Play-off Semi-finals - 29-09-08

[admin]

Nine teams started out in the Elite League this season, all survived somehow, but only four teams are still in with a chance of claiming the dubious distinction of being champions of a discredited league: Poole, Lakeside, Swindon and Ipswich.
And this coming Monday sees the semi-finals being held, where Ipswich visit Poole and Swindon visit Lakeside. Interestingly, Ipswich have won at Poole this season and Swindon have won at Lakeside, but traditionally the home side wins in the play-off semi-finals. But will they this time?
It's hard to see Ipswich making an impression against Poole. Their win at Poole was facilitated by having Piotr Swiderski at reserve. Similarly, Swindon's win at Lakeside was made possible by a 21-point-maximum from Jurica Pavlic and he won't be having seven rides from reserve come Monday.
So I think that it'll be Poole and Lakeside in the final, but we should find out for sure on Monday.

[admin]

Poole versus Ipswich

Poole..59

1..C Holder..3,3,3,1,3 = 13
2..M Zetterstrom..2',0,2,2' = 6+2
3..B Pedersen..2,3,3,3,2' = 13+1
4..A Skornicki..1',2',1,3 = 7+1
5..D Watt..3,3,2,3 = 11
6..F Eriksson..2',1,1',1 = 5+2
7..D Davidsson..3,0,1',0 = 4+1

Ipswich..33

1..P Swiderski..1,1,3,0 = 5
2..T Kroner..R/R
3..K Bjerre..3,4,1,2,1 = 11
4..R Miskowiak..0,0,0 = 0
5..R Schlein..2,1',3,2,2,0 = 10+1
6..S Johnston..0,1,2,0,0,1',2 = 6+1
7..C Schramm..0,1',0,0,0 = 1+1

Ht 1..Holder, Zetterstrom, Swiderski, Johnston 5-1 (5-1)
Ht 2..Davidsson, Eriksson, Johnston, Schramm 5-1 (10-2)
Ht 3..Bjerre, Pedersen, Skornicki, Miskowiak 3-3 (13-5)
Ht 4..Watt, Schlein, Schramm, Davidsson 3-3 (16-8)
Ht 5..Pedersen, Skornicki, Swiderski, Schramm 5-1 (21-9)
Ht 6..Holder, Johnston, Schlein, Zetterstrom 3-3 (24-12)
Ht 7..Watt, Bjerre [T/R], Eriksson, Miskowiak 4-4 (28-16)
Ht 8..Schlein, Zetterstrom, Davidsson, Johnston 3-3 (31-19)
Ht 9..Pedersen, Schlein, Skornicki, Schramm 4-2 (35-21)
Ht 10..Holder, Zetterstrom, Bjerre, Miskowiak 5-1 (40-22)
Ht 11..Swiderski, Watt, Eriksson, Johnston 3-3 (43-25)
Ht 12..Pedersen, Bjerre, Johnston, Davidsson 3-3 (46-28)
Ht 13..Watt, Schlein, Holder, Swiderski 4-2 (50-30)
Ht 14..Skornicki, Johnston, Eriksson, Schramm 4-2 (54-32)
Ht 15..Holder, Pedersen, Bjerre, Schlein 5-1 (59-33)

Notes:

1..Ht 1 and Johnston takes the R/R for Ipswich.
2..Ht 5 and Schramm takes the R/R for Ipswich.
3..Ht 7 and Ipswich's Bjerre takes a Tactical Ride - his points will count double if he defeats an opponent.
4..Ht 8 and Schlein takes the R/R for Ipswich.
5..Ht 8 and Johnston replaces Schramm for Ipswich.
6..Ht 9 and Schramm replaces Johnston for Ipswich.
7..Ht 10 and we've a re-run with all 4 after an unsatisfactory start.
8..Ht 11 and Johnston replaces the R/R as a Reserve Replacement for Ipswich.
9..Ht 14 and Johnston replaces Miskowiak for Ipswich.
10..Ht 15 and it's Pedersen ( R )-Holder ( G ) for Poole and it's Bjerre ( G )-Schlein ( Y ) for Ipswich.

