4 and in heat 5 Simon went around René on the 2nd lap only to pull a wheelie and lose the place again. To round off a miserable race he proceeded to drop to last as Grant MacD blasted around him on the last lap.
Paul Lee bided his time before slipping under Oliver Allen into turn 3 on lap 3 in the second reserves race (8a), having won the first one at the canter.
The start of heat 11 saw Steve Masters taking Scott very wide on the first bend, after which he just couldn't make up the ground lost to Pickers.
Heat 12 saw another lightning start from René, but Glen and Sean both went around him out of turn 2, and Sean sailed sweetly under Glen into turn 1 on the next lap to take the win.
Simon passed Mark out of the last turn in heat 14, but couldn't catch Steve, and René achieved the unbelievable with an outside pass over Brent Werner on the back straight of heat 15.
Fittingly the last heat lived up to expectations. Pickers was the first to show, but Sean dived past into turn three on the 1st lap. Stoney went around Pickers exiting turn 2 on the 2nd lap and then despite putting Sean under extreme pressure for the remainder of the race was uanable to spoil his impeccable maximum.
A solid team effort from the Robins which puts them in a comfortable 2nd place, Pickers carried the Potters scoring half their total but leaving them with a mountain to climb despite having their home leg still to come, but the Comets are surely out of the equation with Stoney scoring a massive 10 out of their total of 14. Sheffield lead the group with a 6 point lead and must fancy their chances of qualifying for the finals.
SHEFFIELD 56 NEWCASTLE 33 Sean Wilson 3 3 3 3 2' 14+1 Craig Watson 2 1 3 1 tx 7 Paul Lee 1 2' 1' 0 4+2 Paul Gould 0 0 0 0 André Compton 3 3 3 3 3 15 David Walsh 2 2' 1' 1 2 8+2 Simon Stead 0 2' 1 3 6+1 Derrol Keats 1' 3 2 1' 0 7+2 Scott Smith 3 x 2 1 6 Jesper Olsen 1 1 2 3 2 1 10 Peter Boast 2' fx 2+1 Neil Painter 1 0 0 0 1 Simon Cartwright 3 2' 2 f 2' 0 9+2 Steven Jones 0 0 0 0 1. 61.4 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Watson, Lee, Gould 2. 62.5 ( 9-3 ) Cartwright, Boast, Painter, Jones 3. 63.2 (12-6 ) Compton, Walsh, Keats, Stead 4. 63.0 (17-7 ) Smith, Cartwright, Olsen, Jones 5. 60.8 (22-8 ) Compton, Stead, Watson, Gould 6. 60.3 (27-9 ) Wilson, Lee, Olsen, Painter [TRACK RECORD] 7. 65.8 (27-14) Keats, Walsh, Smith(x), Boast(fx) 8. 61.6 (30-17) Watson(t/s), Cartwright, Lee, Gould 9. 60.3 (34-19) Compton, Olsen, Stead, Painter [=TRACK RECORD] 10. 62.6 (37-22) Wilson, Keats, Walsh, Lee 11. 61.4 (39-26) Olsen(t/s), Smith, Watson, Cartwright(f) 12. 61.0 (44-27) Compton, Cartwright, Walsh, Jones 13. 60.7 (48-29) Wilson, Olsen, Smith, Painter, Watson(tps) 14. 63.2 (51-32) Stead, Walsh(t/s), Keats, Cartwright 15. 60.9 (56-33) Compton, Wilson, Olsen, Keats Silver Helmet: Sean Wilson 1st, Derrol Keats (fell turn 2, lap 4) 67.2
Track good and deep with lots of grip.
1. Craig forgets to turn left collecting Sean and dumping Paul into the fence on turn 1 and setting the tone for the showdown match. In the rerun Sean is away while Bruce passes Paul sweetly on lap 2 to pick up the odd point.
