PLENTY OF PAIN, NO GAIN
Friday August 08, 2014
An under-strength Silver Ski Rockets suffered their heaviest defeat for a decade as they tumbled 72-20 to a rampant Somerset Rebels at the Oak Tree Arena.

The Rockets were hit by the withdrawal of driving force and captain Edward Kennett following a recurrence of his shoulder injury, and were forced to operate Rider-Replacement as cover. Without their No.1 and against a side that had already racked up six scores of 60 or more this season, they were on a hiding to nothing – and so it proved.

The defending League Champions racked up no less than twelve 5-1s, which were joined by a couple of 4-2s and a 4-4 from Jason Garrity’s Tactical ride when the Cardiff reserve led Olly Allen for the first two laps in Heat 7. In all, some five Rebels went through the card.

Rye House promoter Len Silver admitted afterwards that “We were run into the ground tonight. It was a simply awesome performance from Somerset; they were beating us out of the gate and passing us on the few occasions when we were in front. We tried our hardest but we were simply not good enough.

“20 points were as many as we deserved tonight. Obviously, we missed Edward tremendously – he is the calibre of rider who would have scored points around here – and I think that with him in the side we could well have reached 30, but no more than that. They are just too powerful around their own track.

“The only bright spark from a dark night was once again Oliver Greenwood, who rode extremely well for the few points he got.”

And about the return match at Rye House scheduled for tomorrow night (Saturday, at 7pm): “Tomorrow’s another day. We’ve got to put this behind us, not get too downhearted and come out firing again on our own track.

“I have spoken to Edward, who has been to see his physiotherapist. His shoulder injury has been determined as a trapped nerve, which has now been released. He is obviously still in some pain – but the sharp, shooting pain he experienced at Ipswich will now be gone – and he will be riding against the Rebels. That means we’ll be back to full strength, and it’s a huge boost to us.”

Rye House scorers:

Jason Garrity 8 (6 rides, inc 4 as a TR), Anders Mellgren 5 (6 rides, inc 1 as a TR), Olly Greenwood 3 (4), Luke Bowen 2 (5), Jason Bunyan 2 (4), Steve Boxall 0 (5), Edward Kennett R/R

Somerset scorers:

Brady Kurtz 15 (5 rides, max), Olly Allen 12 (4 rides, max), Pontus Aspgren 11+4 (5 rides, max), Nick Morris 11+1 (4 rides, max), Paul Starke 10+2 (5 rides, max), Charles Wright 7+3 (4), Todd Kurtz 6+2 (4)