Post by Genghis on Jul 28, 2007 11:45:35 GMT
Friday, July 27, 2007
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 45 OXFORD CHEETAHS 44 (Knockout Cup, quarter-final, 2nd leg)
Oxford & Plymouth draw 89-89 on aggregate - tie to be replayed
Sometimes a speedway match almost defies description. This was one such match, as the Oxford Cheetahs completed what is probably one of their greatest-ever fightbacks, recovering from a 10-24 deficit after six races, to force a replay to this quarter-final cup clash against the Plymouth Devils. It was a night where anything could and quite often did happen, and also a night where the plucky Cheetahs riders just would not give up.
Steady drizzle in the three hours leading up to the meeting made the tight 216-metre track at St. Bonniface Arena even more challenging than usual, and the opening races were littered with incident.
In Heat 1, Lee Smethills and Danny Betson blasted from the tapes, but Betson threw a chain on the rough fourth bend and the chance of an opening Oxford 5-1 was lost. Smethills led home Seemond Stephens and Billy Legg in a shared opener (3-3).
The Plymouth pair of Tim Webster & Ben Hopwood were first away in Heat 2, but Oliver Gay (replacing the unavailable Dan Blake) fell on the fourth bend, and Brendan Johnson laid his bike down behind him. Gay was excluded from the re-run, which again saw the Devils get out in front. Johnson set off in pursuit, but came a cropper on that tricky fourth bend. He remounted, but he had further troubles with the fourth bend on lap 3, when he lost control, spun 360 degrees and left the track, leaving the Plymouth pair to take a 5-0 (8-3).
In Heat 3, Jordan Frampton was the early leader in front of Jamie Westacott & Tom Brown, but lost control entering the third bend and came a cropper. Sam Martin, who had been last away, had passed Brown by the time the race had to be stopped, with Frampton trapped under his machine. In the re-run, the Devils gated, but Martin repeated his move from the original race to move inside Brown on the fourth turn. Martin came back under pressure from Brown and became another victim of the fourth bend, as he slid off. Martin remounted, but his carburettor was damaged, and he was unable to complete the race, leaving the Devils with a second successive 5-0!! (13-3).
With the start all-important due to track conditions, an over-eager Nicki Glanz went through the tapes in Heat 4. He was put back 15 metres for the re-run, but took a point after third-placed Johnson again spun around on the fourth turn, ending up facing the wrong way and pulling onto the centre green. Meanwhile, Andrew Bargh won the race and, in doing so, became the first Cheetah to complete four laps since Heat 1 (16-6).
Smethills produced an electric start from gate 4 to win a shared Heat 5 - at last, we had four finishers to a race! (19-9).
Oxford's awful luck continued in Heat 6, with Bargh left at the tapes with an engine failure. Stephens & Legg took a comfortable 5-1, with Gay falling and remounting on the third bend of lap 1 and having a couple of moments after that, before taking the third-placed point (24-10).
Glanz & Frampton got a little too close entering the first bend of Heat 7, resulting in Frampton taking a tumble and Martin & Webster laying it down behind him. The referee decreed on a re-start with all 4 riders, with Frampton gating and clamping Glanz to the inside, allowing Martin to swoop around the outside to move from third to first on the second bend. Frampton locked on the fourth bend, causing mayhem behind him as Glanz shut off and Webster laid down, but the race continued with Webster remounting (but later retiring) and Oxford taking their first 5-1 of the evening (25-15).
Betson put his earlier troubles behind him to win Heat 8 convincingly, while Hopwood won an opening lap battle with Johnson, after the latter drifted wide on the fourth turn. Fourth-placed Legg failed to finish, as the Cheetahs revival continued (27-19).
Bargh gated in Heat 9, but Gay lost control on the opening turn and clattered straight into the side of Brown and both came down, with Brown clutching his stomach in some pain. The referee allowed all 4 back in the re-run, somewhat generous on Gay. Bargh led the re-start all the way, which was curtailed and awarded after Gay fell on the fourth bend of lap 3 - Gay had also fallen on the opening bend of the re-run (30-22).