2. Simon charges around Peter out of turn 2 and wins in a time a full second faster than he has ever gone before!
3. David (off gate 1) leaves André no room on the outside exiting turn 2 (!) and he has to shut off. He then battles back around Derrol out of turn 4 on lap 2 and suceeds in finding a gap to go around David out of turn 2 on the last lap.
4. Scud and Simon trap, and Simon rides a brilliant race to deny Jesper the pass despite strong pressure.
5. Craig tries to move Simon over into turn 1 but Simon sticks to his line and Craig loses interest.
6. Sean streaks away to knock 3/10ths off Stoneys lap record. Paul goes around Jesper out of turn 2 and rides a great line to hold him off.
7. The first start sees Derrol takes Peter's front wheel away and Peter hits the fence headlong. Blind Jim Lawrence excludes Peter! Second attempt and Scud switches back under David out of turn 2 and is chasing Derrol hard. Scud goes in tight and fast on turn 1 an lap 2 only for Derrol to shut off ahead of him. Blind Jim excludes Scud!! Derrol goes looking for Scud, but can't find him as he's up the ladder protesting to the ref's guide dog.
8. Craig goes under Simon out of turn 2.
9. André scorches away to equal Sean's new track record. Jesper has got his setup right at long last.
10. Following a dismal start Sean goes around Derrol out of turn 2 and then cuts sweetly under David on turn 1 on the next lap.
11. Jesper (gate 1) belatedly turns causing mayhem behind him. Scud tries to switch inside, Craig tries to avoid the fence and Simon picks his bike up and limps off the track.
12. André traps and is away. Simon bites the bullet and gives chase to David. He wears him down for 3 and a bit laps before risking all on a wide blast around the last 2 bends which sees him snatch 2nd by inches on the line! Brilliant riding.
13. Craig breaks the tapes and spoils potentially the biggest race of the night. Sean wins easily but Scud's clutch is stewed!
14. David traps, but Steady rounds Derrol out of turn 2 and goes under David out of turn 4. Simon tries valliantly to go around Derrol but keeps running out of track.
15. André traps and is soon joined by Sean who blasts around Derrol into turn 3 and cuts under Jesper into turn 1 on the next lap.
Newcastle came looking to win, but were made to look very second rate by a rampant pack of Tigers. Jesper Olsen and Craig Watson both took time to settle, and still struggled when they didn't make the gate. Derrol put himself about a bit and was perhaps trying just a little too hard, and shouldn't really start popping wheelies when trailing around half a lap behind the field. He made himself look very silly when falling in the Silver Helmet match race when miles behind.
With Swindon beating Edinburgh tonight's win puts Sheffield at the top of the league and is a fair reward for the hard working riders. Paul Lee bounced back from his first heat fall and was worth much more than his score suggests. Simon Cartwright had his best match yet including beating Jesper Olsen, and taking David Walsh on the last bend! Scud was angry to be excluded because Derrol was slowing down in front of him and deserved more than 6 points, as did Simon Stead who rode a brilliant race in heat 14 passing both Derrol and David en-route to his only win. André's maximum was well deserved and Sean's paid max was most entertaining, and the pair of them now share the track record. (Were these tyres supposed to slow the racing down?) Having just returned following a heavy knock poor Peter is now suspected to have broken his wrist. Hopefully Adam will continue to fly like he did for the Prowlers in their second half win over the KBS Junior Diamonds (20-15, Adam 9 from 3).
Finally a round of applause to Graham Trollope and his team for a brillianly prepared race strip which made it all possible.
