Thanks to Bryn for this report from last night’s speedway race. Ed
Roared on by a healthy-sized holiday crowd, high on confidence after last Friday’s away win at Coventry and despite the problems faced with them still missing three of their side through injury, the Wightlink Islanders made light of any problems to record a fifteen point victory over title rivals King’s Lynn Young Stars at Smallbrook last night.
The club’s management duo of Chris Hunt and Kevin Shepherd drafted in Kent’s Steve Boxall to replace broken shoulder victim Tom Perry who phoned them late on Sunday night to say he still wasn’t fit to ride, and Stoke’s Kyle Hughes to deputise for Brendan Johnson who is currently sidelined with a broken foot.
Final match score of 54-39
The final match score of 54-39 in favour of the Islanders in no way tells the full story of dramatic events that began mid-afternoon when King’s Lynn’s No.5 Lewis Kerr was forced to turn back and head home, abandoning his journey to the stadium after receiving word that his mechanic’s child had been taken ill.
That reduced the visitors to a five man side as they were already missing Shane Hazleden who was taken ill whilst riding in a match of Monday evening and there were pre-meeting disputes over the revised composition of the King’s Lynn side plus the number of new tyres they would be able to use in the meeting which were sorted out by the referee after consultation with SCB boss Graham Reeve.
Malfunction of starting gates
Then to cap it all, after working perfectly when tested earlier, the magnetic system of the starting gates failed necessitating swift repairs including the fitting of a new magnet to one of the starting poles — all that before the match had even started!
But when racing did get underway, the Wightlink Islanders immediately gained a 4-2 heat advantage courtesy of a win for Steve Boxall from his No.1 position in the side and Chris Widman and many might have thought at that stage, that the home side would be heading for an easy win but it didn’t turn out that way.
That it didn’t can be put down to in-form home reserve Adam Ellis’s bike being seemingly down on power throughout the match as his pit crew struggled to cure persistent carburettor problems and King’s Lynn’s own talented teenager Robert Lambert taking an instant liking to the Smallbrook circuit and looking nigh on unbeatable as he took the chequered flag in three of the first six races.
Extending their lead
It was in the next heat though that the Islanders extended their lead to six points as Kyle Hughes followed Ellis home for a maximum 5-1 advantage over opponents Lewis Rose and Darren Mallett and after a fourth consecutive win for Lambert in heat 8 that lead was further extended to ten as home skipper Ben Hopwood and partner Darryl Ritchings headed home visiting No.6 Shane Waldron in the next race.
There were dramatic happenings prior to the start of heat 10 when Ellis ground to a halt on his way to the start line with skipper Ben Hopwood swiftly coming to his rescue as he raced from the pits to lend his team mate his own bike enabling him to claim third place behind his partner Steve Boxall and opponent Lewis Rose.
That 4-2 advantage for the Islanders extended the Wightlink Islanders lead to twelve points at 36-24 and, under the league rules, allowed King’s Lynn team manager Dale Allitt to nominate No.1 Steve Worrall to take a tactical ride in heat 11 for double points and he duly obliged by collecting six points for the race win with the impressive Lambert following him home in second place.
That 8-1 heat win to the Young Stars immediately led to speculation that the Wightlink Islanders unbeaten home record might disappear, but any thoughts of that were quickly dispelled as maximum heat advantages to the Islanders in heats 13 and 14 put the match result beyond doubt.
All that remained was to see if Lambert could remain unbeaten when he took his seventh ride in the final race of what was an enthralling match but any hopes he might have had of doing so were swiftly ended by Boxall who led him from start to finish of the four lap race.
King’s Lynn made us work hard
It was a very happy Wightlink Islanders manager Chris Hunt who commented afterwards,
“Fair play to King’s Lynn for giving us a great match and making us work very hard for the three league points we ultimately gained.
“Teenage reserve Robert Lambert certainly looked impressive and with him and our own talented teen Adam Ellis very much leading a growing crop of impressive young riders, the future of British speedway on the international stage looks very good indeed.
“That’s looking ahead but right now our win tonight means that we are now fourth in the league table with matches in hand over the three sides above us and very much on course to achieve our aim of reaching the play offs for the title that will feature the league’s top four sides once all scheduled matches have been completed.”
Last night’s match details
WIGHTLINK ISLANDERS 54 KING’S LYNN YOUNG STARS 39
(National League)
WIGHTLINK ISLANDERS: Adam Ellis 14, Steve Boxall 13+1, Darryl Ritchings 9+3, Ben Hopwood 9+1, Kyle Hughes 5+3, Chris Widman 4+3, Danny Stoneman (rider replacement)
KING’S LYNN YOUNG STARS: Robert Lambert 19+1, Steve Worrall 11, Lewis Rose 7, Shane Waldron 2, Darren Mallett 0, Shane Hazelden (did not ride), Lewis Kerr (rider replacement).
Image: Lee Jordan under CC BY 2.0
