Key: + = from 15m handicap,  * = Tactical substitute for double points.
SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2017
SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE 'Tigers' v Peterborough 'Panthers' SGBC-B 22nd June

Referee: Darren Hartley

010203040506070809101112131415Tot+Bp
1. Josh Grajczonek 9.19 0 2 3 3 8
2. Todd Kurtz 5.54 3 1' 2 2' 8+2
3. Lasse Bjerre 7.30 3 3 1' 3 10+1
4. Josh Bates 5.88 2' 2' 2 3 1 10+2
5. Kyle Howarth © 8.71 3 3 2 0 0 8
6. Rob Branford 4.51 3 - 1' 0 1 2' 7+2
7. Andy Mellish (g) 2.00 0 0 r - - 0
Simon Stead 3 3 5 3 5 3 3 3 3 5 2 4 3 5 1
Sheffield 'Tigers' 3 6 11 14 19 22 25 28 31 36 38 42 45 50 51
Peterborough 'Panthers' 3 6 7 10 11 14 17 20 23 24 31 33 36 37 42
Carl Johnson 3 3 1 3 1 3 3 3 3 1 7 2 3 1 5
1. Chris Harris 9.21 2 1 *6 2 2' 13+1
2. Bradley Wilson-Dean 6.50 1' 0 3 1 5+1
3. Paul Starke 7.27 1 1' 1 2 5+1
4. Ulrich Østergård © 6.33 0 2 0 fx 2
5. Jack Holder 8.00 2 3 3 1' 3 12+1
6. Richard Hall 3.00 2 0 0 0 2
7. Tom Bacon 2.53 1' 1' 0 1 3+2
Track record: 59.1
Ricky Ashworth, 14 Oct '10
0102030405 0607080910 1112131415
61.5 62.6 62.3 62.1 61.9 61.8 62.5 62.4 61.4 62.9 62.5 63.5 62.6 64.9 63.6

Excellent return from 'our kid!' With Joe Lawlor a last minute injury victim the Tigers called on Andy Mellish to make his Owlerton debut. The Tigers were off gates 1&3 and Todd Kurtz started like a rocket to lead heat 1, alas Josh Grajczonek was carved up by the Panthers and never got close enough to trouble Chris Harris, who in turn stole a point off his team mate on the run to the finish line. Rob Branford dominated heat 2 from tapes to flag but young Andy survived some hairy moments as he came to terms with the track at the back of the field. Lasse Bjerre looked good on his new GM as he won heat 3 while Josh Bates had to work hard to keep Paul Starke behind him. Ulrich was a pale shadow of the 2015 PLRC champion. Tom Bacon made an electric start to lead heat 4 but Kyle Howarth dived under him into turn three in a move Peter Carr would have been proud of. Jack Holder moved up to second place at the start of lap 2 and Kyle battled hard to stay ahead. Another excellent start saw Lasse leading heat 5 and JoshB went high and very wide to blast past both Bradley and Chris down the back straight. Try as he might Chris just couldn't make the pass as young Josh anticipated his every move. Tigers looking comfortable with an eight point lead.

Jack Holder shows first in heat 6 and JoshG gets badly out of shape on turn 2 losing so much ground he has no chance of getting back on terms. Ulrich flies into the lead of heat 7 with Kyle chasing him down. After setting it up carefully he dives through on the inside at the start of lap three for his second win. Rob Branford is using one of Simon's engines and leads away from the tapes in heat 8. Bradley Wilson-Dean is pushing hard while Todd passes Tom Bacon on the first lap and sets off after Bradley. Bradley cuts back and passes Rob out of turn two and Todd follows suit on the third lap but cannot catch the Kiwi. JoshB gets a flyer in heat 9 but Darren Hartley calls him back. Jack Holder is even faster away in the restart but gets away with it and Lasse passes Richard Hall on the second bend for the fourth consecutive shared heat. Todd gets the drop to lead heat 10 but JoshG has his work cut out passing Paul on the first lap and then Ulrich on the second. He goes on to pass Todd at the start of the last lap leaving his team mate to just hold on ahead of Paul. Tigers lead expands to 12 points.

Chris is wearing the black & white on a tactical in heat 11. He traps and pulls relentlessly clear from Kyle who far from chasing is left defending second place from Bradley. Lasse traps and goes wide leading heat 12. Rob is second but not prepared to scrape the fence and allows Paul to round him high and wide on turn two, lap two. JoshG traps to lead heat 13 with Kyle looking for a way inside Chris on the fourth turn when Jack flies around the pair of them. Chris takes his team mate wide on turn 2, lap 2 only for Jack to fight back on inside of turn 4. Chris proves to be the bravest (daftest) with the widest line on lap 3. Ulrich leads heat 14 but takes an unforced tumble on the second lap. the Tigers clean up in the rerun and lead by 13 points. Kyle and JoshB take on Chris and Jack in heat 15. An even start throws four riders into close contention on the first bend and it's four abreast down the back straight. Three turn into turn 3 together and Kyle seems to get the advantage, but then strays too wide exiting turn 4 and Jack takes up the lead. JoshB works wonders to contain Chris but the pair of them catch Kyle and after a couple of close fought laps the ex GP star shows what he's made of with an outside blast which takes him from last to second exiting turn 2 on the last lap. Breathtaking!

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