Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2006

 The Potters included new signing Paul Thorp and after Thursdays win must have been very confident. Mark Lemon got them off to a good start taking Ben Wilson out on the second turn relegating Ben to last place in the process. Barrie Evans called me a liar in heat 2 as he locked back hard on the pits turn to pass Cooperman into second place, and then did the same to Benji on the second lap to take the lead. Paul Clews got it all wrong on the second bend of heat 3 allowing Cooperman up into third place, but then both Paul's took simultaneous dives on the second lap and were both excluded. Emiliano made a better gate in the rerun and left Herr Flick in his wake. Thorpy passed Benji on the back straight in heat 4 but could only follow his big brother, while Benji had us all on our toes as we urged him on ahead of Matt Wright. Herr Flick trapped and dominated heat 5, while at the back Ben had his work cut out to stay ahead of Paul Clews. Tigers lead by 1 point.

Mark Lemon led heat 6 from the off, but André went around Trent Leverington out of turn two and hounded Mark all the way to the line. Barrie Evans trapped to lead heat 7 with Thorpy on his tail. Paul nearly took him off on turn four and Emiliano took full opportunity to grab second place. Benji then turned on the pressure himself and might have been able to pass him even if he hadn't had the puncture. Ben Wilson took the lead by the back straight of heat 8 and just managed to hold the lead, but Cooperman was never in the action. Herr Flick trapped again(!) to lead heat 9 but André spotted his kid brother and elected to team ride him home managing to baulk every move Paul Clews tried for the whole four laps. Brilliant! Haven't seen anything like it since Sean and Paul Lee back in '99. Cooperman suffered more mechanical gremlins at the start of heat 10 and got kicked out under the 2 minute allowance. Emiliano battled around Trent and into second place at the end of the first lap, but then had a 'moment' on the third bend allowing Trent to draw level. No worries! He retakes the place on the second bend but the Potters extend their lead to 3 points.

Ricky blasts around the field to lead heat 11 but comes under severe pressure from Thorpy who is as successful at making the pass as Ben Wilson is behind Barrie Evans, but it was still good to watch! Emiliano leads heat 12, but Matt Wright makes a terrible mess of the second bend on lap three allowing both Pauls to get past. Mark Lemon lets Thorpy lead in heat 13. André recovers from an appalling gate to pass Ricky on the back straight and then reel in Lemmo making a brilliant inside pass on the second turn on lap three. Sadly not enough! It's four abreast into turn one in heat 14 and Benji is the one who runs out of track. (For once it wasn't his mistake!) Robbie traps again in the rerun but it's Benji on his tail with Emiliano last and climbing all over Barrie. Emiliano makes his move on the first turn on the last lap, but Barrie responds retaking third position out of turn two. Emiliano elects for the outside line on turn three and is lucky not to be collected as Barrie slides off as he encounters the roller-coaster line. The Tigers need a 5-1 in heat 15 (another last heat decider) and although it's a tall order it's not impossible. Robbie Kessler (top scorer) is snubbed in preference to Thorpy. The Potters trap but André takes second place out of turn two and although he quickly closed in on Mark he never looked like making the pass. Emiliano breezed past Thorpy and was poised waiting for Mark's mistake, but alas it never happened.

Lots of good speedway tonight. Nail biting races, the lead changing hands several times and never exceeding three points! Only Paul Cooper let us down tonight and if Kyle had been fit I'm sure he would have done better than the 2 points his rider replacement facility earned. Heat nine was the most wonderful piece of skilful riding I've witnessed for years as André shielded Benji home under extreme pressure from Paul Clews for all four laps. Both of our reserves needs to look at their machine preparation, especially with two birthdays occurring in the next few weeks which could have an impact on our rider base.

Is that two loan fees we've received for Thorpy so far? He could be a good earner for us yet :-) For all I despise what Moggo did last season I think he's been badly treated and deserved a proper send off, although I wouldn't have been there! Final score tonight was Stoke 25, Sheffield (assets) 64.

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