[admin]

Lakeside versus Swindon

Lakeside..56

1..A Shields..R/R
2..T Jedrzejak..3,2',2',2',2,1 = 12+3
3..A Jonsson..3,3,3,3,3 = 15
4..L Lanham..2',1,3,2',2,0 = 10+2
5..E Kennett..1,3,3,2,1' = 10+1
6..R Kling..0,1,1',1' = 3+2
7..K Nieminen..2,1,3,0 = 6

Swindon..33

1..L Adams..2,2,1,3,3,3 = 14
2..J Wright..0,0,0 = 0
3..J Pavlic..0,0,W = 0
4..T Batchelor..1,2,0,0 = 3
5..M Korneliussen..0,1,1,0 = 2
6..C Gathercole..1,0,0,0 = 1
7..T McGowan..3,2,0,1,2,3,2' = 13+1

Ht 1..Jedrzejak, Adams, Kennett, Wright 4-2 (4-2)
Ht 2..McGowan, Nieminen, Gathercole, Kling 2-4 (6-6)
Ht 3..Jonsson, Lanham, Batchelor, Pavlic 5-1 (11-7)
Ht 4..Kennett, McGowan, Nieminen, Korneliussen [F/Ex] 4-2 (15-9)
Ht 5..Jonsson, Adams, Lanham, Wright 4-2 (19-11)
Ht 6..Lanham, Jedrzejak, Korneliussen, Gathercole 5-1 (24-12)
Ht 7..Kennett, Batchelor, Kling, Pavlic 4-2 (28-14)
Ht 8..Nieminen, Jedrzejak, Adams [T/S], McGowan 5-1 (33-15)
Ht 9..Jonsson, Lanham, Korneliussen, Gathercole 5-1 (38-16)
Ht 10..Jonsson, Jedrzejak, McGowan, Batchelor [T/R] 5-1 (43-17)
Ht 11..Adams, Kennett, Kling, Wright 3-3 (46-20)
Ht 12..Jonsson, McGowan, Gathercole [F/Ret], Nieminen [F/Ex] 3-2 (49-22)
Ht 13..Adams, Jedrzejak, Kennett, Korneliussen [F/Ret] 3-3 (52-25)
Ht 14..McGowan, Lanham, Kling, Batchelor [E/F] 3-3 (55-28)
Ht 15..Adams, McGowan, Jedrzejak, Lanham 1-5 (56-33)

Notes:

1..Ht 1 and Kennett takes the R/R for Lakeside.
2..Ht 4 and we've a re-run without Swindon's Korneliussen who takes a tumble and is excluded.
3..Ht 6 and Lanham takes the R/R for Lakeside.
4..Ht 8 and Adams replaces Wright as a Tactical Substitute off a 15 metre handicap for Swindon - his points will count double if he defeats an opponent.
5..Ht 10 and Jonsson takes the R/R for Lakeside.
6..Ht 10 and Swindon's Batchelor takes a Tactical Ride - his points will count double if he defeats an opponent.
7..Ht 10 and Swindon's Pavlic is withdrawn from the meeting.
8..Ht 10 and McGowan replaces Pavlic for Swindon.
9..Ht 12 and McGowan replaces Pavlic for Swindon.
10..Ht 12 and we've a re-run without Lakeside's Nieminen who takes a tumble and is excluded.
11..Ht 13 and Jedrzejak takes the R/R for Lakeside.
12..Ht 13 and we've a re-run with all 4 after an unsatisfactory start.
13..Ht 15 and it's Jedrzejak ( R )-Lanham ( B ) for Lakeside and it's Adams ( G )-McGowan ( Y ) for Swindon.

[Deleted]

Really I think it is a shame the semi finals are not run on the home/away basis that the rest of the season is based on (including the final). What do Ipswich/Swindon fans and promotions get out of their achievement apart from one extra Sky appearance, unless they do what most would expect them not to and actually win. So no extra home meeting with the extra income and local press coverage that would entail - in fact nothing more than those teams who finish fifth sixth etc. Financially it may even be more remunerative to finish in the bottom two of the Elite league and gain from the extra meetings held - an insane way to run the sport (as if we don't have plenty of evidence of this already).

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2008 9:38:28 GMT @maneacat said:

Really I think it is a shame the semi finals are not run on the home/away basis that the rest of the season is based on (including the final). What do Ipswich/Swindon fans and promotions get out of their achievement apart from one extra Sky appearance, unless they do what most would expect them not to and actually win. So no extra home meeting with the extra income and local press coverage that would entail - in fact nothing more than those teams who finish fifth sixth etc. Financially it may even be more remunerative to finish in the bottom two of the Elite league and gain from the extra meetings held - an insane way to run the sport (as if we don't have plenty of evidence of this already).

I suppose the way it is done is to provide an incentive to finish higher up the league, i.e. a home draw in the play offs so that an advantage is gained, rather than a team who have amassed a lot of points by August being able to throw in the odd poor score here and there looking towards next season's average knowing that it will not affect their chances of being Elite League Champions.