Arena-Essex 45 Sheffield 45 Leigh Lanham 2 2' 3 1 1 9+1 Sean Wilson 3 3 3 2 2 13 John Wainwright f 3 0 3 Paul Lee 1 0 0 1 Mark Burrows(g) 1 2 3 2 8 André Compton 3 3 1' 3 0 10+1 Roger Lobb 0 1' 0 3 4+1 Simon Stead 2' 1 2 2 7+1 Colin White 3 3 2 2 3 3 16 Scott Smith x 1 2 0 3 Gary Corbett 2 0 1' 0 3+1 Peter Boast 3 0 1' 1 5+1 Matt Read x 1 1 0 2 Simon Cartwright 1 2 2 0 1' 6+1 Ht 1 Wilson, Lanham, Lee, Wainwright (fell) (2-4) Ht 2 Boast, Corbett, Cartwright, Read (fell, exc) (4-8) Ht 3 Compton, Stead, Burrows, Lobb (5-13) Ht 4 White, Cartwright, Read, Smith (fell, exc) (9-15) Ht 5 Wilson, Burrows, Lobb, Lee (12-18) Ht 6 White (t/s - Wainwright), Lanham, Smith, Boast (17-19) Ht 7 Compton, White, Stead, Corbett (19-23) Ht 8 Wainwright, Cartwright, Read, Lee (23-25) Ht 9 Burows, Smith, Boast, Lobb (26-28) Ht 10 Lanham, Stead, Compton, Wainwright (32-24) Ht 11 Wilson, White, Corbett, Cartwright (32-34) Ht 12 Compton, Burows, Boast, Read (34-38) Ht 13 White, Wilson, Lanham, Smith (38-40) Ht 14 Lobb, Stead, Cartwright, Corbett (41-43) Ht 15 White, Wilson, Lanham, Compton (45-45)
Sheffield and Arena-Essex battled to a draw at a bitterly cold Purfleet raceway on Friday night. The Tigers had held the upper hand all meeting and had a slender lead two point lead going into the final heat. Hammers Leigh Lanham Colin White proceeded to bring some cheer to the home faithful by racing to a 4-2 over the impressive Sean Wilson to earn their side a draw.
Sheffield were full value for their points and started the meeting in fine style, consecutive 4-2s and a 5-1 earning them an early eight point lead. Arena put White out as a tactical in the sixth and he teamed up with Lanham to head home Scott Smith, Tigers hitting back in the next through the impressive pairing of Stead and Compton.
Heats nine through 11 were shared before 4-2 exchanges in 12 and 13 - Roger Lobb steadying the ship for Arena with a fine win in the fourteenth to earn Arena a 3-3 and set them up for the last heat heroics.
Leigh Lanham lost his Silver Helmet when he blew an engine on the first turn in his race with Sean Wilson.
Report by Graham Faiz
Click here for Matt Sprake's pictures from this match.SHEFFIELD 35 ARENA ESSEX 19 Sean Wilson 3 3 6 Leigh Lanham r 2 3 5 Paul Lee 2' 2' 2 6+2 John Wainwright 1 0 1 André Compton 3 3 2' 8+1 Mark Burrows 1 1' 2+1 Simon Stead 2' 1 3 6+1 Roger Lobb 0 2 2 Scott Smith 3 3 6 Colin White 2 1 1 4 Peter Boast 2 r 2 Gary Corbett 1 0 f 1 Simon Cartwright 0 0 1' 1+1 Matt Read 3 1' r 4+1 1. 65.1 ( 5-1 ) Wilson, Lee, Wainwright, Lanham(r). 2. 65.8 ( 7-5 ) Read, Boast, Corbett, Cartwright. 3. 67.5 (12-6 ) Compton, Stead, Burrows, Lobb. 4. 68.2 (15-9 ) Smith, White, Read, Cartwright. 5. 66.7 (19-11) Compton, Lanham, Stead, Wainwright. 6. 67.1 (24-12) Wilson, Lee, White, Corbett. 7. 68.2 (27-15) Smith, Lobb, Burrows, Boast(r). 8. 69.1 (30-18) Lanham(t/s), Lee, Cartwright, Read(ef). 9. 69.1 (35-19) Stead, Compton, Whte, Corbett(f).
Leigh passes Paul out of turn 2, but Paul executes a sweet inside pass on turn 1 on the 2nd lap. Sean untroubled at the front on a heavy but rideable track.
