Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2004

Sheffield 'PIRTEK' Prowlers v Mildenhall Fen Tigers Conference Trophy 2nd August
Rider010203040506070809101112131415Tot+Bp
Richard Hall 2 3 6* 3 2' 16+1
David Speight 0 1 1 0 2
Paul Cooper 3 1 2 3 9
Luke Priest 1 0 1' 3 5+1
Ben Wilson © 3 3 3 1 3 13
Gary Flint r r 0 - 0
Karl Langley 2 0 0 ef 0 2
2 2 4 3 1 4 3 1 3 6 3 3 4 3 5
Sheffield 'PIRTEK' Prowlers 39 2 4 8 11 12 16 19 20 23 29 32 35 39 42 47 86
Mildenhall Fen Tigers 56 4 8 10 13 18 20 23 28 31 34 37 40 42 45 46 102
4 4 2 3 5 2 3 5 3 3 3 3 2 3 1
Ritchie Hawkins 3 3 2 2 1 11
James Mann 1 2' 2' 1' 6+3
Tony Dart 2 2 2 2 8
Gary Phelps 0 1' 1' 1' 3+3
Jon Armstrong 1' 2 3 0 0 6+1
Kyle Hughes 1 0 0 - 1
Lee Smart 3 2 3 1' 2 11+1
Heat
times
010203040506070809 101112131415
62.564.964.062.963.0 62.064.164.363.562.5 63.964.663.466.063.8

What a fantastic meeting. First time Sheffield were in the lead was the last heat, with a big 5-1. Sadly the crowd was very disappointing, just glad Mildenhall brought a coach load up !!! At one point it looked as if the Fen Tigers would run away with it.They opened with 2 4-2's and led 28-20 after 8 races. New reserve Karl Langley was struggling with machine gremlins, misfiring in heat 8 and losing a chain [which it looked like hit him] in heat 12. He really tried though and looks like he doesn't give up easy, that's what we like to see. The other reserve Gary Flint retired in all 3 rides. It looked like he wasn't ready to come back, he looked in real pain as he was limping. Two broken legs and one a broken thigh, are these lads special or what eh ???

So all in all we couldn't see where we were going to pull it back. Enter Richard Hall on a Tactical Ride and 6 points, a 6-3, Speighty in 3rd till he locked up slightly was passed by Gary Phelps. Two more shared heats then a 4-2 in Heat 13, a superb race. Ritchie Hawkins got a flyer and boy did he look fast but Richard Hall gradually reeled him in passing him up the inside on the back straight last lap. Ben Wilson was third and Jon Armstrong fourth. The extremely impressive Lee Smart was out in heat 14 and it didn't look too good. Langley replaced Flint. We were saying if only we could get a 3-3 and possibly nick it with a 5-1 in the last. Luke Priest who only had 2+1 at this point rode what i think was the race of his life to hold off Smart who had 9+1 at this point. Another great 4 lap race, very close at the finish. Shame Luke didn't come around after.

So it was 42-45 going into the last race. From the inside Ben Wilson, Ritchie Hawkins, Richard Hall & Jon Armstrong. Ben just gets the drop on Ritchie and behind him Richard tries the outside run on Ritchie but he is blocked on the 3rd bend. He cuts back inside and blasts under Ritchie Hawkins going into the 1st bend 2nd lap. Hawkins tries to come back then fades back slightly. A great meeting ,a credit to speedway at ANY level, if those last two races had been elite league races on Sky, Sky would have been chuffed. Just goes to show, you don't need GP stars to have great speedway !!!!

Credit to Mildenhall, credit to Sheffield, and thanks for the great entertainment guys.

... and thanks to Philip Addison for allowing me to reproduce his match report here. All I would like to add is that Richard established a new Conference League lap record in heat 6, just beating the 62.1 set by Ross Brady in June last year. Also Paul Cooper was riding a GM for the first time and he said it would take some getting used to.

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