Key:+ = from 15m handicap,  * = Tactical ride for double points,  ! = Tactical substitution from 15m
SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2011
Plymouth 'Devils' v SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE 'Tigers' Premier League 29 April

Referee: Graham Flint

0102030405 0607080910 1112131415 Tot+Bp
1. Ben Barker 9.50 1 3 2 2 2 10
2. Mark Simmonds © 5.00 3 1 1' 1' 6+2
3. Seemond Stephens 5.00 1 0 0 2 3
4. Jason Bunyan 8.05 3 3 2 2' 0 10+1
5. Lee Smart 5.63 1 3 2 1' 7+1
6. Jesper Kristiansen

4.80

2 x 0 3 5
7. James Cockle 3.00 1' fx 2 0 3+1
Mike Bowden 4 3 4 1 3 4 3 3 2 3 2 2 3 5 2
Plymouth 'Devils' 4 7 11 12 15 19 22 25 27 30 32 34 37  42 44
Sheffield 'Tigers' 2 5 7 12 15 17 19 22 26 29 33 37 40 41 45
 Eric Boocock 2 3 2 5 3 2 2 3 4 3 4 4 3 1 4
1. Shane Parker 7.95 0 2 1 3 3 9
2. Emiliano Sanchez 6.64 2 1' 3 3 1 10+1
3. Josh Auty 7.69 2 fx 0 3 5
4. Hugh Skidmore 5.69 f 2 3 1 6
5. Ricky Ashworth © 7.77 3 2 3 f 8
6. Simon Lambert 3.47 3 0 1 1 0 5
7. Ashley Birks 3.00 f 2' 0 - 2+1
Track record: tba 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15

50.75

51.97

51.60

51.84

51.12

50.84

52.10

51.91

52.28

52.28

52.75

52.35

52.28

52.72

51.00

The Tigers looked to build on their success against Glasgow on Thursday against Premier League newcomers Plymouth. Must be said the first view of the venue at St Boniface 'arena' was a shock to say the least, with the most basic of facilities and the track only a tiny bit bigger than the old training track at Sheffield and with very narrow straights. Must be said health and safety is not at the top of the list judging by the construction of the back straight stand where the mass of Tigers fans were located hmmmm.

Plymouth won the toss and took 1 and 3 with Tigers having choice in heat 15. Mark Simmonds makes the gate off the very advantageous gate 1 in the first heat followed by Chico, Barker and Shane. Barker tried a couple of times to pass Chico and almost knocked him off in the process, the result was from the gate. Tigers make the gate in heat 2 but Ashley overcooks it on the first bend and falls. Rambo goes on to take an easy win from the Plymouth reserves. Devils gate in heat 3 off the inside gates, Skiddy takes a fall while trying the outside run off the difficult gate 4, Josh passes Stephens at the end of lap one and pressures Bunyan but cannot pass.

James Cockle wipes out Ashley Birks in heat 4 and is excluded, in the rerun Smart wipes out Ricky and is unbelievably not excluded, poor refereeing again from our friend Mr Flint. Tigers gate in the rerun and ride the correct lines to take a comfortable 5-1, Justice!! After a 10 minute track grade on the smallest track in the country heat 5 sees the Devils make the gate and into the lead, Shane pressures Stephens for 3 3/4 laps and passes him on the last corner and nicely moves him over and slows him down to allow Chico through as well, Masterful from the Messiah!! Heat 6 sees the Devils take advantage of the inside gates with Barker taking the win from Ashworth and track expert Simmonds 3rd.

Heat 7 sees Smart take the gate with Tigers 2nd and 3rd, Auty passes Smart at end of lap one, Kristiansen tries passing Skiddy with a desperate inside move and cleans him up. Kristiansen excluded. Rerun sees a very close first lap between all 3 riders, Smart take the lead and clamps the inside line giving both Tigers no option but to lay it down. Josh is excluded much to his disgust! Smart takes the rerun from Skiddy and the gap extends to 3 points in the Devils favour. Emiliano gates in heat 8 and wins very easily, Devils in 2nd and 3rd and the gap remains at 3 points. After another lengthy track grade Ricky flies from the gate and takes the win over Bunyan. Rambo beats Stephens and the gap is closed to one point.

Skiddy gates in heat 10 and wins. Josh tries everything to pass the Devils but cannot make it happen. Smart and Chico gate in heat 11 and have a great race passing each other several times with some very fair racing (rare in this meeting) Chico wins the race by half a wheel!! Parker is never far behind for 3rd place and Tigers take the lead by 1 point. Heat 12 sees the Plymouth expert Stephens make the gate, Josh chases for 3 laps and executes a superb pass around the 'outside' to take the win. Rambo beats Cockle for 3rd and Tigers extend lead to 3 points.

Another long track grade before heat 13 with all remaining dirt being scraped off the track and heavily watered. Barker gets a clear roller but Shane makes a superb gate to lead Barker and Ashworth, that's how it stays until the last corner when Ricky slides off on the wet patch gifting an extra point to Plymouth. Rambo replaces Ashley in heat 14 and Tigers think at least a 3-3 is on the cards...wrong as Devils make the gate and take a 5-1 and lead by a point going into the last race. Shane makes a fantastic gate in the deciding heat 15 from gate 1, Barker is second and Chico importantly passes Smart down the back straight on lap one, it remains that way after good riding from the Tigers and the Tigers take the deserved WIN by a point!!! Much to the acclaim of the large travelling support on the back-straight!!

First trip for Plymouth for me and amazed that this track has been accepted into the Premier League, the track seem to be too small for the very competitive PL standard racing. Lots of falls but thankfully no major injuries.Good win for the Tigers under the circumstances and they go in good heart to Rough Park on Sunday!

Thanks to Chris Wells for this match report.

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