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TOUGH TIME IN CUP FINAL
Friday September 27, 2013
The Silver Ski Rockets face an uphill task to lift this season’s Knock-Out Cup after falling to a 59-31 defeat in the first leg of the Final at Somerset.
The Rockets contained their hosts 17-13 over the first five races before the Rebels – seeded No.1 in the Championship Play-Offs after topping the regular season League table – showed exactly what has brought them to the 2013 party by easing well clear in the remaining heats as Jason Doyle completed a fine six ride maximum.
The Rockets, in comparison, managed just two race wins - one each from Mellgren and Allen – and clearly found life difficult both in the Rebels’ backyard and without two of their leading lights. As promoter Len Silver admitted afterwards, “We missed (U-21 World Cup-bound) Tyson Nelson immensely – we could only cover Rider-Replacement with two team men and two reserves, while they could use all their top men to cover for Nick Morris – while the rules decree that we could only use a National League guest to step in for the permanently missing Jason Garrity.
“Despite the score, however, there were some very good races, and had Pontus Aspgren not suffered an engine failure when we were on a 3-3 in one heat, we would have scored exactly the same as Edinburgh did here a fortnight ago. The Monarchs are a very strong outfit, with a full team, yet they got walloped by the Rebels 58-32!â€
Team manager John Sampford accepted that “Somerset are an excellent side on any track; around their own circuit they are awesome. But although it was for only limited reward, all the boys rode their hearts out. There was no question of their heads going down.
“We know we’ve got a very hard job in the second leg, but we’ve not given up the ghost just yet. There are still another fifteen races to go, and we’ll be in there fighting and determined to do to them what they’ve done to us. That's got to be the aim.â€
That second leg takes place at Hoddesdon on Sunday, October 6th, with a 2pm afternoon start time. Ahead of that – tomorrow (Saturday), in fact – the Rockets will aim to sign off their Premier League fixtures on a high when they entertain Redcar. Olly Allen can expect a hero’s welcome on his home return from Sunday’s Premier League Riders’ Championship success, while Ben Morley is set to guest at reserve for Jason Garrity.
While the Rockets rocked the Bears 55-35 in the Cup a month ago, they can expect a tougher encounter this time around. Only last night, their opponents shocked Newcastle 53-37 in their opening Play-Off fixture, with Aaron Summers and Ulrich Ostergaard finishing as joint-top scorers with paid 13 apiece. The Bears can also boast fast-emerging No.1 Micky Dyer, 2011 Czech Grand Prix Wildcard Matej Kus and 3-time former World U-21 Semi-Finalist Max Dilger, plus former Sheffield stalwart Hugh Skidmore and proven thrill-merchant Carl Wilkinson.
The action starts at 7pm.
Rye House scorers: Olly Allen 9, Jason Bunyan 8, Anders Mellgren 6, Pontus Aspgren 4+1, Kasper Lykke 3, Josh Bates (guest) 1+1, Tyson Nelson R/R
Somerset scorers: Jason Doyle 18, Josh Grajczonek 13+1, Nicolai Klindt (guest) 11, Charles Wright 10+2, Kyle Newman 6+2, Oliver Greenwood 1, Nick Morris R/R
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