| Somerset Rebels 44 | 11 June 2013 Premier League Oak Tree Arena |
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| Edinburgh Monarchs 45 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Heat 01: Doyle, Sneddon, Newman, Cook. 57.94 Heat 02: Fricke, Nielsen, Perry, Bates. 58.73 Heat 03: Davies, Pijper, Tabaka, Morris (r). 58.31 Heat 04: Grajczonek, Vissing, Fricke, Perry. 57.56 Heat 05: Cook, Davies, Morris, Sneddon. 57.47 Heat 06: Doyle, Vissing, Newman, Bates. 58.63 Heat 07: Tabaka, Nielsen, Grajczonek, Pijper. 58.6 Heat 08: Newman, Fricke, Sneddon, Nielsen. 58.56 Heat 09: Davies, Morris, Vissing, Bates. 58.52 Heat 10: Doyle, Pijper, Tabaka, Newman. 58.59 Heat 11: Cook, Sneddon, Perry, Grajczonek (x) 35-31 Heat 12: Pijper, Nielsen, Fricke, Morris. 59.59 Heat 13: Cook, Grajczonek, Doyle, Vissing. 58.70 Heat 14: Fricke, Tabaka, Davies, Nielsen. 59.58 Heat 15: Cook, Doyle, Grajczonek, Tabaka (x) 59.47 |
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| report from the Midweek Herald Visits to the Oak Tree Arena from Sky TV have, over the last few years, produced mixed fortunes for the ‘Case’s Somerset Rebels’, with wins, draws and losses all featuring in past visits. One thing that has almost always come with the televised meetings is a god amount of great racing to entertain those at the track, and the armchair viewer alike, and this meeting surpassed them all. The two teams looked pretty well matched, so it was always going to be as tight affair, and so it proved, but along the way it produced some outstanding racing that was the talk of the terraces, and internet forums after the final flag fall. The meeting opened with two of the country’s top Premier League riders going head to head, as the Rebels skipper, Jason Doyle, took on the Edinburgh Monarchs top man, Craig Cook. As the tapes rose on the opening heat, Doyle, Cook and Derek Sneddon broke level, with Sneddon just edging it to the turn, before Doyle came over the top, as Cook was squeezed out. Doyle just got the better of the turn, to lead into the second turn, as Kyle Newman slipped up the inside to demote Cook to last place. As Doyle pulled out a winning lead, Newman was all over Sneddon, but just could not find a way into second, as the home side banked an opening 4-2 advantage. The reserve heat saw the first sight of Max Fricke at the Oak Tree Arena, and the Monarchs reigning Australian U21 Champion didn’t disappoint, but he didn’t have it all his own way, as he battled it out with the Rebels Stefan Nielsen, the current British U19 Champion. Nielsen just broke in front, and led into the first turn, but Fricke was right on him, as Tome Perry and Josh Bates both caught lifts off the start. Down the back straight Fricke just showed in front, before Nielsen came back underneath him on the third turn, leading to the straight, with just inches between the pair. Fricke regained the lead going into the second lap, and looked to have the race sown up, but Nielsen had other ideas, and as they ran off the second bend of Lap 3, he got a great run out of the turn, speeding back up the inside of Fricke, and almost through to the lead. The pair could have almost touched each other; they were that close, as they sped to the third turn, where Fricke just asserted himself again, before pulling out a small but decisive lead to take the win. Perry got the better of Bates early in the piece, and held a comfortable third place to share the points. Theo Pijper made just the better start to Heat 3, and led into the first turn, with Alex Davies harrying him all the way. At the same time Nick Morris, coming over the top, took a hard hit from Jozsef Tabaka on his inside, knocking him out onto the wide line. Meanwhile Davies headed out in the dirt, coming with a storming run around the outside of the back straight and continuing with his charge as he hit the front into the home straight. Morris by this time had recovered, and was laying down a similar run to push Tabaka to the back, before racing after Pijper. Morris wasn’t too far off the Dutchman, but he ran wide in the last turn of the next lap, and the closely following Tabaka wasted no time in shooting through the gap to sneak back third place. It may have been the first sign of trouble for Morris, as over the next lap he could not make progress, and slipped further back until he retired on the final lap. Davies had no such problems, and charged to the win, again sharing the