Stephens & Legg got their noses in front out of the start in Heat 10, but Frampton rounded Legg on the second bend, then Martin also went around Legg - on the fourth bend. Thus the race finished as a 3-3 (33-25).
With the track having become much more raceable, the riders were presented with a new challenge for the closing five races - after the electrics packed up on the starting gate. It meant the races would be started by the use of the green light and a piece of elastic being manually released from the outside of the track!
Heat 11 was yet another eventful race. Smethills gated, while Betson came through the middle of Glanz and Webster on a very tight second bend. Glanz swept back under Betson on the second bend of lap 2. As they continued to battle, both lost control on the fourth bend, Glanz ran into Betson, and both Betson and Webster came down. The referee excluded Betson as the cause of the stoppage (it was 50/50 as both Betson and Glanz were out of control when they collided), and the race was awarded as a 3-3 (36-28).
Martin was introduced into Heat 12 as a tactical substitute off 15 metres, and in no time at all, caught Hopwood and went around him on the fourth turn to take third. Martin was on double points, but second-placed Frampton was so caught up in his pursuit of race-leader Brown, that he didn't have a chance to glance back to see Martin behind him. Coming off the final bend, Frampton made one final effort on the inside, almost got through, and lifted alarmingly as he crossed the line. Frampton came tumbling off the back of the bike, which took off and hit Brown in the head, who came down in horrific fashion. It looked very, very nasty, but Brown was sat up in the ambulance, as it took him off to the local hospital. He sustained a shoulder injury - which hopefully will turn out not to be broken (39-32).
Bargh led all the way in Heat 13, but there was a dramatic battle for second place. Glanz rounded Smethills on the fourth turn, but Smethills pushed back inside as they completed the first lap. Glanz repeated his move a lap later and this time got the better of Smethills. Glanz then switched to the inside, but locked up on the fourth bend, right in front of Smethills. They appeared to touch, but both stayed on and the race continued, although Smethills had lost ground due to their close encounter, and the race ended as a 4-2 to Oxford (41-36).
For three laps of Heat 14, Plymouth held a 4-2 which would have taken them into the semi-finals of the KO Cup. Johnson was unable to overhaul third-placed Webster on the opening lap and eventually fell on lap 3. Meanwhile, Westacott appeared to be set for a race win, but Martin reeled him in and blasted around him as they entered the final lap, to keep Oxford's hopes alive (44-39).
Oxford team manager Peter Oakes won the toss the gate positions for Heat 15 and chose 2 & 4, placing Smethills & Bargh off the same positions as Heat 13, when the two had stolen a march going into the first turn. However, Stephens, a renowned sharp starter, this time made a perfect gate from the inside and the Cheetahs were up against it. Bargh flew around Stephens after a lap, and Smethills then also started to close in on Stephens, as excitement grew on the terraces. Stephens pushed Smethills out to the boards on the second bend of lap 3, but Smethills was not going to be denied and shot around the home captain with a lap remaining. It was still quite close on the final lap, with Stephens right on the tail of the Oxford pair, but Smethills crossed the line first in front of Bargh with Stephens third and the Cheetahs had completed a remarkable comeback (45-44).
And so finished an amazing night of speedway - although it means the Cheetahs still have to travel to the St. Bonniface Arena a further three times - in the cup replay (dates have yet to be decided), in the league and in the outstanding Conference Trophy fixture!
Although the Cheetahs threw away countless points, especially in the opening races, the way the riders refused to buckle and eventually came back to force the replay can only be admired. And for the spectator, it was a brilliant match to watch.
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 45
Seemond Stephens 2 3 3 0 1 (9)
Billy Legg 1* 2* R 0 (3+2)
Tom Brown 2* 2 2 3 (9+1)
Jamie Westacott 3 1* 1* 2 (7+2)
Nicki Glanz 1* 1 2 2 0 (6+1)
Tom Webster 2* R 1* 1* (4+3)
Ben Hopwood 3 2 2 0 (7)
Team manager: David Short
OXFORD CHEETAHS 44
Lee Smethills 3 3 3 1 3 (13)
Danny Betson R 0 3 FX (3)
Jordan Frampton FX 2* 2 2 (6+1)
Sam Martin R 3 1* 2*# 3 (9+2)
Andrew Bargh 3 R 3 3 2* (11+1)
Oliver Gay FX 1 FX (1)
Brendan Johnson X R 1 F (1)
Team manager: Peter Oakes
Referee: Chris Dunro plus trainee referee John Homer
# = tactical substitute ride from 15m
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Smethills (O), Stephens (P), Legg (P), Betson (O) (ret), 54.66 (3-3).
