Main Man

Another Abandoned Meeting Causes Fixture Backlog for the Invaders With a crash in the match against Newcastle causing the County Ambulance to be called to take Christian Henry to hospital, the Premier League meeting got off to a bad start and heat 2 was also stopped after a crash down on bend 4. The omens were not good for getting the MDL match on however without an interval and the victory parade, it was hoped to sneak in the 6 heats prior to the curfew kicking in. Heat 1 saw a shared heat after Cameron Hoskins fell on bend 4 trying to go underneath the Castleford Kings riders. Heat 2 was a 5-1 to the Invaders with Adam Portwood getting his first win around the Leicester track followed in by Vikings rider John Markham. Proceedings were halted yet again when the paramedics had to attend to an incident near one of the food outlets and when the bikes came to the line in heat 3, it needed a miracle to get in the final 4 heats run but when Adam Sheppard's bike caught fire on the start line, the end of the meeting was called much to the disappointment of all concerned. Thanks must go out to the Leicester promotion and track staff who worked around their normal routine of the victory parade and post match interviews to try and get the meeting finished but it was all to no avail. Heat 1 LeeGeary/Andy Blackburn/Ben Holloway/Cameron Hoskins Time 69.78 3-3 Heat 2 Adam Portwood/John Markham/Dave Lidgett/Adam Sheppard Retired Time 70.44 5-1 Agg 8-4 Meeting abandoned Long Eaton 'Skills Coaches' Invaders Lee Geary 3 Cameron Hoskins 0 Adam Portwood 3 John Markham 2+1 Castleford 'HG Aerospace' Kings Andy Blackburn 2 Ben Holloway 1+1 Dave Lidgett 1 Adam Sheppard Ret

MDL GP Round 2. Sat July 13th. At Stoke : The 2nd round of the Midland Development League Grand Prix at Stoke saw Belle Vue’s David Holt take the honours and the 10 GP points at stake with an unbeaten 9 points. Just back from a bad hand injury he was relatively untroubled in his three outings in a smoothly run meeting. MK Knights Aaron Mogridge claimed second spot with 7 points which included two heat wins and a third in his last ride when he fell chasing Holt with both rides undefeated at that stage, He remounted to get the vital point to add 7 GP points to his tally to put him in overall second spot with 11. Leicester’s Lee Springthorpe though is the current GP leader after two rounds on 12 points with three second spots giving him 6 points in the meeting and 6 GP points. Rookie Rob Shuttleworth’s long trip from Barrow saw him score five including a heat win but he lost out on points when twice falling in his second ride and gives him five GP points. Home rider Sam Ward notched three third places with his 3 point tally giving him 4 GP points whist a trio of riders finished on 2 points in Lawrence Fielding (3 GP points), Sean Phillips (2 GP points) and Trevor Bebbington (1GP point). GP pts 1. Sean Phillips 0 2 0 = 2 (2) 2. Sam Ward 1 1 1 = 3 (4) 3. David Holt 3 3 3 = 9 (10) 4. Lee Springthorpe 2 2 2 = 6 (6) 5. Lawrence Fielding 0 0 2 = 2 (3) 6. Trevor Bebbington 1 1 0 = 2 (1) 7. Aaron Mogridge 3 3 1 = 7 (7) 8. Rob Shuttleworth 2 F 3 = 5 (5) Ht 1 : Holt Springthorpe Ward Phillips 2 : Mogridge Shuttleworth Bebbington Fielding 3 : Holt Phillips Bebbington Shuttleworth (f/rm fell) 4 : Mogridge Springthorpe Ward Fielding 5 : Holt Fielding Mogridge (f/rm) Phillips 6 : Shuttleworth Springthorpe Ward Bebbington GP placings (after 2 rounds) : Lee Springthorpe 12 , Aaron Mogridge 11, David Holt 10, Conor Mountain 10, Adam Portwood 7, Rob Shuttleworth 5, Josh Bailey 5, Sam Ward 4, Freddie Owen 3, Lawrence Fielding 3, Sean Phillips 2, Adam Sheppard 2, Trevor Bebbington1 Next round at Rye House Sat July 27th.

