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Tigers V
Potters
Premier League.
06/08/09
STOKE Easy Rider Potters went down to a
54-39 defeat against arch rivals Sheffield Tigers at the Owlerton
Stadium last night.
The Potters trailed early on as Sheffield took an 8-4 lead after two
heats as Chris Mills and Ricky Ashworth teamed up for a 4-2 in heat one
over Jason Bunyan and then Hugh Skidmore and Paul Cooper did the same in
heat two over Craig Branney.
The Potters struck back to level the scores in heat three as Dane Klaus
Jakobsen and skipper Lee Complin gained a maximum 5-1 heat advantage to
level the scores at nine point each after three heats, Complin holding
Richard Hall at bay in the closing stages of the heat.
The Tigers hit the Potters hard with a mid meeting surge as they gained
four 4-2 heat wins and one maximum 5-1 heat advantage out of the next
five races as the Tigers gained a
30-18 lead after eight heats, heat seven proving extremely costly for
Stoke as Lee Complin was in second place before he had to retire from
the race due to an engine failure.
Robert Ksiezak gained an impressive win over Richard Hall and Joel
Parsons for a drawn heat as Branney was unable to find away past
Parsons.
Easy Rider Potters team boss John Woolridge introduced Lee Complin as a
tactical ride in heat ten and he promptly took victory from Tigers
skipper Ashworth and Mills for a Stoke
6-3 race win bringing the Potters to within nine points of Sheffield
with the scores 36-27 after ten heats.
The Tigers restored their lead to fifteen points as they took another
4-2 advantage in heat eleven Bunyan finishing second behind Auty with
Cooper finishing third for the Tigers and then Joel Parsons and Hugh
Skidmore taking maximum points in heat twelve to leave the scores at
45-30.
Robert Ksiezak was nominated as a tactical ride in heat thirteen but
unfortunately Ksiezak missed the start and while battling from the back
Ashworth ran through a puddle on the inside track which forced Ksiezak
to virtually pull up due to not being able to see, Potters number one
Jason Bunyan taking victory in the race from Auty while Ashworth
finished third.
Ksiezak said “I missed the start and was trying to get up the inside but
Ricky went through a puddle on the inside and I just could not see and
had to shut off to clear my vision I’m disappointed but it was one of
those things.”
Hall and Cooper took maximum points in heat fourteen as Cooper managed
to pass Complin down the back straight to give the Tigers a 53-34 lead
going into the final race.
The Potters though were not finished as Bunyan took the chequered flag
while Complin and Sheffield’s Josh Auty battled for second place with
the pair exchanging places a couple of times before the Potters captain
dived underneath the Tigers rider to grab second place on the line to
give Stoke a maximum 5-1 heat win the leave the final score at 54-39 in
favour of the Tigers.
Potters team manager John Woolridge said “A couple of things went
against us one
where Lee was in second place and he suffered an engine failure and then
Robert’s tactical ride did not go as planned and Tom suffered with bike
problems. “On another night we may have sneaked a point from the
meeting.”
Promoter Dave Tattum said “I’m disappointed not to have come away with a
point but we had a little bad luck Tom Madsen had an engine done just
for tonight’s meeting here at Sheffield and he came out on the bike for
his first ride and the nut on the cam chain had come away and the bike
was useless and he had to jump onto his second bike, then Lee suffered
the engine failure while well placed and it was just not to be tonight.”
Sheffield 54: Hugh Skidmore 11+1, Josh Auty 10, Richard Hall 9, Ricky
Ashworth 7+1, Paul Cooper 6+2, Chris Mills 6+1, Joel Parsons 5+1
Stoke39: Lee Complin 12+1, Jason Bunyan 12, Robert Ksiezak 7, Klaus
Jakobsen 4, Craig Branney 3, Jesper Kristiansen 2, Tom P Madsen 0
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