points between both teams. Claus Vissing had a terrific season for the Rebels last year, but in the last couple of weeks has shown some patchy form, and after defeat in recent PL pairs Championship at the Oak Tree, he must have been up for the fight, but it was Max Fricke who made another good start to lead up in heat 4, with Vissing, and Josh Grajczonek on his outside. Grajczonek hammered around the outside of the Monarchs pair, and was in front by the back straight. Vissing followed him through, and came barrelling around the dirt line as they entered the last turn of the lap. Just as it seemed his blazing speed would carry him to the front, he picked up some grip, which straightened him up, but he caught it in a flash, and was back running, hardly missing a beat, nevertheless the damage was done. Grajczonek needed no more than that to consolidate his lead, and from that point on he powered clear to take a comfortable victory, although the Rebels could not add to their lead, as Tom Perry was never in the hunt from the off. The Monarchs trapped on a 5-1 in Heat 5, with Craig Cook and Derek Sneddon beating Alex Davies and Nick Morris to the drop. The pair easily led around the opening turn, but Davies was in full cry down the back straight, streaking up to Sneddon as Cook pulled away. Round the final turns of the lap Davies over powered Sneddon, and took second spot from the Monarchs skipper, with Nick Morris now pressing the Scot as well. Morris took a similar line to Davies as they entered the second lap, but as Sneddon moved wide to block the run, Morris made a lovely cutback up the inside to charge through on the inside, completing the move to third off the penultimate bend of the lap. Cook was gone by this time, and with the Rebels filling the places, another shared heat hit the scorecard. The Rebels finally added to their lead in Heat 6. Josh Bates was the only one to miss out on the level break, with Claus Vissing, Jason Doyle and Kyle Newman heading for the turn together. Vissing just got the better run to the bend, although Doyle was not far away. As Vissing stuck to the kerb, Doyle headed for the dirt, just as Newman was powering around the wide line. Newman found his run blocked as Doyle moved out. Doyle anticipated Vissing’s next move perfectly, and as the Dane moved wide off the turn, Doyle executed a sublime cut back from the middle of the back straight, and charged through the gap left by the Monarchs man. Vissing came back, but as Doyle held him off, Newman was able to close, and for the final three laps, he was all over Vissing, pressing him hard, inside and out, before finally heading into the dirt on the final two bend, and coming with a wet sail on the run to the line, just failing to turn the Rebels 4-2 advantage into a maximum haul. The Rebels seemed to have stolen a march on the Monarchs in Heat 7. Josh Grajczonek showed first inside bend one, with Theo Pijper on his outside. For a moment it looked as though these two would contest the race, but Stefan Nielsen, out in the dirt, swept around the outside of the Dutchman, to join Grajczonek at the head of affairs. Very soon Pijper was relegated to the back, as Jozsef Tabaka followed Nielsen’s wheel tracks, moving smoothly up on the heels of the leaders. As Nielsen took up the running, Tabaka made a neat move between the two Rebels, and grabbed the lead, but Nielsen hit back powering around the wide line to take up the running again, as he squeezed through a narrow gap on the back straight. Tabaka pressed Nielsen all the way; nevertheless the young Rebel stuck to his line out in the dirt, but kept picking up grip, which allowed Tabaka to keep up the pressure. Nielsen eventually moved off the line for a smoother run, and that was all the invitation Tabaka needed. He moved to the outside to put down a powerful run, that saw him swoop around Nielsen on the penultimate lap of the race, and take another share of the points for the Monarchs. Heat 8 took two attempts to start, with the first running called back as Kyle Newman got a jump at the tapes. In the restart, he made a good start, but it wasn’t good enough to stop Max Fricke leading at the turn. That didn’t worry the Weymouth based rider, as he heading for the dirt, and rocketed to the front on the outside of the back straight. Stefan Nielsen, out for his second consecutive race was clamped to the kerb in the turn by Fricke, allowing Derek Sneddon to grab third