Simon is uncharacteristically last in to turn 1 in heat 2. Being covered in sh*le can't have helped but he did look very uneasy and made no attempt to pass. Matt Read revelled in the conditions and was only 10th's slower than Sean.
André and Simon ride untroubled to victory in heat 3.
Scud an easy winner in heat 4, with Matt Read giving it all back in 3rd place.
André changes line out of turn 4 to pass Leigh down the home straight, and Simon then harries for 4 laps but cannot squeeze past.
Sean and Paul team up for another 5-1 in heat 6, and Scud is again the convincing winner of heat 7.
T/S Leigh and the impressive Matt Read trap to lead in heat 8. Paul eventually passes Simon but is a long way behind and makes little impression until Matt's bike expires at the end of lap 2.
Simon leads in heat 9, André sweeps form 4th to 2nd exiting turn 2, and an optimistic Gary Corbett slides off attempting an outside line into turn 3.
David Dowling must have been waiting for a fall as a track inspection now ensues. With the rain still falling there isn't much that can be done to the track, and despite the Sheffield boys all wanting to continue they are over-ruled. While the track wasn't dangerous it wasn't conducive to good racing although only Simon Cartwright from the home team seemed less than confident with the conditions.
NEWCASTLE 44 SHEFFIELD 46 Robert Eriksson inj 0 Sean Wilson fx 2 3 3 3 2 13 Derrol Keats 3 3 ef 0 6 Paul Lee 2 1' 1 1 5+1 Paul Gould 0 0 2' 2 4+1 Andre Compton 2 2 3 3 1' 11+1 David Walsh 3 3 3 3 0 12 Simon Stead 1' 1' 2' 2 6+3 Jesper Olsen 3 3 2 f 3 11 Scott Smith 2 0 1 2' 5+1 Danny Fairburn 1 0 1 0 0 1 3 Andrew Moore 1' 2 0 3+1 Steven Jones 3 1 2 1 1' 0 8+1 Simon Cartwright 2 0 0 1' 3+1
Heat 1 - Eriksson gates in front of Wilson who then tries to barge past on the inside on the third turn in what looked to be a somewhat ill judged manoeuvre. Both fall. Wilson rightly excluded but a long delay as Eriksson is ambulanced away. Fairburn takes Eriksson's place in the rerun which is nicely won by Keats from Lee. 4-2.
Heat 2 - Andrew Moore makes his senior debut for Sheffield and takes a point as Fairburn falls. Points shared. 7-5
Heat 3 - Walsh gates from Compton who just can't make up the ground in a close race. Stead third. 10-8.
Heat 4 - Olsen by a street from Smith who's all at sea and struggles to hold off a determined Stephen Jones. 14-10.
Heat 5 - Walsh gains a second impressive win. This time over Wilson who seems in two minds - whether to chase Walsh or stay back and help Paul Lee. Points shared. 17-13.
Heat 6 - Fairburn in to take Eriksson's ride. Keats gates with Smith chasing. Scott clips the fence and falls trying to round Keats coming out of turn four and remounts but it's too late. Moore beats Fairburn so it's a Newcastle 4-2 to make it 21-15.
Heat 7 - Standard 3-3. Olsen beating Compton and Stead with Fairburn trailing.
Heat 8 - Us Sheffield types expected the golden double but was not to be (learned afterwards that track considered too slick - correct decision I think). Instead Wilson in as T/S for
Cartwright. From the start Wilson and Jones get tangled up so it's a re-reun with all four. Wilson wins without coming off the bridle and Keats splutters to a halt letting Lee in for a point and a Sheffield 4-2. Now it's 26-22
Heat 9 - Smith again exposed as the impressive Walsh (third win) and Gouold take a 5-1 to extend the Newcastle lead to 8 at 31-23.
Heat 10. Jones in for Eriksson and Keats out on Farburn's bike. A Sheffield 5-1 was there for the taking and Compton/Stead made no mistake. Lead cut to four at 32-28
Heat 11 - Wilson and Olsen really go at it in a real close race but the Prawn takes it and with Lee taking third it's now a two point meeting at 34-32.