MIDLAND DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE –Friday July 13th COVENTRY “City Gearboxes” Mercia-Vikings 17 Diamond H Belle Vue Colts 19 VIKINGS HIT BY LAST HEAT LOSS : The CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings were hit by a final race maximum heat win by the table topping Belle Vue Colts at Coventry on Friday night. Leading16-14 after five heats the home side came up against the unbeaten Matt Williamson and Max Clegg but despite all their efforts it was the away dup who sealed the two league points for their side. Heat one was a long drawn out affair with several re-runs and two riders penalised 15 metres after tape offences with home man Andy Braithwaite and Colts David Holt the culprits. Both were perhaps over anxious as both were making their comebacks after injury but had to take their punishments. The resultant 4-2 came after Colts Max Clegg chasing race leader Ryan Terry-Daley hit bike troubles and was out of the race. The Colts pulled it back to all square in heat 2 with Matt Williamson gating like a rocket whilst home rider James Shanes fought his way through the field for 2nd place. Williamson took heat 3 again with a jet like start to hold off Terry-Daley whilst Andy Braithwaite , despite his seat bracket coming adrift, riding a good race to defeat Lee Geary to give a drawn heat and leave it all level at 9 apiece. Heat 4 saw Max Clegg take the win ahead of James Shanes with home skipper John Markham gaining a vital third ahead of David Holt to give another drawn heat at scores at 12-12. Braithwaite , with his seat strapped on, raced to an important and confidence boosting heat win over Geary who threw everything at him whilst Markham held off Holt to give the home a side a vital 4-2 to lead at 16-14. It was all on the last race with former moto-crossser Williamson again fast out of the start followed by Terry-Daley with Clegg and Shanes having a classic battle just behind . It was fast and furious with Clegg making one of his trademark inside bursts to pass the home No.1 and join his team mate for an all important 5-1 despite the home duo throwing everything they had at them. Superb speedway!! Coventry CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings 17 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 3 2 1 = 6 2. Andy Braithwaite 1 1’ 3 = 5+1 3. James Shanes 2 2 0 = 4 4. John Markham 0 1’ 1 = 2+1 Diamond H Belle Vue Colts 1. Max Cleggg R 3 2’ = 5+1 2. David Holt 2 0 0 = 2 3. Matt Williamson 3 3 3 = 9 4. Lee Geary 1 0 2 = 3 Ht 1 : Terry-Daley Holt (15m) Braithwaite (15m) Clegg (ret) 4-2 4-2 64.2 2 : Williamson Shanes Geary Markham 2-4 6-6 64.2 3 : Williamson Terry-Daley Braithwaite Geary 3-3 9-9 64.2 4 : Clegg Shanes Markham Holt 3-3 12-12 63.2 5 : Braithwaite Geary Markham Holt 4-2 16-14 66.5 6 : Williamson Clegg Terry-Daley Shanes 1-5 17-19 64.6

The first named rider for the Jan O Pedersen British Speedway Academy is 16 year old Coventry Storm rider James Shanes. The Puddletown, Dorset based racer ,who has made the transition from grass track to speedway and has had rave reviews wherever he has ridden, is overjoyed at being selected by the 1991 World Champion, “ I was amazed when Jan O approached me about it and discussed everything with my parents. I am totally new to speedway but have enjoyed every minute of riding for Coventry firstly in the Midland Development League and then after my exams were over in the National League for The Storm.” “At Coventry 7 times British Champion Scott Nicholls has taken me under his wing to mentor and help me after Laurence Rogers arranged this. Now I have the chance to work with a World Champion. This is a dream come true. “ Jan O is pleased with is first capture for the Academy and hope to have all five places filled very soon in readiness for the August start to the scheme , “ I have been keeping tabs on James after Laurence (Rogers) alerted me to him. I watched him at Stoke firstly in a Development League match where he scored a maximum then on his National League debut when he scored paid 10. I have spoken with the family and like his attitude and believe I can really help him. Now we have to confirm the remaining places and should be able to announce the second rider this week whilst we work on the remaining three places.” “At the same time we are getting enquiries in for the secondary scheme we are running for those not eligible for the Academy and will be working on this as well. We had hoped to kick things off with a training session last week but had to postpone this and hope to make an announcement on this after discussions with a few tracks we are talking to.” “The level of support and help for this though will be determined by fans and businesses joining the Membership schemes. We had a slight glitch on the website with this that may have put some people off but it is all up and running and we need as many to join as possible ….so get on www.speedwayacademy.co.uk and pledge your support for British Speedway.

