A brilliant move by Aiden Owen on Darren Kent and Adam Watson brought him through to join Radek Handke for the Rockets third 7-3 race win in heat 5 as Sheffield increased their lead to 31-19. Heat 6 saw Liam Webster collide with team-mate Ellie Sullivan on turn three of the first lap, with Laura Watson negotiating the melee to join Idziorek for the visitors first race advantage by 6-4. Adam Watson led heat 7 briefly only for Owen and Niall Morton to find a way past for another Sheffield 7-3.

Handke won heat 8 with Holland relegating Kent to a surprising last place as the Rockets picked up a 6-4 to lead by 48-32 at the interval.  Heat 9 was drawn as Laura Watson shot from the tapes to hold off Sullivan and Knowles.  Then came what is likely to be the race of the season at the Graves. Idziorek lined up on grid one but was trapped around the first turn by Handke, who was joined by Gamble for a Rockets 7-3 position. The young Pole then gathered himself and powered around Gamble on lap two, but was easily 15 metres behind Handke. Idziorek kept the speed on and made a deserved pass on the inside coming out of the last corner to win by wheel on the finish line. This was quite simply breathtaking speedway racing.

Kent and Idziorek won the next two races, but the heat scores were 5-5 and Sheffield still had a sixteen point lead by 68-52. Sheffield confirmed the match points in heat 13 with their fifth 7-3 race win from the Gamble/Webster pairing.  The only match exclusion came in heat 14 as Jake Wood took Hollands front wheel away as the Sheffield racer tried to pass on the exit of turn two on lap three. Heckmondwike finished the match with their only maximum 7-3 heat win as Kent and Idziorek out paced Owen and Sullivan. The depth of the Sheffield squad was emphasized when the match stats indicated the Rockets had provided only seven race winners to Heckmondwike’s eight, but by contrast Sheffield had only two last places in the 15 heats.

SCORERS

SHEFFIELD  – Aiden Owen 14, Niall Morton 13, Radek Handke 12, Kyle Holland 11 Liam Webster 10, Mick Knowles 9, Simon Gamble 8, Ellie Sullivan 7.

HECKMONDWIKE – Pawel Idziorek 20, Darren Kent 14, Laura Watson 10, Adam Watson 7, Jake Wood 7, Justin Naylor 5, Andy Morris 2.

With Heckmondwike unable to field any Under 12 riders Sheffield won the Division Three match by 28-0.  The Brownell brothers, Jack and Joe, putting on some entertaining racing as each scored 14 points.  Jack was given varying handicaps to overcome and all four races were decided on the last corner.

An impromptu individual event concluded the days racing with Idziorek taking first place after a run-off with Webster.  Vicky Brown, Luke Morton and Karol Micholayczyk gave performances that will give the Rockets team manager a headache as he has to pick the eight riders for the upcoming home and away encounters with Northumbria.

SCORERS – Pawle Idziorek 15, Liam Webster 15, Vicky Brown 14, Kyle Holland 14, Luke Morton 11, Ellie Sullivan 11, Adam Watson 11, Jake Wood 11, Niall Morton 10, Aiden Owen 10, Karol Micholayczyk 8, Rob Mawhood 7, Andy Morris 7.

Today we witnessed a match that had everything, excitement, passion,emotion, controversy and a grandstand finish. After the euphoria of the win against Horspath last time out, Sheffield knew that only another winwould do.  However with Adam Stephenson, Damien Zareeba and Jono Birks unavailable and Ryan Hoyland laid up with a stomach bug, it was a much changed side that took on a full strength Wednesfield.

Heat one and Wednesfield set their stall out with a Lee Aris win despitethe best efforts of the “Flying Scotsman” Mikey Hewittson as ChrisJewkes traps Pawel Idzisorek at the back and its 6-4 to the Aces. Thefollowing race brings a 5-5 with Andy Angell taking the win over BenMould.  Heat three and Wednesfield surge ahead with a well taken 7-3 from Paul Heard and Mark Griffiths after Matt Smith and Jamie Ball get themselves in a bit of tangle.

A share of the points in the next race from Hewittson and Radek Handke and the score is 23-17 to the visitors.  It’s heat five and Sheffield haven’t had a heat winner as yet.