spot. By the fourth bend he was making his bid for third place, but just failed. As Newman pulled clear at the front to take the win, Nielsen tried every possible way to demote Derek Sneddon to the back, but the Monarchs skipper used all his experience to keep Nielsen at bay, and post another shared heat on the record. The Rebels finally got a bit more breathing space as the blasted home a maximum advantage in Heat 9. From the traps, Nick Morris shot to the front, with Alex Davies close up, and the pair led before the turn. As Morris led down the back straight, Claus Vissing charged up the outside and moved around Davies as they approached the final turn of the lap. Davies cleverly moved him wide denying Vissing the run around the boards, and by the second bend of Lap 2, the Northampton born rider had dowsed Vissing’s fire, and secured second spot. As they approached the third turn, Davies found a huge amount of speed, sailing around the boards, and flashing past Morris to lead into the third lap. From there on the race was over for the Monarchs, and the home side had opened an 8-point lead. There was no shaking the Monarchs, but just for a moment it looked as though the Rebels had secured another 5-1 in Heat 10. Jason Doyle just made the better of a level break to lead into the second turn, moving Theo Pijper wide in the process. Kyle Newman switched outside down the back, and careered around both Monarchs off the last turn, and chopping across Pijper blocking his run up the first bend of lap two. As Doyle sped away, Pijper hit back, and as Newman drifted inside slightly, he was around him like a shot, up into second. Tabaka was soon after his bit of Newman, and he took it in more ways than one. As they approached the last lap, he was up on the outside, and entering the first bend for the last time, he turned hard left, across the front of Newman, and locked up his machine. Newman could not avoid him, and there was contact between the pair. It was only good fortune that the move didn’t end in tears, as both riders performed absolute miracles to stay on board their bikes. If Newman had gone down, Tabaka would surely have been excluded, for what at best was a reckless move, at worst… The effect of the shared Heat 10 was top deny the Monarchs the chance to use a tactical ride, as any advantage to the Rebels would have put Edinburgh at least 10-points down. With Craig Cook waiting in the wings for Heat 11, they surely would have availed themselves of the ‘Black and White’. Craig Cook blasted away from the line, taking up the running before the first turn, with Derek Sneddon making the best bend of the remainder, to put the visitors on a 5-1 down the back straight. Josh Grajczonek plugged around the inside line for the first two laps, as Tom Perry took the wide position. As they entered the third lap, Grajczonek switched out wide, and almost immediately gained ground on Sneddon. By the back straight he was up inside the Monarchs skipper, and moved him out as they entered the third turn. Grajczonek had done all the hard work, but as he was about to clear Sneddon, his dirt deflector gave Sneddon’s front wheel the slightest of brushes, and the Falkirk man went down. Mick Posselwhite allowed the race to continue for almost another ¾ of a lap, until he put the red lights on, with Sneddon still stood on the track, and the rest of the field entering the back straight. To almost everyone’s amazement it was the Red exclusion light that came on, and Posselwhite awarded the race 1-5 to the Monarchs. It was to prove a critical decision in the final reckoning. Edinburgh further reduced the deficit in the following heat, where they posted a 2-4 advantage, as both sides swapped their reserves. Theo Pijper and Max Fricke hit the front from the off, but in the second turn Fricke got slightly out of shape, opening the door for Stefan Nielsen on the outside, and Nick Morris up the inner. Nielsen continued on the wide line, when Morris also switched out to the dirt line. His move didn’t serve him well, as Nielsen was already riding the line, and doing a good job of keeping Fricke at bay, and Morris only served to slow himself up. Fricke took advantage, and moved into third inside Morris. The pair then swapped places for the next two laps, with Fricke just coming out on top, despite Nielsen’s efforts to slow him up over the last lap and a half. Craig Cook got an absolute flying start in Heat 13, coming