Sean Phillips Sam Ward David Holt Lee Springthorpe Lawrence Fielding Trevor Bebbington Aaron Mogridge Rob Shuttleworth

DIAMOND H BELLE VUE COLTS 23 Max Clegg 3 1' 3 = 7+1 Michael Neale F 2 3 = 5 Matt Williamson 3 3 1 = 7 Robert Shuttleworth 1 1 2' = 4+1 STOKE SPITFIRES 13 Shaun Tedham 2 2 0 = 4 Charles Wallace 1' 0 1 = 2+1 Lee Payne 2 3 2 = 7 Sam Ward 0 0 0 =0 Ht 1 - Clegg, Tedham, Wallace, Neale (F) (3-3) (3-3) 65.5 Ht 2 - Williamson, Payne, Shuttleworth, Ward (4-2) (7-5) 65.7 Ht 3 - Payne, Neale, Clegg, Ward (3-3) (10-8) 65.1 Ht 4 - Williamson, Tedham, Shuttleworth, Wallace (4-2) (14-10) 65.1 Ht 5 - Neale, Shuttleworth, Wallace, Ward (5-1) (19-11) 67.4 Ht 6 - Clegg, Payne, Williamson, Tedham (4-2) (23-13) 64.0 The Diamond H Belle Vue Colts returned to winning ways with a 23-13 victory over Stoke in a match which produced some high quality racing and was much closer than the scoreline suggests. Michael Neale made a terrific start to lead heat 1 for two laps, as team-mate Max Clegg missed the gate and had to battle through. But a mistake from Neale saw him fall heavily on the 4th bend. Matt Williamson made a good start to beat the impressive Lee Payne in heat 2, but Payne claimed the Spitfire's first heat win in the next on his first ever visit to Belle Vue. Max Clegg fell whilst giving chase to Payne, but remounted and made up nearly half a lap to catch and pass Sam Ward for third. Williamson took his second win in heat 4, but the action was at the back as Rob Shuttleworth battled with Charles Wallace before executing a neat pass to put the Colts 4 points up. Neale and Shuttleworth sealed the match with a 5-1 in heat 5 over Wallace who improved with every race. Max Clegg made his only gate of the night to win heat 6 in the fastest time of the match, whilst at the back Matt Williamson tried everything to split Lee Payne and Shaun Tedham, finally getting his reward when Tedham got slightly out of shape on the final bend allowing the Colts rider through for a point.

