Sunday 20 June 2004
NEWCASTLE ULTRAFAST GEMS 53
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 39
Conference League
NEWCASTLE
| Lee Dicken | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | - | 13 |
| John Branney | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 |
| Corey Blackman | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | 11 |
| Karl Langley | R | 0 | R | F | - | - | - | 0 |
| Jamie Robertson | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2* | - | - | 14(1) |
| Michael Pickering | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | 7 |
| David Haigh | 0 | 2* | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 3(1) |
SWINDON
| Malcolm Holloway | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | 11 |
| Mark Thompson | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | 3 |
| Chris Johnson | R | 1* | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 5(1) |
| Danny Warwick | 2 | 2 | 1* | 2 | 1 | - | - | 8(1) |
| Steve Braidford | F | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | 6 |
| Nathan Irwin | 1* | 0 | R | 1* | 1* | - | - | 3(3) |
| John Morrison | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Ht 1: Dicken, Holloway, Branney, Thompson, 66.6 | (4-2) |
| Ht 2: Pickering, Morrison, Irwin, Haigh, 68.2 | (7-5) |
| Ht 3: Blackman, Warwick, Johnson (ret), Langley (ret), 68.7 | (10-7) |
| Ht 4: Robertson, Haigh, Morrison, Braidford (fell), 67.9 | (15-8) |
| Ht 5: Holloway, Blackman, Thompson, Langley, 67.8 | (17-12) |
| Ht 6: Dicken, Braidford, Branney, Irwin, 67.0 | (21-14) |
| Ht 7: Robertson, Warwick, Johnson, Pickering (f,rem), 67.0 | (24-17) |
| Ht 8: Branney, Thompson, Haigh, Morrison, 69.0 | (28-19) |
| Ht 9: Blackman, Braidford (TR), Irwin (ret), Langley (ret), 68.5 | (31-23) |
| Ht 10: Dicken, Johnson, Warwick, Branney, 67.1 | (34-26) |
| Ht 11: Robertson, Holloway (TR), Pickering, Thompson, 67.8 | (38-30) |
| Ht 12: Blackman, Johnson, Irwin, Haigh, 69.9 | (41-33) |
| Ht 13: Robertson, Holloway, Dicken, Braidford, 67.3 | (45-35) |
| Ht 14: Pickering, Warwick, Irwin, Langley (fell), 70.2 | (48-38) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) Dicken (b), Robertson (r), Warwick (g), Johnson (y), 66.6 | (53-39) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 9: TR Braidford (Double points)
Ht 11: TR Holloway (Double points)
Ht 14: Irwin replaced Morrison
Following their postponement at Armadale the previous day, the Team Artdeans Sprockets’ mini-tour concluded with a highly competitive encounter against Newcastle at a showery Brough Park. Despite the intermittent rainfall, both sides really got stuck in and there was plenty of excellent racing for those present to enjoy. As ever, Swindon’s scoring was headed by the ever-enthusiastic Malcolm Holloway, while there were particularly useful showings from Danny Warwick and Nathan Irwin.
The Sprockets went into the match without the services of Jamie Courtney following an accident while helping to prepare the track at the Isle of Wight earlier in the week. His place at reserve was filled by Berwick junior John Morrison and under the circumstances the sixteen-year-old rode very well indeed.
Wellie trapped ahead in the opener, only to go across the second corner and allow Lee Dicken through for the win. Behind, Mark Thompson worked his way through to third place on the opening lap, but was caught by John Branney coming off the second bend of lap three as the Gems secured a 4-2. Michael Pickering was untroubled in winning heat two after a fast start, with Morrison and Irwin combining well to split the points ahead of David Haigh.
The third heat was somewhat bizarre, with Chris Johnson initially leading into the first turn from Corey Blackman. The Australian swept into the lead off the second bend, but seconds later both Johno and the last placed Karl Langley came to a stop in a remarkable display of synchronized chain collapsing! That left Blackman to take victory, with Warwick unchallenged in second spot.
Riding in his first match back from injury, Steve Braidford tore into the lead in heat four and determinedly held off the charging Jamie Robertson. However, the lad from Maidstone over-cooked the fourth bend and came to grief, leaving Robertson and Haigh to gather maximum points ahead of Morrison. The Team Artdeans Sprockets gained what turned out to be their only race win in the fifth heat, when Holloway cut across from the outside gate and resisted the thrusts of the always threatening Blackman for a fine success. A terrific scrap went on behind, with Tommo eventually getting the better of Langley in mid-race for a good point.
A Newcastle 4-2 was then followed by a share of the spoils to leave the homesters holding a 24-17 advantage after seven races. The eighth heat was to prove an absolute speedway classic, as time and again Branney and Thompson re-passed each other in a superb exhibition of gutsy racing. Tommo looked to have done enough to post the win when he once more rounded his opponent on the second bend of the last lap, but Branney wound it on to fly ahead off the final bend. Meanwhile, Haigh mopped-up the odd-point, thereby extending the Gems lead to 28-19.
That was the signal for Braidford to take a tactical ride and whilst he tried hard, he just couldn’t get on terms with the speedy Blackman. As with heat three, there were just two finishers as Langley suffered engine failure from the gate, while Irwin came to a halt a little later on the opening lap. With the next race shared, Holloway was nominated for a tactical ride in heat eleven, but Robertson just got the edge from the gate and with rain falling, the Swindon number one was unable to see clearly enough to make a telling challenge.
The match might have been slipping away, but Johnson and Irwin still rode well to share the points behind Blackman in heat twelve. Then, Dicken got the drop in heat thirteen, with Wellie brilliantly rounding him to lead off the second bend. At the same time, Robertson cut underneath his team-mate, prior to driving inside Holloway on the back straight. With no further positional changes, the resultant 4-2 increased the Gems lead to ten-points at 45-35.
Langley completed a night he would want to forget by looping at the start of the penultimate heat, with Warwick and Irwin subsequently following the impressive Robertson home. Newcastle duly ended the meeting on a high, when Dicken thundered to victory in the nominated race, with Robertson in close attendance throughout to complete a deserved paid maximum.