Key:+ = from 15m handicap,  * = Tactical ride for double points,  ! = Tactical substitution from 15m
SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2010
SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE 'Tigers' v Newcastle 'Diamonds' Premier League 8 July

Referee: Craig Ackroyd

0102030405 0607080910 1112131415 Tot+Bp
1. Ricky Ashworth 8.05 2 x2 3 0 5
2. Hugh Skidmore 5.75 1' 2 3 1 7+1
3. Josef Franc 5.65 0 1' 1' 2 4+2
4. Richard Hall 6.45 2 2 2 3 1' 10+1
5. Josh Auty 7.63 2 2 2 +2 2 10
6. Paul Cooper ©

5.15

2 1' 0 1 4+1
7. Simon Lambert 3.42 1' 1' 0 1 0 3+2
Eric Boocock 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 4 3 4 2 2 2 4 3
Sheffield 'Tigers' 3 6 8 11 14 16 19 23 26 30 32 34 36 40 43
Sapphire 'Diamonds' 3 6 10 13 16 20 23 25 28 30 34 38 42 44 47
George English 3 3 4 3 3 4 3 2 3 2 4 4 4 2 3
1. Kenni Larsen 9.50 3 3 3 1 ef 10
2. Derek Sneddon 5.48 f 0 0 - 0
3. Jason King © 6.55 1 0 0 1 2
4. Rene Bach 8.47 3 3 2 2 10
5. Mark Lemon 8.35 3 3 3 3 3 15
6. Dakota North 3.90 3 1 2 - 1 3 0 10
7. Anders Andersen 3.00 0 0 - 0 - 0
Track record: 59.2
R.Ashworth, 21 May '09
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

60.4

61.4

60.8

61.0

60.2

61.9

61.4

62.7

61.8

63.0

61.9

62.5

62.6

62.4 62.4

2010 programme  Kenni Larsen gave Ricky Ashworth the old heave-ho on the first turn of heat 1 but Ricky caught and dived under Derek Sneddon on the third turn. Hugh repeated the same move on the first turn of lap two with Derek doing a good impersonation of a dying swan, but clearing the track in good time. Paul Cooper was the early leader of heat 2 but Dakota North just powered past him down the back straight. Simon Lambert dived past Anders Andersen at the start of the second lap for a second shared heat. Josef Franc trapped from gate 4 and led into the first turn in heat 3 though Richard Hall was trailing at the back. Rene Bach powered through to the lead down the back straight, and Jason King followed suit down the home straight. Richard eventually passed Josef on the third lap and a fence scraping last bend saw him pass Jason just before the finish line. Mark Lemon was un catchable in heat 4, likewise Kenni in heat 5 but the Tigers packed the minor placings and only trail by two points.

Ricky is discluded from heat 6 for exceeding the time to track allowance and is replaced by Simon Lambert. Mark powers into the lead with Hugh chasing forlornly while Dakota rounds Simon on the first lap, and nearly catches Hugh on the fourth. Rene led heat 7 until Josh dived through on the third turn. They traded places for a couple of laps until it looked as if Josh had gained the upper hand. Meanwhile Paul was coming under pressure from Jason but doing well to contain him. Rene grabbed a handful of throttle and scraped the boards around the last turn to beat Josh to the chequered flag. Hugh led heat 8 and did very well to contain Dakota while Simon gave the Tigers their first heat advantage by passing Derek on the second turn of the third lap. Mark trapped to lead heat 9 and stymied every move that Richard tried. Ricky led heat 10 from Rene with Jason third ahead of Hugh who had switched to his spare bike seconds before the time allowance expired. Hugh sliced under Jason out of the pits turn at the end of the second lap to go third but Rene passed Ricky out of turn two on the next lap. Ricky dives under him into the third turn and Rene loses ground when he rears on the outside of the fourth turn. Sheffield's second heat advantage levels the scores at 30-30.

The Diamonds trap ahead in heat 11 but Josh rounds Dakota on the second lap and then climbs all over Kenni's exhaust but just can't find a way past. Dakota gates from Josef, Jason and Simon, and that's all for heat 12. Kenni is struggling to hold the bike still at the start of heat 13 but it is Josh who eventually cracks and breaks the tapes. How would you fancy going off a 15m handicap against two of the Premier League's top riders? Mark traps and Ricky and Kenni are engaged in a right scrap for third. Ricky gets ahead out of turn three on the second lap but Kenni hits back on the next bend. Josh winds it all up around the outside of the second turn to pass Ricky on the third lap and uses his momentum to pass Kenni and go second on the pits turn. All we need is two 5-1's. Richard and Paul are up against Rene and Dakota in heat 14. Paul does his best from the start and pins Rene to the white line allowing Richard to swoop into the lead. Rene rounds Paul into the third turn on the second lap but our skipper does everything he is capable of to hold out young Dakota. Heat 15 sees us requiring a 5-0 for the win, 5-1 to draw or else a demoralising home defeat. Mark completed his maximum in style to steal 3 points, but Kenni failed to complete four laps so the Diamonds couldn't improve on that.

Three wins from 15 heats at home tells the story. Would you prefer strength in depth, or gamble on strong heat leaders and hope your 'other ranks' get caught up in the tidal wave? The latter works when you stumble across the likes of Dakota North on a bargain average. The much vaunted Tyson Nelson could be our trump card next year but I think it's a bit early to start any conjecture in that direction.

Return to Sheffield Speedway fixtures and results
Return to Sheffield Speedway homepage