The CITY GEARBOXES sponsored Coventry Mercia-Vikings raced to their fourth successive away win at Scunthorpe on Friday night against Castleford Kings taking a 20-15 win with a hastily patched up side. Castleford though have questioned the legitimacy of the Vikings side although on the night the confusion was thought to have been cleared up and The CITY GEARBOXES side knew nothing about them riding under protest. The Vikings were hit by late withdrawals from Tommy Fenwick (motors not back from servicing in time) and John Markham (transport problems with his van in the garage). Answering 11th hour rescue calls were Dudley duo Max Clegg and Nathan Greaves. The problem lay in an incorrect and later amended National League declaration where Ryan Terry-Daley had been included in the Coventry Storm 1 to 7 in place of Martin Knuckey but Coventry co-promoter Neil Watson sorted this out with the BSPA offices and the mistake was rectified with a new and correct issue on the Friday. Under the rulings for the MDL a team cannot contain more than two National League riders and Vikings team manager Laurence Rogers was certain his side did not break this rule, “ I would not have taken the offers of help from both Max and Nathan if I knew it was contravening any rules. The new National League team declaration was shown to Richard Hollingworth prior to the meeting and I gave my changes to the referee and the team was not questioned. I was never asked to nominate a rider for his points not to count or knew Castleford were riding under protest until I got home at 1.40am and read an e-mail on my phone which I replied to immediately to all parties. As far as I am concerned my team was legitimate and the result should stand. I am sure that this will be confirmed by the SCB when they look at the full facts.” The meeting started bizarrely with just two riders one from each team as Cam Hoskins had clutch problems probably caused after the initial start had been re-run after first bend bunching that saw the Viking go down. Then Kings Michael Neale’s bike hit ignition problems and both were out of the re-start which saw Matt Williamson take the win ahead of Ryan Terry-Daley. Dan Phillips then held off the challenge of Max Clegg and Nathan Greaves to make it a drawn heat and Castleford take a 6-5 lead. The Greaves / Clegg combination then shot the Vikings into the lead with a 5-1 win to make it 7-10. Dan Phillips took his second win for the home side but Cam Hoskins and Ryan Terry-Daley took a drawn heat to bring the scores to 10-13. Nathan Greaves completed a job well done taking heat 5 and with Cam Hoskins third the Vikings were almost home and dry for the two MDL points at 12-17. Castleford could force a draw if the two Vikings didn’t finish in heat 6 but Max Clegg powered round the Kings duo of Dan Phillips and Matt Williamson on the first bend to race for the win and give the Vikings their win 15-20. CASTLEFORD Kings 15 1. Matt Williamson 3 1 1’ = 5+1 2. Michael Neale N N 2 = 2 3. Dan Phillips 3 3 2 = 8 4. Sam Darroch 0 0 0 =0 CITY GEARBOXES Coventry Mercia-Vikings 20 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 2 1’ 0 = 3+1 2. Cam Hoskins N 2 1 = 3 3. Max Clegg 1’ 2’ 3 = 6+2 4. Nathan Greaves 2 3 3 =8 Ht 1 : Williamson Terry-Daley Neale (ns) Hoskins (ns) 3-2 3-2 2 : Phillips Greaves Clegg Darroch 3-3 6-5 3 : Greaves Clegg Williamson Neale (ns) 1-5 7-10 4 : Phillips Hoskins Terry-Daley Darroch 3-3 10-13 5 : Greaves Neale Hoskins Darroch 2-4 12-17 6 : Clegg Phillips Williamson Terry-Daley 3-3 15-20

The first two riders selected for the Academy will be announced soon ...so watch out for details

think you will find that he and his dad have decided to just get as many rides as they can this year and not do NL ..he has been asked by several clubs.

It is High Edge ..........depends which way you come I suppose. You go through Leek if you go on M6 !

next Coventry Training Day /Open Practice will be on Saturday July 2oth 9.30-1.30 with sign on at 8.30 and rider briefing at 9.15. Cost £35 with day licences available. Riders will be graded into similar ability / experience groups to ensure maximum track time given. Bookings by e-mail to : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk or by txt to 07801429304 or 07510768392

perhaps because not all clubs doing the Trophy ?

