Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2005

Interviewed on Radio Sheffield before the meeting Ricky Ashworth said they wanted to put last seasons defeat by Workington behind them and start to rebuild 'fortress' Owlerton. They certainly made a good start as the Potters took a pasting and will struggle to make up for the loss of Pickers with his badly broken right arm, although having the weakest reserve pairing in the league doesn't help.

Sean sped from the tapes to win heat 1 from Robbie Kessler with Ben comfortably ahead of Paul Clews. The Sheffield reserves dominated the first bend in heat 2 and Kyle followed Paul as they extended a big lead over the Potters pair. Robbie trapped to take a win in heat 3 but Ricky and Richard were snapping at his heels with Moggo trailed off at the back.

Heat 4 saw the first of the action with André rounding the field to lead down the back straight and Kyle exiting the second turn ahead of Stæchers. Kyle kept his head down and led Jan for two and a half laps before Jan brusquely barged his way through on the inside of the third turn. Richard and Ricky took heat 5 from the tapes with Moggo falling at the back on the last lap. Sean rounded Stæchers out of turn two to win heat 6 and Ben put Jan under a lot of pressure before having the door firmly slammed in his face down the back straight on the last lap.

Robbie picked up a starting offence by not being at the tapes when the 2 minutes expired at the start of heat 7 and had to go off a 15m handicap. Moggo got a flyer in the restart and not even André could get close to him. Good scrap in heat 8 with Paul Clews passing Ben Wilson on the 3rd turn, only for Ben to return the compliment on the inside of the first turn, and Paul then being harried by Kyle who very nearly gained the advantage out of turn two on the last lap. Stæchers had a good tussle with Richard Hall in heat 9 passing him on the inside of the third turn. Richard made a good inside move to regain the lead out of turn 2 on the second lap, but Jan regained the lead on the first bend of the third lap.

Moggo split the Wilsons in heat 10 but 'Herr Flick' was tailed off at the back. Paul Clews fell after high-siding it on the third turn of heat 11, and André won the rerun with ease. Paul Cooper passed Stæchers with a sweet inside line on the last turn of the third lap, only for Jan to dive back under him on turn 1. Kyle recovered from a poor start from the outside gate in heat 12 to draw alongside Rob Grant exiting turn 4, and passing him on the inside of the first turn on the second lap, with Richard beating Robbie who was on a tactical ride.

While André pulled clear at the front in heat 13 Sean was given a hard time as Paul Clews sneaked past on the first lap allowing Jan to join him. It looked for a couple of laps as if Sean was going to become the first Tiger to finish last as he struggled to split the Potters pair, but he did just that with an inside line on the first bend of the last lap. Moggo made no mistakes with his tactical ride winning heat 14 from Paul Cooper, and heat 15 saw the 'big guns' from both sides pitched against each other. Sean made no mistake and André tucked in behind to reach the 60 point mark.

A dominant display by the home side, and some good racing to boot, although it looks as if the track problems on the second turn are caused by a broken drain. The two stockcar meetings over Easter have been cancelled and it looks as if it may require major surgery to fix the problem.

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