Monday 24 May 2004
TEAM ARTDEANS SWINDON SPROCKETS 44
ARMADALE AWG DALE DEVILS 50
Conference League
SWINDON
| Malcolm Holloway | 2 | 2 | 2 | R | 2 | 6 | 2 | 16 |
| Steve Braidford R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Chris Johnson | 1* | 2 | X | 1 | 4 | 1* | - | 9(2) |
| Danny Warwick | F | F | 3 | 2 | 2* | - | - | 7(1) |
| Simon Walker | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 |
| James Purchase | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Nathan Irwin | 3 | 1* | 1* | 1* | 0 | - | - | 6(3) |
| Jordan Frampton (No.8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
ARMADALE
| Matthew Wethers | 3 | 2* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 17(1) |
| Barry Campbell R/R | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Gary Phelps | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | 15 |
| Carl Shield | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| Derek Sneddon | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2* | 1 | - | - | 11(1) |
| Gary Beaton | 2 | X | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| Sean Stoddart | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 0 | - | - | 0 |
| Andrew Tully (No.8) | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Ht 1: Wethers, Holloway, Johnson, Tully, 68.72 | (3-3) |
| Ht 2: Irwin, Beaton, Purchase, Stoddart, 71.75 | (7-5) |
| Ht 3: Phelps, Johnson, Shield, Warwick (fell), 71.03 | (9-9) |
| Ht 4: Sneddon, Walker, Irwin, Stoddart, 70.51 | (12-12) |
| Ht 5: (Awarded) Phelps, Wethers, Warwick (fell), Johnson (f,ex), No Time | (12-17) |
| Ht 6: (Re-Run) Sneddon, Holloway, Irwin, Beaton (f,ex), 69.84 | (15-20) |
| Ht 7: Phelps, Walker, Shield, Purchase, 71.08 | (17-24) |
| Ht 8: Wethers, Holloway, Irwin, Stoddart, 70.34 | (20-27) |
| Ht 9: Warwick, Sneddon, Johnson, Beaton, 71.03 | (24-29) |
| Ht 10: Phelps, Warwick, Shield, Holloway (ret), 72.13 | (26-33) |
| Ht 11: Wethers, Sneddon, Walker, Purchase, 70.14 | (27-38) |
| Ht 12: Phelps, Johnson (TR), Beaton, Irwin, 72.09 | (31-42) |
| Ht 13: Wethers, Holloway, Sneddon, Walker (TR), 70.94 | (33-46) |
| Ht 14: (Re-Run) Holloway (TS), Warwick, Shield, Stoddart (f,ex), 73.67 | (41-47) |
| Ht 15: (Nominated) Wethers (g), Holloway (r), Johnson (b), Stoddart (y), 71.46 | (44-50) |
Programme changes:-
Ht 1: R/R Johnson; R/R Tully
Ht 5: R/R Phelps
Ht 6: R/R Irwin
Ht 8: R/R Holloway; R/R Wethers
Ht 10: R/R Warwick
Ht 11: R/R Sneddon
Ht 12: T/R Johnson (Double points)
Ht 13: T/R Walker
Ht 14: T/S Holloway for Purchase (Double points)
Second-half:
| Race 1: Jordan Frampton (b), James Purchase (g), Marc Andrews (r; f,rem), Keith Maben (y; fell), 75.27 |
| Race 2: (Demo) Kyle Hughes (r), 74.89 |
| Race 3: James Purchase (g), Adam McKinna (y), Jordan Frampton (b; ret), Marc Andrews (r; fell), 76.80 |
The Team Artdeans Sprockets welcomed back Simon Walker for his first outing of the season, but although Steve Braidford had also hoped to line-up, he was ruled out after breaking a collarbone while riding in the Battle of Britain grass-track event at Collier Street the previous afternoon. With Swindon also shorn of the services of Jamie Courtney due to a family bereavement, team boss Martin Satchell elected to use rider replacement for Braidford at number two, while Nathan Irwin moved into a reserve berth following his appearance at number eight a week earlier versus Carmarthen.
Run on a pleasant evening, those present witnessed an incident-packed encounter and although the Sprockets slipped to a six-point defeat, they performed heroically against an Armadale side containing a powerful spearhead in Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon and former Swindon teamster Gary Phelps.
Wethers gave an indication of what was to come in the opening heat when he sprinted clear from the gate and despite locking up and allowing Malcolm Holloway to get close on the pits turn, the Aussie recovered well for a good win. The reserves’ race featured a terrific effort from Irwin, who beautifully drove into second place on the opening lap, before sweeping around Gary Beaton off the second bend of lap three and on to the chequered flag. Phelps and team-mate Carl Shield made the break in heat three and although the former cantered to victory, the tall-in-the-saddle Chris Johnson finished second after powering under the Devils’ number four on the third bend of lap two.
The points were shared in heat four, with Sneddon notching the win from an ever-pressing Walker and the rock steady Irwin. The fifth heat was to have a major bearing on the destiny of the league points, as Phelps and Wethers scooped an awarded 5-0 for the Scottish outfit. This, after Danny Warwick had fallen on the third turn after unsuccessfully challenging Phelps on the first lap, with Johno coming to grief next time around in the same place and causing the stoppage.
Sandwiched between evenly split results was a seventh heat 4-2 advantage for Phelps and Shield, which, from a tactical point of view, left Swindon frustratingly trailing by seven-points. A 4-2 brought the Team Artdeans Sprockets back into contention, as Warwick took a fine win from Sneddon in his familiar upright style. That was immediately countered by a 4-2 from Armadale, however, with Phelps collecting his fourth straight win of the evening, albeit in fortuitous fashion. Warwick and Holloway held sway from the start, but Phelps cut inside the former on lap two prior to setting after the Swindon skipper. Wellie appeared to have the race under control though, only to shed a chain in the exact same back straight spot as in the previous Monday’s match with Carmarthen, thereby handing victory to Phelps.
An eleventh heat 5-1 from Wethers and Sneddon finally gave Satch the opportunity to try some tactical manoeuvres, with Johnson the first to go for double points. Having missed the gate, the lanky racer overhauled Gary Beaton at the end of the first lap, but there was simply no catching Phelps as he sped on to complete a five-ride maximum. The next throw of the dice saw Walker nominated for a tactical ride, but clearly still far from fully fit, the Bristolian trailed in last as Wethers came from behind to take the win from Holloway, while Sneddon’s third place gave the Devils an unassailable 46-33 lead.
With respectability in mind, Holloway then took a tactical substitute outing off a 15-metre handicap and having caught the field, the race was halted when Sean Stoddart tumbled on the first bend of lap two. The re-run saw Warwick gate and lead up the back straight, with Shield inadvertently clipping his rear wheel at one point. That allowed Holloway to gain ground and the veteran racer drove into second place at the start of lap two, with Warwick subsequently letting his captain through for an 8-1 off the final bend. All that was left was for Wethers to wrap-up a marvellous paid 18-point full-house and following a text book start, the visiting number one was in cruise control as he dashed home.