forecast is to clear up and be sunny later

Jan O Pedersen’s newly launched British Speedway Academy , aimed at producing future home bred World Stars, is already planning ahead with the next stage of development. Having come through the highly successful Scandinavian scheme himself to reach the highest level as 1991 World Champion , Jan O wants to mirror what he knows works and add his own brand and flavour to the schemes. The initial Academy scheme is aimed at the 16-19 age group with the NVQ Level 3 qualification built in along with the help and support Jan O will provide with all aspects of the sport brought into their learning curve. But Jan O realises that there is potential for helping a wider audience of riders from a young age and those with lack of experience but outside the age parameters of the Academy. Therefore he is designing another set up that will not only provide entrants to the Academy in the years to come as well as catering for those who are outside the age levels for this. The scheme will all tie in with the membership club that has been devised with two levels of entry at £25 (Foundation) and £100 (Executive) with the more support this derives the more riders Jan O can help and support. Jan O says, “ I have thought long and hard about this and discussed it with Laurence Rogers , who is assisting me and running the membership club along with Lisa Heath who is my old fan club secretary . We believe there are riders out there from a young age to those a little older who can benefit from the scheme and want to open the opportunity up to them. “ “We are looking at running some training schools open to riders of all ages so I can assess them and give help and guidance where needed. We will also incorporate many of the aspects on the main Academy course and do workshop guidance along with diet and health as well as offering one to one help.” “ I really want to see this succeed and will do all I can to ensure it does. Riders interested in this can e-mail : jano@speedwayacademy.co.uk or laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk and we will get back to you with our plans and schedule along with details of how to join the scheme.” website : www.speedwayacademy.co.uk

Yes Phil!!

MK Knights 21: 1. Niall Strudwick 2, E/F, 2+, 1+ Total 5 + 2 2. Adam Sheppard E/F, E/F 3. Conor Dwyer 2+, 3, 3 Total 8 + 1 4. Danno Verge 3, 2+, 3 Total 8 + 1 Long Eaton Invaders 14: 1. Lee Geary R/R 2. Cameron Hoskins 1, 0, 0, 0 Total 1 3. Jez Pestell 3, F E/X, 2, 2 Total 7 4. Adam Portwood 1, 3, 1, 1 Total 6 Heat 1: MK 2 - LE 4 Pestell (r/r for Geary), Strudwick, Hoskins, Sheppard E/F Time 63.2 Heat 2: MK 5 - LE 1 (7 - 5) Verge, Dwyer, Portwood, Pestell F/ Ex Race awarded Heat 3: MK - 0 LE - 5 (7 - 10) Portwood, Pestell, Sheppard E/F, Strudwick F / Ex Time: 63.4 Heat 4: MK - 5 - LE 1 (12 - 11) Dwyer, Verge, Portwood (r/r for Geary), Hoskins (both Verge and Hoskins off 15 metres after tapes exclusions) Time: 64.1 Heat 5: MK - 5 LE - 1 (17 - 12) Verge, Strudwick (replacing Sheppard), Portwood, Hoskins Time: 63.2 Heat 6: MK - 4 LE - 2 ( 21 - 14) Dwyer, Pestell, Strudwick, Hoskins (r/r for Geary), Time: 63.5 A strong MK Knights team took on the Invaders were forced to operate rider replacement for Lee Geary's after his late call up to the Stoke squad. After taking the advantage in heat 2 the Knights were left to ruing their luck when an engine failure for Adam Sheppard and fall for Niall Strudwick allowed to Invaders to claim all five points in heat 3. Heat 4 was eventually settled on the third time of asking after Danno Verge and Cameron Hoskins both started off 15 metres for tapes infringements, with Verge coming from behind to follow Conor Dwyer home for maximum points. Advantages in heats 5 and 6 lead the Knights to victory and back to winning ways.