Heat 12 - Compton makes no mistake. Newcastle fill the minor placings. 37-35
Heat 13 - a heat of crucial importance. Fairburn in again for Eriksson. Wilson and Olsen having another tremendous scrap with the Prawn just holding the lead. Olsen eventually tries a little too hard to take the lead and falls allowing Smith in for second. A huge Sheffield 5-1 and the Yorkies now lead by two. 38-40.
Heat 14 - Jones brought in for Fairburn. Walsh was never in danger an reeled of his fourth straight win. Stead was a comfortable second but what a race for thrid. cartwright held the edge over Jones who never gave up and was all over (and sometimes along side) Cartwright. However, young Simon had the speed and control to repel every move giving surely the ride of his short career to hold out for the point. Superb. 41-43 with last heat looming.
Heat 15 - Olsen/Walsh against Wilson/Stead. You wouldn't have bet on what happened. The Newcastle pair both gated and it looked like a Newcastle 5-1 to win the meeting. Oh no it wasn't!. Wilson fought past Walsh on about lap two or something then Compton started the chase swooping past Walsh on the line after a tremendous last bend move. What a race indeed. Resulting 3-3 secured the win for Sheffield. Breathtaking stuff.
For Newcastle, Keats started brightly then out of it. Gould was OK if he made the gate (final two rides). Walsh was superb until that last heat with four untroubled victories. Olsen only beaten once (by Wilson) apart from that crucial fall in heat 13 and looked good. Danny Fairburn had a busy night but was outclassed. But Steven Jones lookes like a star. Exciting leg trailing style and a real trier. Impressive indeed.
For Sheffield - apart from the rush of blood in heat 1, Wilson was at his best. Paul Lee always in scoring positions but handicapped by poor gating. And you REALLY needed to gate tonight. Andre Compton was good value as usual, raced hard and gave nothing away. And WHAT a ride in heat 15. But here's a suggestion - move him to number 5 and put Smith at 3. Simon Stead did his job well. Scott Smith can't be effective on tracks like this and only actually beat two opposition riders (Jones once and Fairburn once) in his five points. Moore did OK and Cartwright did too really, especially that superb ride in heat 14.
Report by Andy Machin
SHEFFIELD 57 EXETER 32 Sean Wilson 3 3 3 3 2' 14+1 Mark Simmonds 0 ef 1' 1 2+1 Paul Lee 1 1 1' 2' 3+2 Grahame Gordon 2 2 0 2 3 0 9 André Compton 3 3 3 3 3 15 Michael Coles 2 2 3 1 1' 1 10+1 Simon Stead 1 x ef 2 3 Chris Harris tx 0 0 1 1 Scott Smith 3 3 3 2' 11+1 Paul Pickering 2 2 2 2 tx 8 Adam Allott 2' xm 0 r 2+1 Chris Courage 0 0 0 0 Simon Cartwright 3 1 1 2 0 7 Gary Lobb 1 0 1' 0 2+1 1. 62.4 ( 4-2 ) Wilson, Gordon, Lee, Simmonds. 2. 63.5 ( 9-3 ) Cartwright, Allott, Lobb, Courage. 3. 62.5 (13-5 ) Compton, Coles, Stead, Lobb, Harris(tps). 4. 62.4 (17-7 ) Smith, Pickering, Cartwright, Courage(res). 5. - (20-9 ) Compton, Gordon(f/awd), Stead(x), Simmonds(r). 6. 60.8 (24-11) Wilson, Pickering, Lee, Courage. 7. 61.3 (28-13) Smith, Coles, Cartwright, Harris, Allott(2 mins). 8. 62.3 (31-16) Coles(t/s), Cartwright, Lee, Gordon. 9. 61.8 (34-19) Compton, Pickering, Lobb(res), Stead(r). 10. 61.7 (39-20) Wilson, Lee, Coles, Harris. 11. 61.9 (42-23) Smith, Gordon, Simmonds, Allott. 12. 62.8 (45-26) Compton, Pickering(t/s), Coles, Cartwright. 13. 62.1 (50-27) Wilson, Smith, Simmonds, Lobb, Pickering(tps). 14. 63.6 (52-31) Gordon(t/s), Stead, Harris, Allott(r). 15. 63.0 (52-38) Compton, Wilson, Coles, Gordon.