Idzsiorek makes a turbo-charged gate of grid four and Handke looks after Wednesfield youngster Matt Haddock and the Stars post their first heat win of the day, 6-4. The following race goes the same way with Smith taking the win and Ball showing Craig Marchant the scenic route around the Graves track. Idzisorek battles for four laps to grab a vital third place on the line, Angell slams in his second win of the day, Jake Read pulls a classy move on Ricki Johnson, but the next three races to the interval are shared making the half time score Sheffield 44 Wednesfield 46.

After the break another shared heat before Wednesfield secure theirsecond 7-3 of the day from the impressive Paul Heard who now has three wins to his credit and a great ride from team mate Mark Griffiths. The next three heats are all shared despite tactical rides from Radek Handke and time is beginning to run out for Sheffield who are failing to make inroads into that six point lead that Wednesfield now hold.

Heat 15 and Sheffield are on the outside grids.  It’s now or never.  Angellmakes a superb pass on Johnson and gets team partner Handke through and the Stars register their first maximum of the match.  Three races to go and once more there is only two points between the teams. A shared heat 16 and the suspense is building with two races left.

Heat 17 Hewittson and Chambers for Sheffield, Mould and Griffiths for Wednesfield. Mould takes the lead with Hewittson in pursuit.  The riders come into the third bend and Hewittson dives up the inside of Mould and promptly goes down.  Referee Albert Bentley immediately points at Mould and excludes him for legging … cue fireworks.

Mould slides off his bike next to referee Bentley and literally hurls

his machine at the match official followed by various expletives and

then throws his helmet for good measure.  The pits erupt with shouts ofdespair and jubilation as the red card comes out and the Stars are

propelled into the lead with an extra four points courtesy of Mould’s match ban. After some minuets heat 17 is finally re-run and Mark Griffiths takes the win but the minor places give Sheffield a 5-4 heat advantage.

With one race to go its now Sheffield 84 Wednesfield 81 taking into account the four point match ban deduction.  With Angell and Ball finishing on the inside grids, Sheffield know anything but a 7-3 maximum against them will see them home and dry. Angell makes the gate with Jewkes and Heard in hot pursuit, Jamie Ball slipping at the start as the rain begins to fall.

Heard passes Angell and begins to slow the race down.  Referee Bentley warns him.  Jewkes has now closed up and as they enter the infamous third bend, Heard slows Angell again causing him to fall as Jewkes sweeps past. Referee Bentley has no hesitation in excluding Heard and a number of supporters don tin helmets waiting for the Hiroshima sized explosion from the Wednesfield side of pits.

Despite numerous protests, the decision is made and stands and the re-run is a formality with Angell taking the win and Ball happy to take third, credit to Chris Jewkes who battled on to the end. As the dust settles Wednesfield must be wondering how they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, a moment of madness, scuppering all the hard work. As for Sheffield it’s never over to till the “fat lady sings” and I maybe I was mistaken but I think that was the theme from the “Great Escape” I heard her humming!!

Sheffield 90

Andy Angell 18, Pawel Idzisorek 15, Radke Handke 14, Matt Smith 13,Jamie Ball 9, Mikey Hewittson 8,  Jake Read 8, Dan Chambers 5

Wednesfield 84 (includes four point deduction for red card)

Lee Aris 18, Paul Heard 16, Ben Mould 13, Mark Griffiths 12, Craig

Marchant 11, Chris Jewkes 11, Ricki Johnson 4, Matt Haddock 3

I love the safety fence and the old brown Austin Van in the background. I remember the old start marshalls white coats, one size fits all.

Sheffield have fielded the same top six riders for their opening two Elite League fixtures, and it’s highly likely manager Shaun Hudson will consistently use the same pairings throughout the entire season, with only the reserve berths being rotated. This approach to team selection will give the Sheffield side a really strong backbone.  Horspath have shown over recent years that continuity is the key to success at the very top end of the sport.

Jono Birks and Damien Zaremba rode at reserve when the Hammers where in town, and it’s difficult to call as to whether they will feature this weekend. Birks’s commitments are dictated by the motorised version of the sport, so Polish flyer Radek Handke could make his first start of the season this weekend should Birks not be available.

