FIVE MAN ROCKETS JUST MISS OUT
Saturday June 13, 2015
The Restart Rockets came within a whisker of an unexpected away match point at Workington tonight before their late fightback at Derwent Park was finally subdued in a 50-42 defeat.

Already operating Rider-Replacement for broken collarbone victim Kasper Lykke, the Rockets found their resources reduced to just five riders when Steve Boxall was forced to withdraw with a repeat of his previous shoulder injury as early as Heat 4.

Two race wins from Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen and further three point displays from Edward Kennett and Robin Aspegren kept the score down to 43-31 with just three races remaining, before successive maximums - from Kennett and NBJ in Heat 13, and then Aspegren and guest Nico Covatti in the following race – suddenly brought fresh hope at 45-41.

There the dream ended, as Rene Back completed an unbeaten evening, with team mate Ricky Wells allowing him through for a full maximum on the last lap, as the Comets pair finished well ahead of NBJ and Kennett.

Rye House team manager John Sampford praised his depleted troops afterwards, saying “The five of them rode their hearts out to get us so close to that match point.

“We could arguably have nabbed it if we had deployed the Tactical Ride option in Heats 8 or 11, rather than Heat 9, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Nikolaj (Busk Jakobsen) was head and shoulders above the rest of the team, with a couple of race wins, when we nominated him, but we had to settle for four points after he was passed by Rene Bach. Robin (Apegren) won Heat 8, but up to that point he had only scored 3 points from 3 rides, and it was a similar situation with Edward (Kennett), who had scored 3 from 2 rides before he took Heat 11. The TR is always a gamble.

“But I am proud of the boys for their fighting spirit. They never gave up.

“Unfortunately, we lost Steve (Boxall) after his first ride. He wrenched his shoulder again after a lap and he was struggling to hold on. There’s got to be a serious question mark already over whether he will ride next Saturday at home to Peterborough.

“We are hoping things will be more positive for that match for Anders (Mellgren), though, and that we’ll be welcoming him back. He is due to have rides in Sweden on Thursday, and depending on how that goes he is aiming to be back against the Panthers.”

Rye House scorers:

Nikolaj B Jakobsen 13+1 (inc 4 as a TR), Robin Aspegren 13, Edward Kennett 9, Nico Covatti 6+2, Dan Greenwood 1+1, Steve Boxall 0, Kasper Lykke R/R

Workington scorers:

Rene Bach 15, Ricky Wells 11+2, Kyle Howarth 8, James Sarjeant 7+2, Matthew Wethers 6+2, Kenneth Hansen 3, Nathan Greaves 0

Match Points: Workington 3 Rye House 0

Picture: DAVID PAYNE