Midland Development League result Castleford HG Aerospace Kings 23 Kings Lynn Lightning 13 Castleford. Max Clegg............ 3 3 3 = 9 max Michael Neale....... 2+1 1 3 = 6+1 Matt Williamson.....2 3 0 =5 Adam Portwood.....0 1 2+1 =3+1 Kings Lynn. Adam Kirby...........1 2 1+1 = 4+1 Tyler Govier..........0 F 1 =1 Lewis Rose............3 2 2 =7 Josh Bailey.............1 0 0 =1 Heat 1 time 60.97 1 Clegg 2 Neale 3 Kirby 4 Govier. Clegg gated and hit the front with the other three riders all jostling for position around the first and second turn it was a determined Michael Neale who emerged from the pack and followed team mate Max Clegg, Castleford's own turbo twins striking an early blow with a 5-1 heat advantage Heat 2 time 61.87 1 Rose 2 Williamson 3 Bailey 4 Portwood. Lightning reduced the deficit by two points in this heat with Rose outgating Williamson though he did noticeably close the gap over the final two laps of the race with Bailey finishing third ahead of Portwood who immediately returned to the pits to make changes to his set up. 2-4 overall 7-5 Heat 3 time 60.82 1 Clegg 2 Rose 3 Neale 4 Bailey Clegg from the gate over Rose who led home Neale who though on the pace could not close the gap and with Bailey finishing in last place The Kings restored their four point advantage.4-2 overall 11-7 Heat 4 time 61.25 1 Williamson 2, Kirby 3. Portwood 4. Govier (fell) Williamson romped home to a tapes to flag victory over Kirby and with Portwood looking livelier he took third place with Govier falling on the second bend of the final lap. 4-2 overall 15-9 Heat 5 time 61.62 1. Neale 2. Portwood 3. Govier 4. Bailey Neale and Portwood launched themselves out of the gate with the former looking assured and stretching his lead over the four laps whilst Portwood did well to keep the Kings Lynn pair at bay as the Kings recorded their second maximum heat victory to secure their first league points of the season. 5-1 overall 20-10 Heat 6 time 60.72 1. Clegg 2. Rose 3. Kirby 4. Williamson The question on everyone's lips was could anyone prevent Max Clegg from recording a maximum and when Rose and Kirby both outgated Clegg a shock looked on the cards. With Clegg and partner Williamson tussling around the first and second bend with Kirkby it was Clegg who emerged out of the pack but by now Rose was the length of the back straight ahead. Clegg was relentless in stalking his prey and was on the back wheel of Rose at the end of lap two eventually lining him up for a superb inside swoop to pass him entering the third turn of the penultimate lap 3-3 final score 23-13

MDL K O Cup Semi-Final Friday June 21st Coventry CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings 20 (42) Long Eaton Invaders 16 (29) The CITY GEARBOXES Vikings secured their place in the inaugural MDL KO Cup Final with a 20-16 victory over Long Eaton to give an overall scoreline of 42-29. They will face Stoke in the Final following the Spitfires 23-13 away win over Kings Lynn midweek with the Norfolk club conceding the tie. The Vikings were well led by 16 year old whiz kid James Shanes , who has gained promotion to the Coventry Storm National League side. The Dorset based teenager raced to another 9 point maximum to follow up being unbeaten in the first leg at Leicester a few weeks ago. He was backed up by new recruit Ryan Terry Daley who won his first to rides convincingly before snapping a chain on the line in his final ride to rob him of a maximum as well. New skipper John Markham ended on a high note with a race win in his last ride after a wheel to wheel battle with Long Eaton’s Jeremy Pestell who crashed on the pits bend with the closely following Viking Cam Hoskins laying his bike down to avoid him with the race awarded. The Invaders batted hard with Lee Springthorpe in the thick of the action having a ding dong battle with John Markham in heat 4 getting the better of the Coventry captain on the final bend. CITY GEARBOXES Vikings 20 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 3 3 R = 6 2. Cam Hoskins 0 0 1 = 1 3. James Shanes 3 3 3 = 9 4. John Markham 1 0 3 = 4 LONG EATON Invaders 16 1. Lee Geary 2 2 1’ = 5 +1 2. Lee Springthorpe 1’ 1’ 2 = 4+2 3. Conor Dwyer 0 1’ 2 = 3 +1 4. Jeremy Pestell 2 2 f/x = 4 Ht 1 : Terry-Daley Geary Springthorpe Hoskins 3-3 3-3 63.4 2 : Shanes Pestell Markham Dwyer 4-2 7-5 65.1 3 : Terry-Daley Pestell Dwyer Hoskins 3-3 10-8 64.2 4 : Shanes Geary Springthorpe Markham 3-3 13-11 64.4 5 : Markham Springthorpe Hoskins Pestell(f/x) 4-2 17-13 Awarded 6 : Shanes Dwyer Geary Terry-Daley (ret) 3-3 20-16 64.1