Wednesfield  put their opening day defeat behind them with a solid performance against Ipswich last time out. Paul Heard continues to look a man on a mission and Ben Mould raced unbeaten against the Eagles.  With the class of Lee Aris  these three riders should prove a real handful for Sheffield on Sunday. With Craig Marchant, Chris Jewkes and the evergreen Mark Griffiths to accompany their attack, the Aces will fancy their chances of inflicting the South Yorkshire side’s first defeat of the season.

What could hold the key to Wednesfield’s success on Sunday is how youngsters Ricki Johnson and Matt Haddock score.  It will be interesting to see where these two riders are deployed in the Aces’ line up by management duo Roger Ellis and Wayne Aris as they do like to utilise a tactical reserve or two.

If the 18 heats were not enough on Sunday, spectators can look forward to the Elite League match race title being defended for the third time this season by Paul Heard.  A certain Andy Angell will be chomping at the bit to take on the current British and European number two.

Well it wasn’t pretty at times but at the end of the day it was job done and a notable scalp taken. A strong wind blew throughout the match which turned the track surface into a dust bowl despite the continuous watering before the meeting began. Horspath turned up minus Sean Rudman and Matty Symtrac which wasn’t the best of starts, however the way Sheffield were throwing points away in the first half of the meeting it seemed to matter very little.

The match started well enough for the Stars, a Matt Smith/Jamie Ball 6-4 over Lewis Bates & Errol Thaw then a shared heat with Ryan Hoyland taking the win but the impressive Jack Harrold and Mark Boaler relegating Andy Angell to the back. Heat 3 then went decidedly pear shaped as Adam Stephenson got his marching orders for a tapes offence and Pawel Idiszorek found the Nowacki/Carmichael partnership to hot to handle.
When Horspath took a 6-4 in the next heat the alarm bells began to ring and the Sheffield side looked ill at ease and seemed to be making a series of basic errors. Heat 5 up pops the unflappable Jono Birks with the equally relaxed Jamie Ball who promptly stop the rot with 7-3 maximum,seemingly without breaking into a sweat. The euphoria was short lived though as Horspath hit back with maximum of there own in the very next heat and it was back to square 1.

With the visitors now 5 points up, a tactical ride for Birks who was in the number 8 position was called for and the resulting 6-4 from Ball & Birks over Nowacki and Carmichael narrowed the gap, a storming ride from Jamie Ball the only rider to beat World Champion Nowacki all day. Two more shared heats and the interval arrived with Horspath on 46 to Sheffield’s 43. What ever was said in the half time team talk obviously had the desired effect because suddenly Sheffield started to race like a team, a Ryan Hoyland tape exclusion although less then ideal was only a minor blip as Carmichael was excluded for a racing incident which left Angell sprawled on the track, the resulting rerun saw Nowacki execute a fine pass to take a 4-3 heat advantage. A tactical ride for Birks in heat 13 saw him and Stephenson post a fine maximum 7-3 over Thaw & Bates which tied the score at 63-63. A tactical heat 14 saw a share of the points as Hoyland & Zareba were happy to keep Richard Harrison at the back knowing Angell and Birks were next up.

Hopes of a Sheffield 7-3 suddenly looked unlikely as Birks missed his pedal at the start and trailed into the first bend in fourth place, Angell was away  for the win and Birks passed Munden to set up a 6-4 which became a 6-3 as Munden was promptly excluded for a remark he made to referee Bob Prince. This seemed to be the catalyst for Horspath to self destruct as Thaw was excluded in the next heat which gave another heat advantage to Sheffield after the third rerun of heat 16. A shared heat 17 with Zareeba coming in for an off colour Matt Smith meant Sheffield could not lose the match, a Horspath 7-3 in the final race would be a draw. Angell & Idsizorek for Sheffield, Bates & Nowacki for Horspath. Bates makes the gate followed by Angell with Nowacki in third, Idsizorek buzzing around Nowacki back wheel. In a majestic move Angell sweeps around Bates to take the lead, Nowacki moves past his partner to give chase to Angell. A big last bend from Nowacki see him get on the inside of Angell, however Angell is past caring as he knows second place will give his team the win, he punches the air in delight as he crosses the line and Sheffield win by 2.