2: (Re-run) Hopwood (P), Webster (P), Johnson (O) (fell, remounted then excluded, left track), Gay (fell, excluded), 56.09 (8-3).
3: (Re-run) Westacott (P), Brown (P), Martin (O) (fell, remounted, ret), Frampton (fell, excluded), 54.81 (13-3).
4: (Re-run) Bargh (O), Hopwood (P), Glanz (P) (penalised 15m for touching tapes), Johnson (O) (ret), 55.53 (16-6).
5: Smethills (O), Brown (P), Westacott (P), Betson (O), 53.31 (19-9).
6: Stephens (P), Legg (P), Gay (O) (fell, remounted), Bargh (O) (ret), 56.19 (24-10).
7: (Re-run) Martin (O), Frampton (O), Glanz (P), Webster (fell, remounted, ret) (P), 54.84 (25-15).
8: Betson (O), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Legg (P) (ret), 55.28 (27-19).
9: (Re-run) Bargh (O), Brown (P), Westacott (P), Gay (O) (fell, remounted then fell, excluded), awarded - no time (30-22).
10: Stephens (P), Frampton (O), Martin (O), Legg (P), 54.78 (33-25).
11: Smethills (O), Glanz (P), Webster (P), Betson (O) (fell, excluded), awarded - no tine (36-28).
12: Brown (P), Frampton (O), Martin (O) (t/s off 15m handicap), Hopwood (P), 54.66 (39-32).
13: Bargh (O), Glanz (P), Smethills (O), Stephens (P), 54.88 (41-36).
14: Martin (O), Westacott (P), Webster (P), Johnson (O) (fell), 55.37 (44-39).
15: Smethills (O), Bargh (O), Stephens (P), Glanz (P), 54.97 (45-44).
All the best
Rob
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 45 OXFORD CHEETAHS 44 (Knockout Cup, quarter-final, 2nd leg)
Oxford & Plymouth draw 89-89 on aggregate - tie to be replayed
Sometimes a speedway match almost defies description. This was one such match, as the Oxford Cheetahs completed what is probably one of their greatest-ever fightbacks, recovering from a 10-24 deficit after six races, to force a replay to this quarter-final cup clash against the Plymouth Devils. It was a night where anything could and quite often did happen, and also a night where the plucky Cheetahs riders just would not give up.
Steady drizzle in the three hours leading up to the meeting made the tight 216-metre track at St. Bonniface Arena even more challenging than usual, and the opening races were littered with incident.
In Heat 1, Lee Smethills and Danny Betson blasted from the tapes, but Betson threw a chain on the rough fourth bend and the chance of an opening Oxford 5-1 was lost. Smethills led home Seemond Stephens and Billy Legg in a shared opener (3-3).
The Plymouth pair of Tim Webster & Ben Hopwood were first away in Heat 2, but Oliver Gay (replacing the unavailable Dan Blake) fell on the fourth bend, and Brendan Johnson laid his bike down behind him. Gay was excluded from the re-run, which again saw the Devils get out in front. Johnson set off in pursuit, but came a cropper on that tricky fourth bend. He remounted, but he had further troubles with the fourth bend on lap 3, when he lost control, spun 360 degrees and left the track, leaving the Plymouth pair to take a 5-0 (8-3).
In Heat 3, Jordan Frampton was the early leader in front of Jamie Westacott & Tom Brown, but lost control entering the third bend and came a cropper. Sam Martin, who had been last away, had passed Brown by the time the race had to be stopped, with Frampton trapped under his machine. In the re-run, the Devils gated, but Martin repeated his move from the original race to move inside Brown on the fourth turn. Martin came back under pressure from Brown and became another victim of the fourth bend, as he slid off. Martin remounted, but his carburettor was damaged, and he was unable to complete the race, leaving the Devils with a second successive 5-0!! (13-3).
