Sunday 12 September 2004
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 43
STOKE EASY-RIDER SPITFIRES 47
Conference League
Stoke won 104-79 on aggregate
| Malcolm Holloway | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1* | 1* | - | 13(2) |
| Steve Braidford R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chris Johnson | 1* | 2 | 2 | n | - | - | - | 5(1) |
| Danny Warwick | 1* | 1* | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 3(2) |
| Simon Walker | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 10 |
| Jordan Frampton | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Nathan Irwin | 2 | R | 1 | 2 | 1* | 3 | 2 | 11(1) |
| Daniel Harding (No.8) | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
STOKE
| Justin Elkins | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 18 |
| Darren Andrews | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 |
| Rob Grant R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Luke Priest | 0 | 3 | 1* | 2 | 1 | - | - | 7(1) |
| Tom Brown | 1* | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 6(1) |
| Michael Mitchell | 1 | 0 | n | 0 | - | - | - | 1 |
| Jack Hargreaves | 3 | 2 | 2* | 2 | 3 | 3 | R | 15(1) |
| Marc Andrews (No.8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ht 1: Elkins, Holloway, Johnson, Andrews, 69.93 | (3-3) |
| Ht 2: Hargreaves, Irwin, Mitchell, Frampton, 72.74 | (5-7) |
| Ht 3: Elkins, Johnson, Warwick, Priest, 70.09 | (8-10) |
| Ht 4: Walker, Hargreaves, Brown, Irwin (ret), 73.24 | (11-13) |
| Ht 5: Elkins, Johnson, Warwick, Andrews, 71.11 | (14-16) |
| Ht 6: Holloway, Brown, Warwick, Mitchell, 72.08 | (18-18) |
| Ht 7: Priest, Hargreaves, Walker, Frampton, 71.92 | (19-23) |
| Ht 8: Holloway, Hargreaves, Irwin, Andrews, 72.30 | (23-25) |
| Ht 9: (Re-Run) Hargreaves, Irwin, Brown, Warwick, Johnson (f, ns), Mitchell (f, ns), 72.80 | (25-29) |
| Ht 10: Holloway, Brown, Priest, Harding, 72.86 | (28-32) |
| Ht 11: Elkins, Walker, Irwin, Andrews, 72.99 | (31-35) |
| Ht 12: Irwin, Priest, Frampton, Mitchell, 73.74 | (35-37) |
| Ht 13: Elkins, Walker, Holloway, Brown, 72.49 | (38-40) |
| Ht 14: (Re-Run) Hargreaves, Irwin, Priest, Warwick, 74.96 | (40-44) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) Elkins (y), Walker (b), Holloway (r), Hargreaves (f, rem, ret), 73.86 | (43-47) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 1: R/R Johnson
Ht 3: R/R Elkins
Ht 8: R/R Holloway
Ht 9: Irwin replaced Johnson in the re-run; Hargreaves replaced Mitchell in the re-run
Ht 10: R/R Harding; R/R Brown
Ht 11: Irwin replaced Frampton
Ht 12: Frampton replaced Johnson; R/R Priest
Ht 14: Irwin replaced Frampton
Following a short shower, the Team Artdeans Sprockets league encounter with Stoke began on the scheduled start time, but it wasn’t long before drizzle returned and was to continue throughout much of the meeting, making the circuit tricky to say the least. Indeed, this was a contributory factor in Swindon losing the services of Chris Johnson in a ninth heat spill and with it, any real chance of gaining a victory on the night. Already utilizing rider replacement for the unavailable Steve Braidford, the Team Artdeans Sprockets simply lacked the manpower after the loss of Johno, although the troops that remained performed admirably and still had the chance of snatching a draw from a last heat decider.
Former Swindon Robin Justin Elkins got proceedings underway by jetting from the gate to win the opener, while Malcolm Holloway and JJ settled in behind for a share of the points. Jack Hargreaves and Michael Mitchell subsequently jumped ahead in heat two, and it took a lap before Nathan Irwin got past team-mate Jordan Frampton to take up the chase. The crowd-pleasing 21-year-old then got into contention and found a fast line around Mitchell exiting the fourth bend of lap two. There was no catching the impressive Hargreaves, however, and the Team Artdeans Sprockets slipped 7-5 behind.
The fast-starting Elkins romped to his second win in heat three, with Johnson and Danny Warwick comfortably filling the minor scoring positions from Spitfires’ skipper Luke Priest. The fourth heat saw Simon Walker shoot across from gate four to lead from Hargreaves, with Irwin slotting into third spot after rounding Tom Brown on the car park corner. A terrific duel ensued up front, with Hargreaves diving inside on every bend, only for Walker to come back around the outside each time. The spectacular Walker just had the legs to hold on for victory, while behind, Irwin was caught out by the greasy surface on the second bend of the final lap, with Brown nipping through to secure the odd-point.
Elkins again gated like a rocket in heat five, before racing to victory in tigerish fashion. For a fourth time, the points were split though, with Johnson and Span easily keeping Darren Andrews at the rear throughout. Wellie was a tapes-to-flag winner from Brown in the sixth heat and with Warwick coming home third, parity was restored at 18-points apiece. That situation didn’t prevail for long, since Priest dashed to the flag in heat seven, while Hargreaves gained revenge for his earlier loss by narrowly beating Walker after another fabulous four-lap duel.
Swindon countered with a 4-2; Holloway’s rapid reactions from the tapes sufficient to defeat Hargreaves, whilst Irwin outpaced Andrews in third position. Then came the unfortunate ninth heat, when Johno and Brown came down after clashing on the first corner, with Mitchell unable to avoid running into the stricken homester. A long delay ensued while Johnson received medical attention and having taken a knock to the leg, it was decided to whisk the youngster off to hospital for an X-ray. Irwin took JJ’s place in the re-run, while Stoke elected to replace Mitchell with the flying Hargreaves. From the gate, Hargreaves and Brown pulled away and looked set for maximum points. Having pressed over the initial circuit of the 361.2-metre raceway, Irwin appeared to lose ground, but after winding himself up on the last lap, like a heat-seeking missile, he steamed around Brown on the final corner and just won the dash to the line for second place.
Wellie’s renowned starting technique carried him to a big win in heat ten, but with Brown and Priest in the middle-order positions, the Team Artdeans Sprockets remained in arrears at 32-28 down. Elkins continued on his merry way in the next race, while Walker zipped by Irwin for second place on the final lap. Priest led the charge in the twelfth heat, with Irwin taking the long route around the first and second bend to fall in behind. The lad from Cuckfield then lived up to his nickname of ‘Last Lap Nathan’ by producing a stunning final corner to wriggle around Priest and narrowly win the race for the line. As ever, the crowd rose to his efforts, which were all the more remarkable considering the deteriorating track conditions. While that was occurring, Jordan Frampton grittily held on to third spot, bringing Swindon back to within two-points of their opponents.
Walker appeared to have made the best getaway in heat thirteen, but it was Elkins who emerged in front entering the back straight. A fifth win followed for the Stoke number one, with Walker and Wellie having to settle for an even split of the points. Following an unsatisfactory start, the re-run of heat fourteen saw Hargreaves record his third win of the evening, with Irwin finishing second after slipping by Priest on the opening lap. Crucially, the Stoke captain held on to third spot, despite the non-stop harrying efforts of Warwick behind. That gave the visitors a 44-40 advantage going into the last heat and barring a miracle, Swindon were staring defeat in the face. Elkins duly completed a fine six-ride maximum, with Walker and Holloway unable to live with his electrifying pace as they shared the points ahead of the re-mounted Hargreaves.