For the visitors Jack Harrold and Mark Boaler were in fine form and Lukas Nowacki was a class act. Sheffield Jamie Ball was simply outstanding, Andy Angell  reliable as ever and super sub Jono Birks was err……………Jono Birks! The rest of the Sheffield lads pulled together when it mattered, as for Horspath they will be hoping for a swift return of there missing riders.

Sheffield
Jamie Ball 16+1, Andy Angell 15, Jono Birks 14+1, Adam Stephenson 11+2, Ryan Hoyland 11, Damien Zareeba 8+2, Pawel Idziorek 7, Matt Smith 6. Aiden Owen, Jake Read DNR

Horspath
Lukas Nowacki 19, Jack Harrold 17+1, Mark Boaler 14+3, Lewis Bates 9+1, Mark Carmichael 8+1, Errol Thaw 8, Simon Munden 8, Richard Harrison 3. Zac Payne, Jordan Richardson DNR

Combination Match Result

Sheffield 64 +13 penalty pts 77 Horspath 66

With Horspath giving away 13 penalty points as Simon Munden & Richard Harrison doubled up it was always an uphill battle, Sheffield fielded a separate 8 riders knowing that a share of the heats was all that was needed. Having said  that it was a very entertaining Combination fixture with some great battles between the riders.

For Sheffield Richard Hudson powered his way to a 16pt maximum, lowering the colours of both Harrison & Munden in the process. He received great support from Zach Smurthwaite who is becoming a very powerful gater, Jake Read, Aiden Owen & Matt Parrott all contributed to some fine racing and were always in the thick of the action.

Spare a thought for Kyle Holland whose all action style brought him little reward today. he featured in some great races but ended up on the deck or in the fence, sometimes being helped there by one of his opponents!

Simon Munden scored well and received solid support from Wayne Clarke, Richard Harrison & Zac Payne however as mentioned earlier those penalty points were the killer.

Sheffield
Richard Hudson 16, Jake Read 12+1, Zach Smurthwaite 12, Aiden Owen 9+2, Matt Parrott 7+1, Kyle Holland 5, Mick Knowles 2, Vicki Brown 1

Horspath
Simon Munden 13, Zac Payne 13, Wayne Clarke 12+2, Jordan Richardson 11+3, Richard Harrison 11+1, George Horsley 6

However Horspath now have reigning World Champion Lukas Nowacki in the ranks as well as Newport’s Jack Harrald, add to that Mark Boaler, Mark Carmichael, Lewis Bates and perhaps a Polish star or two and you can see what a match we have in store.

The Stars will be making a couple of changes from the team that won at Birmingham two weeks ago however Team Manager Shaun Hudson was very pleased with the way that the rider pairings worked. He commented “at this time of the season its about trying different tactics and ideas, but I don’t have any major concerns with the squad”

If you would like to come along & watch, admission is free and the first race will be 2pm, after the main match the Stars second team will also be in action against the Horspath seconds.

The next three heats went the Falcons way, with each ended in a 6-4, to level the scores at 40-40 after heat 8. The Rockets then brought in Birks to partner Handke, with the resulting 7-3 giving Sheffield a four point half time lead. Heat 10 was drawn as Aiden Owen just failed to join Birks on the first turn, with Callum Slight and Kamil Grezla keeping the youngsters efforts at bay.  The Falcons tied the match in heat 11 with a superbly worked maximum 7-3 from Mikey Hewtison and Neil Mcpherson from outside grids over Liam Webster/Luke Morton.  Jake Slight took the win in heat 12,and with Grezla keeping Hudson at the back the Falcons went into a 61-59 lead. Owen got a confidence boost when winning heat 13 which was tied 5-5. Hewitson then won his fourth race by lowering the colours of Handke, but it was another drawn heat, and the Falcons still led. Birks won heat 15 but the Falcons Mcpherson and Marcin Czarkowski filled the minor placings for another drawn heat. Sheffield took a 6-4 from outside grids in heat 16, with Handke used from the reserve berth, to level the scores at 80-80 with just two heats remaining.