Highlights.
Adam makes a lovely start in heat 2 and follows Simon home in his debut ride for the Tigers.
André goes around Michael out of turn 2 to win heat 3, but Simon (on his 'little' bike after siezing his 'big' bike on the stand) can't get on terms.
André traps in heat 5 and is doing all he can to shepherd Simon home until Simon's chain goes on the last turn of lap 3. Grahame tries to squeeze past but ends up in an untidy heap in the fence. With Mark retired on lap 1 the race is awarded as a 3-2.
Adam seizes his bike before the start of heat 7 and is out under the 2 minute rule. Scud wins easily and Simon slips under Chris Harris out of turn 4.
T/S Michael wins heat 8, but both Paul and Simon nip under Grahame to share the heat.
In heat 9 André rounds Paul out of turn 2, and Simon slices under him into turn 3, but by the end of lap 3 Simon has a puncture and has to pull up.
Heat 10 sees a classic example of team riding. Sean sees Paul on his tail down the back straight and watches for him. If Michael got too close then Sean would hold him up and Michael's every move was covered with consumate skill. Michael himself was the first to acknowledge the brilliant riding on the return to the pits.
Turn 3 was where it all happened in heat 12 as in an instant André moves from 3rd to 1st down the inside, while Simon simultaneously goes from 2nd to last on the outside.
Grahame traps to win heat 14, but an angry Simon Stead (on Paul Lee's bike) chases hard after Chris Harris, just making it through on the last bend. Simon is very upset by Chris's tactics of turning right into turn 1 and makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms.
Sean sweeps past Michael into turn 3 on the 2nd lap of heat 15 to follow André home in style.
The Falcon's are normally better value at Owlerton, and after thumping the Comet's on Monday they were expected to be a much sterner proposition. As it was they only managed 2 wins all evening, and only the one heat advantage in the penultimate race.
The gremlins seem to have spread to Simon Stead this week who seized his best bike before the start, and then broke a chain and picked up a puncture. Adam made a wonderful debut with a 5-1 is his first senior ride, but then seized his engine, and had to borrow Karl Bagshaw's machine for the rest of the match. All of the Tigers heat leaders were on song and never looked like being beaten by the opposition. Lets hope the gremlins are sorted before the trip to Brough Park on Sunday.
Thursday 20th May, KOC 2nd leg
SHEFFIELD 52 - (100) ISLE OF WIGHT 38 - (80) Sean Wilson 2 3 3 3 11 Neville Tatum 3 1 3 3 r 10 Paul Lee 1' 2' 0 0 3+2 Tommy Palmer 0 0 1 1 André Compton 3 3 3 3 2 14 Phillipe Berge 0 2 1' 2 5+1 Simon Stead 2' 2' 1 2 7+2 Scott Swain 1 1' 2 3 3 10+1 Scott Smith 3 3 2 2' 1' 11+2 Wayne Carter 2 0 2 1 5 Peter Boast fx 0 Danny Bird 2 1 2' 0 1' 0 6+2 Simon Cartwright 3 1 0 1 0 0 1' 6+1 Jeremy Barraud 1' 0 0 1+1 1. 63.3 ( 3-3 ) Tatum, Wilson, Lee, Palmer. 2. 63.6 ( 6-6 ) Cartwright, Bird, Barraud, Boast(fx). 3. 62.6 (11-7 ) Compton, Stead, Swain, Berge. 4. 63.5 (15-9 ) Smith, Carter, Cartwright(res), Barraud. 5. 61.6 (20-10) Compton, Stead, Tatum, Palmer. 6. 62.4 (25-11) Wilson Lee, Bird, Carter. 7. 63.1 (28-14) Smith, Berge, Swain, Cartwright. 8. 63.2 (29-19) Tatum(t/s), Bird(res), Cartwright(res), Lee. 9. 61.4 (33-21) Compton, Carter, Stead, Bird. 10. 62.4 (36-24) Wilson, Swain, Berge, Lee. 11. 62.8 (38-28) Tatum, Smith, Palmer, Cartwright. 12. 62.4 (41-31) Compton, Berge, Bird, Cartwright(res). 13. 63.1 (46-32) Wilson, Smith, Carter, Tatum(r). 14. 63.1 (49-35) Swain, Stead, Cartwright, Barraud. 15. 62.6 (52-38) Swain, Compton, Smith, Bird.