over the top of Jason Doyle and clamping him onto the kerb in the opening turn. On the outside Josh Grajczonek moved Claus Vissing wide, allowing Doyle back into third. Vissing came back, and ran very hard underneath Doyle on the third turn, and making contact. Contact that pushed Doyle very wide, and saw him demoted to last place. Up front Grajczonek put it on the dirt line, and reeled in Cook, until he was up his outside. Catching Cook was one thing, but passing him was another entirely different proposition, and try as he might Grajczonek couldn’t make the move stick. Doyle was hammering away at Vissing, but not having much joy, until he came around the boards with a wet sail on the final bend of the race, just getting up on the line by the narrowest of margins, and maintain the Rebels slender lead. Edinburgh put the meeting into the melting pot in Heat 14, smashing in a totally unexpected 1-5 advantage to lead into the final heat by 2-points. The field broke level, with Stefan Nielsen getting over Jozsef Tabaka, and clamping him to the kerb. Meanwhile Alex Davies was battling Max Fricke to the turn. Fricke ran Davies very wide, leaving him stranded out on the fence. Fricke then set off after Nielsen and running into the second lap, he cut back off the final turn and was up inside Nielsen in a flash, taking the lead on the run back to the line. Tabaka was not far away, closing in on Nielsen on the second turn of Lap 2. Running onto the back straight he made contact with Nielsen, who to his credit held him off, but he could do nothing about the Hungarians second attack. Tabaka ran hard under Nielsen on the third turn, hammering into the side of the Rebels reserve, and sending him sideways across the track, right into the path of the now charging Davies on the outside. Davies managed to side step him, but the damage was done, and Tabaka had taken an advantage he wasn’t to lose, despite Davies’s attempts to run him down. If the Rebels were to take the match, they would have to do it the hard way, by taking a full house of points from Heat 15, but whatever the outcome it was going to be a dramatic one if the rest of the meeting had been anything to go by. Jason Doyle and Josh Grajczonek were entrusted with the task for the home side, with Craig Cook and Jozsef Tabaka getting the nod for Edinburgh. Cook made a superb start from gate one, leading to the turn from Doyle and Tabaka. As Tabaka ran wide in the turn, Josh Grajczonek cut back from the middle of the turn, into bend two. Tabaka also cut back hard, but Grajczonek was through, however Tabaka came from wide, and ran into the back of Grajczonek’s machine, and crashed to the shale. He was down for a short time, and rose to find that Mick Posselwhite had excluded him as the cause of the stoppage. With three riders at the tapes, the odds were tipped in the Rebels favour, as long as they could make a good start. Cook again made a great start, but this time Doyle was on his wheel, and down the back straight he took his chance as Cook moved wide. Doyle made an outstanding move to the inside, and around the final two turns of the lap he went the head of affairs, giving the Rebels at least a chance of a draw, if not the win, but Cook had other ideas. He took the wide line down the straight and around the opening turns of the second circuit, before cutting back, and coming with a very long run down the inside. Doyle had moved wide down the straight, and as he turned in for bend three, Cook was up his inner, and in a fantastic move went back to the front. Doyle gave chase, but could never get back on terms, as the Cumbrian flyer took the win, and gave the Monarchs the match by a slender 2-point margin, 44-46. Although the Rebels would have expected a tough match, they would have fully expected to take the win, but Edinburgh had shown that they are a match for anybody in the league. Despite the loss the fans, and the watching television audience, had seen a incredible encounter by two of the best teams in the league, who between them had produced one of the best televised matches seen for a long time. They had been treated to top class racing, drama, controversy and an enthralling, exciting encounter, which will be remembered for some time to come. It was a superb advert for the sport in general, and the Premier League in particular, demonstrating just what a competitive league it is. |
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