Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2007

The start of the meeting was delayed by 15 minutes as the chap with the tyres was late arriving at the track. Magnus made an inauspicious start as he broke the tapes in heat one and took a 15 meter handicap from which he never recovered. André was the rider replacement for Ricky and after two laps following Ben he went wide looking for a way past but only succeeded in losing ground. James Cockle and Paul trapped ahead in heat 2 (after a starting gate malfunction) and Paul resisted pressure from Simon Walker for a couple of laps for another maximum heat win. André rounded Stephan to lead down the back straight in heat 3 with Birko right up Stephan's exhaust. Birko tried a wide swoop on the third lap which lost him a lot of ground and then Jordan Frampton caught him on the last turn and won the dash to the finish line. James Cockle passed Danny Warwick exiting turn 2 to lead heat 4 with Danny sliding off on the third turn. Ritchie Hawkins quickly closed in but it looked as if James had done enough to win until he reared on the last turn allowing Ritchie to pass him as he fought to regain control. André sped from the gate to win heat 5 from Magnus and Stephan in third was never troubled by Birko. The Rebels seem to have recovered from the poor start but still trail by 8 points.

Ritchie and Joel are neck and neck as they exit turn 2 on the first lap of heat 6. Joel looks to switch to the inside line on the third turn but clips Ritchie's back wheel and tumbles off. Ben makes no mistake in the restart taking the lead on the second bend and soaking up everything that Ritchie throws at him. Joel traps ahead in heat 7 but Magnus goes around him on the second turn and doesn't look like being caught. Ben rounds Danny Warwick to lead heat 8 while James Cockle has his work cut out to stay ahead of Stephan. André and Birko gate to win heat 9 although André leaves Birko to his own devices rather than attempting to team ride. Birko is back out in heat 10 as rider replacement and is passed by Jordan Frampton on the second lap. I don't think he'd been watching much racing as he went for the outside line on the third turn and only succeeded in wiping himself out. The Tigers lead has been extended to 12 points.

The anticipated tactical move was made in heat 11 with Magnus wearing the black & white colours. He takes an early lead from Joel and Stephan dives past Paul on the third turn. Paul rounds him entering turn 1 on the second lap but Stephan nudges him off. Magnus is not well pleased that Paul didn't clear the track and deliberately sprays him with shale as he passes. Joel passes Magnus on the third bend in the restart and just manages to hang on for the win to the crowds delight, while Magnus rides straight into Paul at the pit gate in another act of petulance. André leads heat 12 while James passes both Rebels on the second turn. He then goes too wide on the pits turn allowing Simon Walker to catch and pass him at the start of the second lap. Ben keeps his maximum hopes going with an inspired ride to deny Magnus any chance of a pass in heat 13 while at the back of the field Joel tries everything he can to get by Ritchie which ends with him tumbling off on the last bend as he tries a little too hard. Ritchie comes into heat 14 as a tactical substitution but it is asking too much. Paul leads the way while Jordan Frampton eventually wears down and passes James (replacement for Birko who's hurt his thumb) on the very last turn. Unbeaten André and Ben are the Tigers nominations, with Ritchie & Magnus representing the Rebels. André makes another blistering start leaving Ben and Magnus disputing second place. Magnus tries everything, inside and out, but every move is blocked by Ben who chalks up his hat-trick of victories over the current Premier League Riders Champion.

The meeting seemed to take forever and most of the criticism for that must lie with the referee.

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