Monday 17 May 2004
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 42
CARMARTHEN DRAGONS 47
Conference League
SWINDON
| Malcolm Holloway | 3 | 3 | 3 | R | 2 | 2 | - | 13 |
| Danny Warwick | 2* | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | 6(1) |
| Steve Braidford R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Jamie Courtney | 2* | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | 9(1) |
| Chris Johnson | X | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 8 |
| James Purchase | 2 | 0 | 1* | 1 | 0 | - | - | 4(1) |
| Daniel Harding | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Nathan Irwin (No.8) | 1* | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1(1) |
CARMARTHEN
| Ben Powell | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| Chris Hunt | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Shane Colvin | 0 | 1* | R | 1* | - | - | - | 2(2) |
| Dean Felton | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | 7 |
| Steve Bishop | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 14 |
| Gordon Meakins | 1 | 1* | 0 | - | - | - | - | 2(1) |
| Darren Pugh | 3 | 2* | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | 13(1) |
| Ht 1: Holloway, Warwick, Powell, Hunt, 70.67 | (5-1) |
| Ht 2: Pugh, Purchase, Meakins, Harding, 72.76 | (7-5) |
| Ht 3: Holloway, Courtney, Felton, Colvin, 71.03 | (12-6) |
| Ht 4: (Re-Run) Bishop, Pugh, Harding, Johnson (f,ex), 69.82 | (13-11) |
| Ht 5: Powell, Johnson, Hunt, Courtney, 71.07 | (15-15) |
| Ht 6: Holloway, Bishop, Meakins, Warwick, 69.99 | (18-18) |
| Ht 7: Johnson, Felton, Colvin, Purchase, 71.33 | (21-21) |
| Ht 8: Pugh, Warwick, Purchase, Hunt, 72.44 | (24-24) |
| Ht 9: Bishop, Courtney, Irwin, Meakins, 69.75 | (27-27) |
| Ht 10: Felton, Warwick, Holloway (ret), Colvin (ret), 72.89 | (29-30) |
| Ht 11: Johnson, Powell, Purchase, Pugh, 71.93 | (33-32) |
| Ht 12: Courtney, Pugh, Colvin, Harding, 71.11 | (36-35) |
| Ht 13: Bishop, Holloway, Powell, Johnson, 70.34 | (38-39) |
| Ht 14: Pugh, Courtney, Felton, Purchase, 73.17 | (40-43) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) Bishop (g), Holloway (b), Powell (y), Courtney (r), 70.47 | (42-47) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 3: R/R Holloway
Ht 5: R/R Johnson
Ht 8: Purchase replaced Harding
Ht 9: R/R Irwin
Ht 11: Pugh replaced Hunt
Ht 12: R/R Courtney; Pugh replaced Meakins
Second-half:
| Race 1: Nathan Irwin (y), Jordan Frampton (g), Marc Andrews (b), Steve Clarke (ex, left track), 75.10 |
| Race 2: (Demo) Kyle Hughes (r), 74.62 |
| Race 3: Steve Clarke (r), Nathan Irwin (y), Jordan Frampton (g), Marc Andrews (b), 74.05 |
| Race 4: (Demo) Kyle Hughes (r), 77.71 |
Swindon belatedly kicked-off their home Conference League programme against a strong-looking Carmarthen side containing one-time Sprockets in both Steve Bishop and Chris Hunt. The current crop of Team Artdeans Sprockets rose to the challenge and performed very well, but in the end were narrowly beaten, with flying reserve Darren Pugh just giving the Welsh outfit the edge. Indeed, the Shrewsbury-born rider was deserving of high praise, since he only returned to the sport this season following over twenty months out of the saddle with a badly broken leg. Swindon boss Martin Satchell made a slight alteration to his line-up, exchanging the positions of reserves Daniel Harding and James Purchase, whilst Nathan Irwin displaced Jordan Frampton in the number eight slot.
Things began promisingly for the homesters when Malcolm Holloway and Danny Warwick carded maximum points. This, after Ben Powell had gated ahead, only for Wellie to storm inside entering the third bend of lap one. Then, on the third lap, Powell made a mistake and Warwick was through in an instant to secure the ‘fiver’. The Dragons looked like hitting the perfect riposte as Pugh and Gordon Meakins held sway in the second heat, but a sweet inside pass entering the first turn on lap two saw Purchase split the duo for second place.
Holloway and the stylish Jamie Courtney combined for an easy 5-1 in heat three and all of a sudden, the Team Artdeans Sprockets found themselves 12-6 to the good. The fourth heat had to be re-started after Chris Johnson had come to grief on the third bend while challenging Pugh. At the second attempt, Bish and Pugh streaked clear to post maximum points over Swindon’s remaining representative, the tall-in-the-saddle Daniel Harding.
Heat five featured a hairy first lap scrap between Johno and Powell, with Carmarthen’s Aussie just coming out on top to take victory. Meanwhile, Hunt got the better of Courtney for third position to level up the scores at 15-points apiece. The ‘old boys’ met in heat six and it was Holloway who won the duel with Bishop, riding the perfect line to keep Carmarthen’s top man at bay for the duration.
The scores remained locked together after heats seven, eight and nine had ended all-square, with the Dragons moving into a 30-29 lead after a dramatic tenth race. Wellie had led after a big swoop had taken him around the pack on the first corner, and with Colvin failing to leave the start-line, it looked like the Sprockets would move ahead. However, on the back straight of lap three, Holloway’s chain came clean off, leaving Dean Felton to grab victory from Warwick.
The lead was to swing back in Swindon’s favour in heat eleven, when, after cleverly weighing up his options, Johno brilliantly surged around Powell off the last bend to snatch victory on the line. With Purchase beating Pugh for the odd-point, the Team Artdeans Sprockets were 33-32 to the good. A shared heat twelve was followed by a 4-2 advantage to Carmarthen, with Bishop taking a thrilling win after rounding Holloway on the last bend and nosing ahead in the dash to the finish. A 4-2 from Pugh and Felton sent Swindon into the last heat needing a 5-1 to triumph, but it wasn’t to be. Bishop repeated his heat thirteen pass of Holloway with a lap to spare, and with Powell comfortably in third position, the Dragons had won a highly entertaining contest by a five-point margin.