Smurthwaite completed a fine performance with his third win in heat 17, with Webster taking third place for a Rockets 6-4 and Sheffield were back in the lead by two. The last heat decider saw the Falcons of inside grids with the unbeaten Hewitson taking grid one. Sheffield played their final joker with Birks replacing Morton and taking grid two. Birks made a superb start and was comfortable round the first turn. With Owen at the back Hewitson knew a win would tie the match. However it would all end sadly for the Falcons as Hewitson slipped off on turn four of the second lap as he gave everything in his pursuit of first place. The resulting 6-4 gave the Rockets the league points by 92-88. So an all round sporting match ended with the Falcons unbeaten record gone, with the visitors ruing the fact that neither Scunthorpe or Swindon speedway had a match.

SCORERS

SHEFFIELD CRA ROCKETS – Jono Birks 19+1, Zach Smurthwaite 18, Radek Handke 13+2, Aiden Owen 13, Richard Hudson 10, Liam Webster 9+1, Luke Morton 7, Rob Mawhood 3.

EDINBURGH FALCONS – Jake Slight 17, Mikey Hewitson 16+1, Lee Lawrence 14, Neil Mcpherson 11+1, Kamil Grezsla 9+1, Chris Lee 9+1, Marcin Czarkowski 6, Callum Slight 6.

The Falcons started the day unbeaten in Northern League Two aswell, but after a bright start they faded to a 67-83 defeat against the fresh legs of the Sheffield Rockets second team. Race wins for Mark Lee and Marcin Czarkowski saw the first two heats shared 5-5. The rockets edged the lead with a 6-4 from Matt Parrott/Sandra Tamborska in heat 3.  The Falcons hit back immediately with a well worked 7-3 maximum from Kamil Greszla and Douglas Morgan to take the lead by 21-19. Lee was quick out of the start again in heat 5 to take the win from gird 2. Fortunes changed in heat 6 as sub Ellie Sullivan came in to take the race win. Kyle Holland was too quick for Neil Swanson, who took a heavy fall, and the Rockets 7-3 maximum had them retake the lead by 31-29.

Sheffield increased the lead with another Parrott/Tamborska 6-4 in heat 7.  The Falcons looked like reducing the deficit in heat 8 until Niall Morton, who his on top form this year, used his speed and power to go around the outside of first Lee and then Morgan to take the win and tie the heat.  Successive 6-4’s to the Rockets in heats 9 and 10 saw the lead increased to 54-46. Two drawn heat followed and with the gap at eight points and with three races left the Falcons threw their last dice by bringing reserve Grezla in to partner Czarkowski  in heat 13. But with Holland making a strong start from grid one to go and win the race and with Vicky Brown keeping Czarkowski at the rear the 6-4 put Sheffield ten up with just two to play. The Rockets finished strongly with a Morton/Sullivan 6-4 in heat 14 and followed with a maximum 7-3 from Parrott and Holland, both completing the match with just one defeat at the hands of Mark Lee.

SCORERS

SHEFFIELD CRA ROCKETS – Matt Parrott 18+1, Kyle Holland 16+3, Niall Morton 14+2, Vicky Brown 10, Mick Knowles 10, Ellie Sullivan 8, Sandra Tamborska 7, Ed Morton DNR.

EDINBURGH FALCONS – Mark Lee 16, Marcin Czarkowski 12, Callum Slight 12, Douglas Morgan 11+3, Kamil Grezla 7, Neil Swanson 5, Paul Kelly 3, Callum Cairney 1.

Sheffield completed a hat-trick of wins by taking the new Under 12’s League three match by 53-23. James Bunting again went through the card for his third unbeaten score.  Edinburgh’s Callum Cairney lost twice to Bunting as he finished in runners-up place. Morgan Turner had a surprise defeat from Niamh Morton to stop him tying for second place. While Sean Hewitson came out on top with his personal battles against the Brownell brothers.

SCORERS

James Bunting (SHEFFIELD) 16, Callum Cairney (EDINBURGH) 14, Morgan Turner (SHEFFIELD) 13, Niamh Morton (SHEFFIELD) 12, Sean Hewitson (EDINBURGH) 9, Jack Brownell (SHEFFIELD) 6, Joe Brownell (SHEFFIELD) 6.

