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NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS v SOMERSET REBELS
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Sunday 18 May 2008 |
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by Rachel Blowman |
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Newcastle “Sapphire Engineering” Diamonds 47
Somerset “Sharp” Rebels 48
(Premier League)
Somerset’s arrival at the Newcastle Stadium had most pundits expecting a good away victory, but the home side had more ambitious plans.
For the first 10 heats the Diamonds were well in control, leading by 12 points, but following the interval the fickle swinging pendulum of power had swung sharply in the Rebels pit as Somerset outscored Newcastle 10-23 in the final third of the meeting to sneak a dramatic one point victory, and three league points into the bargain.
HEAT ONE: saw a win for Josef Franc got proceedings off to a grand start and with Stephan Katt succumbing to Richard Juul’s advances from behind as the returnee Diamond, back from retirement, grabbed a point (4-2 / 4-2).
HEAT TWO: sent the Diamonds two more points up ahead with reserve Sean Stoddart regaining his blistering form of old to jet away from the gate to lead well with Jamie Robertson clinging onto third (4-2 / 8-4).
HEAT THREE: went one better for Newcastle with Stoddart out as the rider replacement for George Stancl who again shot out to lead from the gate, but this time his partner Jason Kong, flew round Emil Kramer to form a Newcastle maximum and extend the lead to eight (5-1 / 13-5).
HEAT FOUR: gave Christian Henry a good win over Jordan Frampton and former Diamond, Brent Werner, although Robertson failed to dent the scoring from the back in a split heat (3-3 / 16-8).
HEAT FIVE: saw Somerset get their first heat winner with Doyle slamming his authority on the race, going round King on bend two on the opening lap to lead, taking the win by a massive margin as Franc’s slow gate restricted him to third (3-3 / 19-11).
HEAT SIX: was another shared heat with Franc out in front for the three points, whilst at the back Juul was trying to get back on terms with Frampton, but slid, nearly falling on the final bend (3-3 / 22-14).
HEAT SEVEN: Kramer and Kroger had the early advantage in the seventh, settling out in front of Henry and Robertson, but the skipper had other ideas as he jammed open his throttle on the second bend of lap four to power hard under both Rebels on the fourth bend of the same lap to bring the house down with his superb move to secure another share of the spoils (3-3 / 25-17).
HEAT EIGHT: became the fifth halved heat in a row as Werner finally showed his old Newcastle form by winning from the gate followed by Juul and Stoddart (3-3 / 28-20).
HEAT NINE: made things even better for the Diamonds as King shot away to leads as Henry passed Werner on the second bend of the first lap to form a home maximum, which remained in place until the chequered flag fell and Newcastle were 12-up (5-1 / 33-21).
HEAT 10: gave Somerset the chance to nominate a tactical ride for Kramer who led initially on the first lap, but a good determination from Franc saw him go round the Rebel on the second bend of lap two to reduce the visitor’s doubled points to four and another shared heat, and with five to go Newcastle looked solid for the match win (4-4 / 37-25).
HEAT 11: gave Doyle another superb win from the gate over Henry who never gave up the chase but with Katt holding out Robertson throughout it was a visitor’s race advantage as they hauled two points back from the Diamonds (2-4 / 39-29).
HEAT 12: had to be restarted with all four riders for movement at the gate, but in the rerun Stoddart fell on the third bend of lap two to be excluded, but worse he received soft tissue damage and had to be withdrawn from the meeting, whilst Kramer won the eventual rerun over King and Kramer to pull another two points back (2-4 / 41-33).
HEAT 13: placed Newcastle tantalisingly close to victory albeit won by Doyle again with Henry taking second having passed Frampton (3-3 / 44-36).
HEAT 14: proved the vital heat as Somerset, in a last ditch effort to rescue the league points placed Doyle in as a tactical substitute in place of Kroger off the 15m again for double points, but it was the jet propelled gate from Walker that controlled the complexion of the race as he got out in front and slowed the two Diamonds, King and Robertson, down allowing Doyle to catch up by the end of the second bend, and pass first Robertson on bend two one lap later, continuing his rapid run down the back straight to go under King too on the third bend of the same lap, and despite King’s attempts to get back round him, Doyle kept the lead for six points and yank his team back within striking distance of the win with one heat to go (2-7 / 46-43).
HEAT 15: had Franc and Henry in for Newcastle with Doyle and Kramer in for the Rebels, but the heat 15 hee-bee jee-bees got the better of the Diamond’s gating techniques again as Doyle and Kramer headed off for bend one in front, and whilst Henry forced his way back into a good chase, the Newcastle captain fell on the third bend of the final lap to end any hope Newcastle had of a win as Somerset began their celebrations at their surprise one-point victory which came to them out of the blue (1-5 / 47-48).
Newcastle Team Manager George English said: “We were just not good enough tonight, although for a while it looked as though we were going to pull off a shock as the lads really did well in the first two thirds of the meeting but what a way to fold afterwards.
“Dickie’s [Juul] return from retirement went well and I doubt if anyone had expected him to score four over Somerset on his first match back – no - that was good going.
“The team will be desperately relieved to have George [Stancl] back should his plan come together to race in our next match in around 10 days time at King’s Lynn, but there’s still problems within the side and we’ll have to look closely at things soon.”
Newcastle “Sapphire Engineering” Diamonds 47
1. Josef Franc 3,1*,3,3,1*,1 = 12+2
2. Richard Juul 1,R,2,1 = 4
3. George Stancl – Rider Replacement
4. Jason King 2*,2,3,2,2 = 11+1
5. Christian Henry © 3,3,2*,2,2,F = 12+1
6. Jamie Robertson ® 1,0,0,0,0 = 1
7. Sean Stoddart ® 3,3,N,1*,Fx = 7+1
Somerset “Sharp” Rebels 48
1. Jason Doyle 2,3,3,3,6!,2* = 19+1
2. Stephan Katt 0,0,N,1 = 1
3. Emil Kramer 1,2,4^,3,3 = 13
4. Matthias Kroger 0,1*,0,Ts = 1+1
5. Jordan Frampton 2,1*,1,0 = 4+1
6. Brent Werner ® 2,1*,2,3,0,1 = 9+1
7. Simon Walker © ® 0,N,0,1 = 1
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