[Deleted]

Yes I see where you are coming from - this average manipulation is a real problem and if that is the thinking behind the semi-final another reason to try and find a fairer solution to team building. It cannot be right in a team sport based on home and away meetings for the home fans to not see their riders compete on their own track in the semi finals - perhaps drawing all four clubs out of a hat for the semi's would work and prevent clubs trying to ensure they meet the opposition they prefer.

[schumi]

Kenneth Bjerre comes in as a guest for Hampel tonight, and Kroner is ruled out due to his injury, so it's R/R for him.

Poole:

1..C Holder
2..M Zetterstrom
3..B Pedersen
4..A Skornicki
5..D Watt
6..F Eriksson
7..D Davidsson

Ipswich:

1..P Swiderski
2..R/R
3..K Bjerre (Guest)
4..R Miskowiak
5..R Schlein
6..S Johnston
7..C Schramm

---

In the Lakeside/Swindon meeting, once again controversy reigns, with this statement from Gary Patchett:

When I spoke to Jon Cook (Lakeside Manager) on Wednesday I asked whether Jonas would be in the Lakeside team on Monday, given that he was scheduled to ride in Poland today (Sunday).

Jon Cook told me that regardlessof the outcome of today's meeting Jonas would not ride on Monday.

He told me that he wasn't prepared to take any risks on what is Lakeside's most important meeting and that Jonas Davidsson would be present on Monday with a medical certificate, if necessary.

I told him that I thought we would have to challenge that decision and I requested that the Management Committee remove the facility for Lakeside to use a guest for Jonas in light of the fact that he is obviously fit to ride.

Furthermore, I wanted to know how a rider could be judged by his promoter to be unfit after a meeting in which he had yet to ride.

Jon called me on Thursday to enquire about the situation with Manuel Hauzinger as he had been advised by another Elite League promoter that Manuel had been riding abroad whilst being absent here.

I told him that we were advised by the rider that he had been injured in a meeting last weekend and that was why he was absent against Coventry.

A medical certificate diagnosing a hand injury was submitted to the BSPA. Furthermore, that if he could provide me with evidence that he ridden in the meantime then I would take the appropriate action. No evidence has been forthcoming.

I called Jon on Friday to advise him that, contrary to medical advice that an operation was required on his injured hand, Manuel Hauzinger intended to ride this weekend and, subject to him coming through that meeting, he would take his place in our side on Monday.

He was named in our team on that basis. I re-itereated our stance that Davidsson should, likewise, be named in his team for Monday's meeting.

I understand that Hauzinger will not ride on Monday but we are hardly advantaged by using our #8. Cory's average is substantially less than that of the rider he replaces. What's more Lubos Tomicek, according to his own website, has ridden twice in the last 5 days. Where is he?

I have received no reply from the Management Committee despite my request that the matter be addressed prior to the meeting and given that the Lakeside team, published on Friday includes Edward Kennett who, by average, is a stronger rider than Jonas Davidsson. Needless to say Lakeside will present a medical certificate tomorrow, it goes without saying.

However, here's the Lakeside view this morning:

www.lakesidehammers.com/latest/290908.asp

Line-ups are expected to be:

Lakeside:

1..R/R
2..T Jedrzejak
3..A Jonsson
4..L Lanham
5..E Kennett (Guest)
6..R Kling
7..K Nieminen

Swindon:

1..L Adams
2..J Wright
3..J Pavlic
4..T Batchelor
5..M Korneliussen
6..C Gathercole
7..T McGowan

[Deleted]

Any ideas whether these meetings will be available via the internet?

[Deleted]

Oh sod it, this goes against my Racers principles, but I have developed a bit of a soft spot for them in recent years so.......

C'mon the Bobbins. ;D

[Genghis]

Sept 29, 2008 15:02:45 GMT @wacks said:

Oh sod it, this goes against my Racers principles, but I have developed a bit of a soft spot for them in recent years so.......

C'mon the Bobbins. ;D

Wacks - I'm shocked.

Come on Lakeside.

[admin]

I'm afraid I stand with the Robins on this one. Truly shameful behaviour from Lakeside. Their facility for Davidsson should be withdrawn.

[Genghis]

Sept 29, 2008 15:17:55 GMT admin said:

I'm afraid I stand with the Robins on this one. Truly shameful behaviour from Lakeside. Their facility for Davidsson should be withdrawn.

And what of the McGowan/Mildenhall affair?

Come on the Hammers!!!!! ;D ;D

[admin]

McGowan is Swindon's punishment.

[schumi]

Johnno not doing much - unless you count getting in the way and wobbling about a lot.

[Genghis]

Sept 29, 2008 17:05:18 GMT admin said:

McGowan is Swindon's punishment.

Well, so far he's scored over half their points.

But cheats never prosper, and the Hammers are currently 15-9 to the good against those dastardly Robins.