BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 19, 2022
(SPEEDWAY 1)
OXFORD OVERCOME TESTING CONDITIONS
OXFORD turned the tables on Birmingham with a 47-43 win at Perry Barr to avenge their own home defeat just 24 hours earlier.
Once again conditions played a part with rain during the meeting, but Scott Nicholls scored a superb 16 points from six rides to spearhead a Cheetahs comeback from six points down.
Nicholls was joined for a 5-1 in the last race by Chris Harris (12+1), who took a late guest booking following the postponement of his match for Berwick at Poole.
Recent signing Justin Sedgmen gave another impressive display with 11 points, whilst guest Kyle Howarth added 10.
Said Nicholls: “That was a massively important win for us, to bounce back after losing at home at Birmingham. It’s never nice to lose at home, especially against a team where had conditions been good, I’m confident we could have beaten them.
“Again, it rained tonight, while Birmingham went ahead in the meeting. But we showed a lot of character in the second half of the meeting and we came away with the win.”
Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “Over the two nights we were very much two matched teams with the weather levelling things out on both occasions.
“We won at their place, they won here and we are disappointed we couldn’t back that up.
“We just didn’t have the firepower in the end and it’s never nice to lose, especially when it’s a last heat decider, especially when you were leading.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
KING’S Lynn take on Belle Vue in the Premiership tonight (Thursday) with the Aces still missing two of their regular septet.
Matej Zagar has aggravated a previous shoulder injury, with Michael Palm Toft again coming in as a guest, whilst Jye Etheridge has a small fracture to his collarbone and the visitors use rider replacement.
The Stars are at full strength and are looking for their first win of the league campaign, having fought back for a point in Manchester on Monday.
Co-promoter Dale Allitt said: “It’s been a bit of a break because of the last home meeting being postponed, and as a team we now want to get points on the board.
“It was a good result on Monday at Belle Vue but we do need to finish the job at home.
“I know Alex will be looking for a home win, and four points from the two meetings would be good – but equally Lemo (Mark Lemon) will want to come and take four points himself.”
Lemon said: “Obviously it’s not ideal for us to again be without Jye and Matej, but we are keeping in regular contact with them and hopefully they will be back with us very soon.
“I was very proud of the boys on Monday, not only for the result they produced but the just the sheer bravery and determination they showed in the face of a very challenging night.
“King’s Lynn fought us every step of the way, but at every turn they stepped up their game to secure us the win and I’ve every confidence they will do just as well on Thursday.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SHEFFIELD host Wolverhampton tonight (Thursday) in the deciding meeting of the League Cup Northern section.
The Tigers have won all three group matches so far but can still be overhauled by their opponents – who need to win on the night by four points or more, with King’s Lynn having already reached the Final from the other group.
Sheffield are back at full strength with Jack Holder returning after missing the away win at Ipswich on Monday, whilst Joe Thompson continues in the Rising Star berth for Wolves with Leon Flint on the injury list.
Tigers captain Kyle Howarth said: “We have to be careful because we know what some of their boys can do around Sheffield.
“They’ve got a really solid top five who can all score big points, but again we just need to focus on doing what we have been.
“We would love to keep the ball rolling with another win and a place in that Cup Final.”
Wolves skipper Sam Masters said: “We need to get back to winning ways, and I think we’ve got a team which is good enough to win some trophies this year.
“We’ve still got a chance of making the Final going into Thursday, so it’s not all that bad.“We all like going to Sheffield as well so I think we definitely could do it.”
(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY MAY 19:
PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30
LEAGUE CUP: Sheffield v Wolverhampton 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 20:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30, Glasgow v Poole 7.30, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Leicester 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 21:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick v Kent 7pm, Leicester v Mildenhall 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 22:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar v Edinburgh 5pm
MONDAY MAY 23:
PREMIERSHIP PAIRS Round 1: Peterborough 7.30
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