Neville popped out in front in heat 1 and try as he might Sean couldn't get close enough to mount an attack.
Peter got out of shape on the first bend in heat 2 and clattered heavily into the fence where he lay for some time in considerable pain before they were able to move him. Simon trapped again in the rerun and resisted relentless pressure from Danny to win in a time a full second faster than his previous best.
Simon trapped in heat 3 and André cut back inside Phillipe out of turn 2 to join him at the front. Phillipe slows dramatically at he end of lap 3 allowing Scott up to 3rd, while André uncharitably scorches around Simon out of the last bend.
Scud storms to a comfortable win in heat 4, Wayne passes Simon out of turn 2, Jeremy tries everything but to no avail. He was trying so hard he lost control on the first bend after the finish falling in spectacular fashion but thankfully able to walk away.
Neville traps again in heat 5, but André scrapes the boards to round him out of turn 4 on the 1st lap. Simon closes in but cannot make it past on the inside and tries an outside blast on the last bend. Neville sees it coming and almost turns right out of the last bend but to no avail as Simon grabs second place.
Paul cannot get his chosen bike to fire & jumps on his 2nd choice with moments to spare. He makes a sweet first turn to join Sean at the front and Wayne is never likely to get on terms.
Scud executes a brilliant 1st turn to go under Scott and then around Phillipe to win heat 7.
Neville clinically rides Paul out of turn 1 and then joins Danny for the Islanders first heat advantage in heat 8.
André swoops past the whole field to lead down the back straight in heat 9, and Simon moves into 2nd as Danny louses up turn 3.
Heat 13 saw Sean make the start and Scud find a gap to go around both Wayne and Neville to join him at the front. Neville pulls up with a lap to go, while Sean does the same but after crossing the finish line.
The two Simons make the start in heat 14 but Scott has other ideas as he cuts under Simon(C) into the 3rd bend on lap 1, and goes around Simon(S) on the same bend next time around.
In the last heat Scott and Danny dominate the first turn and look well set for a win. Obviously no-one told André and Scud that the match was already won as they set about Danny with a vengance. André scythed under him into turn 3 on the 2nd lap and Scud was so close on his heels he was able to follow through. Although André would have dearly loved a maximum it was not to be as Scott rode high and wide to his second consecutive heat win.
The Islanders might have fancied their chances after winning here last season, but this years Tigers are a different prospect altogether. Neville looked sharp from the gate as usual but got patchy support from Wayne, and Phillipe rode below previous Owlerton form. Danny Bird worth more than his score suggests and Scott Swain finished the meeting looking very strong. The jury is still out on Jeremy, but Tommy was even worse than last year.
Paul continues to have problems with his bikes but hopefully he will get things sorted out sooner rather than later and Simon (S) was better value than his score. Simon(C) occasionally ran out of track as he looked for faster lines and must have been tiring after taking Peter's rides as well as his own. Scott seems to be enjoying his speedway these days, as does the inspirational Sean, while André is really flying at Owlerton.
Initial X-rays on Peter's back suggest no broken bones so fingers crossed for the big man who had just found his form.
Return to Sheffield Speedway fixtures and results
Return to Sheffield Speedway archives