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ROCKETS MAULED BY BEARS
Saturday September 28, 2013
The Silver Ski Rockets ended their Premier League campaign on a damp note, falling to their heaviest home defeat of the season, 40-50, in a re-arranged fixture against Redcar. It was their third home reverse in the League and leaves them firmly entrenched in ninth place out of thirteen teams in the final table.
Full credit to the Bears, who were a radically different proposition to the side beaten down 55-35 in the Knock-Out Cup at Hoddesdon just a month ago, and who played their part in ensuring this match had anything but an end of season feel in racing quality. They look more than ready for the Championship Play-Offs as evidenced already by their 53-37 victory over Newcastle in that series on Thursday, with Ulrich Ostergaard (11), Aaron Summers (10+1) and, in particular, hot reserve Carl Wilkinson (14+2) their biggest drivers here. The loss of Matej Kus with an elbow injury and back pains from a Heat 8 tumble did nothing to halt their charge, and ironically enhanced their cause as it freed Wilkinson up for extra rides.
The Rockets actually led briefly, at 16-14, thanks to a 5-1 from Jason Bunyan and Pontus Aspgren in Heat 5, only to slip away in the second half of the meeting. Trailing 36-30, a 5-1 from Ostergaard and Wilkinson in Heat 12 left Rye 10 points adrift and the final nail in the coffin came from a further max-out from Summers and Micky Dyer in the next race. Anders Mellgren was actually in front when the referee was forced to halt the heat due to the fallen Olly Allen’s machine still being on the track, with the home supporters clearly unhappy about the declaration of a re-run, although it ultimately made little difference to the match result.
A 5-1 from Mellgren and Aspgren in the nominated heat gave the final score respectability, but there was not too much for the Rockets to cheer about in general. Aspgren’s 12+2 highlighted his consistency throughout, Jason Bunyan (6+2) was once again reliable and Kasper Lykke helped put a very difficult personal patch behind him by weighing in with 9+1 from seven rides.
On the down side, it also proved a long night – for different reasons – for No.1 Olly Allen. The newly crowned Premier League Riders’ Champion fell in three of his four outings, which cost the Rockets vital points. Rye also desperately missed Tyson Nelson – absent due to his commitment to the U-21 World Cup Final in the Czech Republic – as the Rider-Replacement facility brought scant coverage with just 4 points, while Anders Mellgren’s scoring prowess was hampered by a tapes exclusion in his opening ride. Finally, it proved an unhappy night for Ben Morley, so often a key contributor in recent weeks, who failed to trouble the scorers.
Clearly, it proved a match where much went wrong for the Rockets. They now desperately need to put the experience behind them as they plan for their season finale next Sunday (October 6th at 2pm), when they need to be firing on all cylinders against Somerset in the second leg of the Knock-Out Cup Final.
Rye House scorers:
Olly Allen 4+1 (4 rides)
Tyson Nelson R/R
Jason Bunyan 6+2 (5)
Pontus Aspgren 12+2 (6)
Anders Mellgren 9 (5)
Kasper Lykke 9+1 (7)
Ben Morley (guest) 0 (4)
Redcar scorers:
Micky Dyer 6+1 (4 rides)
Hugh Skidmore 6 (4)
Ulrich Ostergaard 11 (5)
Matej Kus 1 (2)
Aaron Summers 10+1 (5)
Carl Wilkinson 14+2 (6)
Max Dilger 2+1 (4)
Match Points: Rye House 0 Redcar 4
Footnote: It was a disappointing afternoon for Tyson Nelson, and the Australian team in general, in Saturday’s U-21 World Cup Final at Pardubice in the Czech Republic. The 20 year old contributed 2 of his country’s 20 points – Darcy Ward proved the mainstay with 11 of that total - as the Roos propped up the field, behind winners Denmark (42), Poland (41) and the host nation (24).
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