The Rockets will have to be on top form as they were against Astley & Tyldsley who visited the Graves two weeks ago. Simon Gamble will be back in the team and hopefully Radek Handke will be returning from injury all though he will more then likely ride at reserve. Radek plans to make a gradual retun as he doesn’t want to aggravate the back injury that has plagued him since the end of last season.

The Edinburgh squad is complemented with a host of quality riders, the line up although not known at the moment will no doubt feature the likes of Mikey Hewitson, Jake Slight and the returning Lee Lawrence, add to this super vets Johnie Murphy, Chic Mackie and a quantity of talented Juniors and you can see why the Rockets need to be at their best.

Hopefully the weather will be kind as a great match is in prospect, come and see for yourselves, tapes up 2pm.

Sheffield made the perfect start from the inside grids with Ryan Hoyland taking the win and team partner Andy Angell keeping lone Birmingham rider Nicky Evans busy, his partner Nathan Groves having got his marching orders for a tapes offence. With the next heat shared it was the third race when Sheffield notched there first maximum heat score, Pawel Idizorek and Adam Stephenson looking like they had been team partners for years, inflicting the damage. The flying Idizorek obviously had, had his three Wheatabix as he made light work of the heavy track and Stephenson superb team riding skills kept Chris Timms Danny Harper at bay.

Another shared heat followed before Captain Angell led from the front with Dan Chambers working hard to secure that vital third place and a Sheffield 6-4. The Industrious pairing of Matt Smith & Jamie Ball, the engine room of the Sheffield team did not disappoint with some skilled riding that saw Ball take Harper on a four lap sight seeing tour of the Sandwell circuit to defuse a Chris Timms heat win. As the interval approached a 7-2 then a 6-3 saw Sheffield go in at the break 57-39 up, four exclusions to the Birmingham side making there job even harder.

The second half resumed with a shared heat before Smith & Ball smashed in another 7-3 maximum for the visitors. The track now was very wet and sticky and caused a number of problems for everyone, however no one complained. Heat 13 saw a great battle between Chris Timms and Andy Angell which finally resulted in Angell getting his marching orders for illegal use of the leg, the resulting re run giving Birmingham a 7-3 maximum.

The Stars now dug deep and rode out the remainder of the meeting intelligently, 5-5 of outs and looking for 6-4 of the ins. A true team performance saw Sheffield home if not dry. Everyone played there part and it was nice to see Jake Read taking a confidence boosting win having contributed so much to the team. Jamie Ball & Adam Stephenson amassed six bonus points between them to underline there team riding ability and the Stars all for one, one for all attitude.

Just the start Sheffield needed to the 2013 season, the big test comes in a fortnight when they entertain Horspath at the Graves, it has all the makings of a classic match, lets hope it is.

Birmingham Monarchs 77

Chris Timms 15, Chris Parish 13, Nathan Groves 10, Nicky Evans 9, Kieron Jones 7, Danny Harper 7, Mark Winwood 7 David Ball 6, Oli Riley 3

Sheffield Stars 97

Pawel Idziorek 17, Ryan Hoyland 14, Andy Angell 14, Jamie Ball 14, Matt Smith 13,  Adam Stephenson 12,  Jake Read 7, Dan Chambers 6

In the Combination meeting Sheffield ran out 73-57 winners, with plenty of good racing from all concerned. Jake Read scored an excellent 19+1 and gave great support to his team partner Vicky Brown, Richard Hudson enjoyed a couple of wins and received excellent back up from his partner Adam Watson who made some fine passes. Zach Smurthwaite goes from strength to strength with some awesome gating and his partner Matt Parrott is beginning to find his feet, its easy to forget that Matt is still a newcomer to the sport this being his first full season of racing. All in all two great team performances and a job well done, the Sandwell track always produces good racing and it was a pleasure to return their.

Birmingham 57

Ollie Riley 14, Joe Kemp 11, Paul Timms 9, Ewan Hancox 9, Richard Stevenson 7, Dylan Hexley 4, Phil Widdas 3,

Sheffield 73

Jake Read 19, Zach Smurthwaite 13, Richard Hudson 11, Vicky Brown 10, Matt Parrott 10,  Adam Watson 10