STOKE Hartshill Cycles Spitfires romped to a 23-13 victory over the King’s Lynn Lightning in the first leg of the Midland Development League KO Cup semi final at the Norfolk Arena on Wednesday evening. The Spitfires were in control of the meeting from the off and continued to dominate the six heats which sees’ them take a ten point lead into the second leg at Loomer Road. Spitfires team manager Mike Gittings said “It was a great performance from the guys. Charles rode very well to gain vital points beating both Josh Bailey and Connor Mountain. The result now gives us a great chance for a place in the Midland Development League KO Cup final and we now have to keep our feet on the ground with the second leg to come at Loomer Road.” King’s Lynn Lightning 13: Andy Mountain 9 Josh Bailey 4 Connor Mountain 0 Stoke 23: Adam Portwood 8+2, Shaun Tedham 9, Charles Wallace 6+3

Sorry Sam . At this stage we haven't hire bikes available. School FULLY BOOKED now ......will release date for July session asap.

Stoke ' Hartshill Cycles ' Spitfires romped to a 23-13 away win in the mdl ko cup against Kings Lynn Lighting scores: Spitfires- A.portwood 8+2 S. Tedham 9 C. Wallace 6+3. Lightning- A.Mountain 9 J. Baliey 4 C. Mountain 0

Midland Development League : Monday June 17th Belle Vue DIAMOND H Colts 15 Coventry CITYGEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings 21 The 100% unbeaten record of the Belle Vue Colts was taken with the on-form Mercia Vikings recording their third successive away win with a convincing 21-15 victory. The Vikings had previously had away success at Leicester against Long Eaton in the MDL K O Cup semi-final and then followed that up with a 20-16 victory at Stoke on Saturday. They started their clash in Manchester with the Belle Vue Colts with a strong opening two heats to lead 9-3 with newest recruit Ryan Terry-Daley leading the way with two victories including a heat one success over high flying Dudley reserve Max Clegg. The Colts pulled back some of the deficit with a 4-2 in heat 3 only for the CITY GEARBOXES Vikings to put themselves in a great position with a 5-1 from Terry-Daley and Conor Dwyer in heat 4 to lead 16-8. Michael Neale took heat 5 but with Danny Phillips and Terry-Daley behind him the drawn heat meant that Coventry were home and dry at 19-11. A final heat 4-2 to the home side gave a final score of 15-21 with the three man Vikings side claiming the two league points to catapult them up the league table to third . Missing the unavailable Tyler Govier the trio of Dwyer, Terry-Daley and Phillips took four rides apiece to maintain the Vikings recent form. The Vikings now face Long Eaton at Coventry on Friday in the MDL K O Cup Semi-Final 2nd leg holding a nine point lead from the first leg. DIAMOND H Colts 15 1. Max Clegg 2 3 3 = 8 2. Michael Neale F 1 3 =4 3. Matt Williamson R 0 1 = 1 4. Andy Mellish 1 1 0 = 2 CITY GEARBOXES Vikings 21 1. Conor Dwyer 1 0 2’ R = 3+1 2. Ryan Tery-Daley 3 3 3 1’ = 10+1 3. Tyler Govier R/R 4. Danny Phillips 2’ 2 2 2 = 8+1 Ht 1 : Terry-Daley Clegg Dwyer Neale(fell) 2-4 2-4 2 : Terry-Daley Phillips Mellish Williamson (ret) 1-5 3-9 3 : Clegg Phillips Neale Dwyer 4-2 7-11 4 : Terry-Daley Dwyer Mellish Williamson (f/rm) 1-5 8-16 5 : Neale Phillips Terry-Daley Mellish 3-3 11-19 6 : Clegg Phillips Williamson Dwyer(ret) 4-2 15-21

Tony has retired. Small mention in speedway star this week with an interview with him in the next edition. Great guy , an inspiration as a captain ...would make a great team manager

so do I TMW --was trying to help Tom Young last night having known him since he started riding and rode for me at Newport. He had bike problems we tried to sort but it was his confidence that was a big problem as well.

AJ KIng is correct --it was Tom Young not Perry who fell and withdrew last night at Stoke. Hope Tom Perry is ok.