With the start all-important due to track conditions, an over-eager Nicki Glanz went through the tapes in Heat 4. He was put back 15 metres for the re-run, but took a point after third-placed Johnson again spun around on the fourth turn, ending up facing the wrong way and pulling onto the centre green. Meanwhile, Andrew Bargh won the race and, in doing so, became the first Cheetah to complete four laps since Heat 1 (16-6).
Smethills produced an electric start from gate 4 to win a shared Heat 5 - at last, we had four finishers to a race! (19-9).
Oxford's awful luck continued in Heat 6, with Bargh left at the tapes with an engine failure. Stephens & Legg took a comfortable 5-1, with Gay falling and remounting on the third bend of lap 1 and having a couple of moments after that, before taking the third-placed point (24-10).
Glanz & Frampton got a little too close entering the first bend of Heat 7, resulting in Frampton taking a tumble and Martin & Webster laying it down behind him. The referee decreed on a re-start with all 4 riders, with Frampton gating and clamping Glanz to the inside, allowing Martin to swoop around the outside to move from third to first on the second bend. Frampton locked on the fourth bend, causing mayhem behind him as Glanz shut off and Webster laid down, but the race continued with Webster remounting (but later retiring) and Oxford taking their first 5-1 of the evening (25-15).
Betson put his earlier troubles behind him to win Heat 8 convincingly, while Hopwood won an opening lap battle with Johnson, after the latter drifted wide on the fourth turn. Fourth-placed Legg failed to finish, as the Cheetahs revival continued (27-19).
Bargh gated in Heat 9, but Gay lost control on the opening turn and clattered straight into the side of Brown and both came down, with Brown clutching his stomach in some pain. The referee allowed all 4 back in the re-run, somewhat generous on Gay. Bargh led the re-start all the way, which was curtailed and awarded after Gay fell on the fourth bend of lap 3 - Gay had also fallen on the opening bend of the re-run (30-22).
Stephens & Legg got their noses in front out of the start in Heat 10, but Frampton rounded Legg on the second bend, then Martin also went around Legg - on the fourth bend. Thus the race finished as a 3-3 (33-25).
With the track having become much more raceable, the riders were presented with a new challenge for the closing five races - after the electrics packed up on the starting gate. It meant the races would be started by the use of the green light and a piece of elastic being manually released from the outside of the track!
Heat 11 was yet another eventful race. Smethills gated, while Betson came through the middle of Glanz and Webster on a very tight second bend. Glanz swept back under Betson on the second bend of lap 2. As they continued to battle, both lost control on the fourth bend, Glanz ran into Betson, and both Betson and Webster came down. The referee excluded Betson as the cause of the stoppage (it was 50/50 as both Betson and Glanz were out of control when they collided), and the race was awarded as a 3-3 (36-28).
Martin was introduced into Heat 12 as a tactical substitute off 15 metres, and in no time at all, caught Hopwood and went around him on the fourth turn to take third. Martin was on double points, but second-placed Frampton was so caught up in his pursuit of race-leader Brown, that he didn't have a chance to glance back to see Martin behind him. Coming off the final bend, Frampton made one final effort on the inside, almost got through, and lifted alarmingly as he crossed the line. Frampton came tumbling off the back of the bike, which took off and hit Brown in the head, who came down in horrific fashion. It looked very, very nasty, but Brown was sat up in the ambulance, as it took him off to the local hospital. He sustained a shoulder injury - which hopefully will turn out not to be broken (39-32).
Bargh led all the way in Heat 13, but there was a dramatic battle for second place. Glanz rounded Smethills on the fourth turn, but Smethills pushed back inside as they completed the first lap. Glanz repeated his move a lap later and this time got the better of Smethills. Glanz then switched to the inside, but locked up on the fourth bend, right in front of Smethills. They appeared to touch, but both stayed on and the race continued, although Smethills had lost ground due to their close encounter, and the race ended as a 4-2 to Oxford (41-36).
For three laps of Heat 14, Plymouth held a 4-2 which would have taken them into the semi-finals of the KO Cup. Johnson was unable to overhaul third-placed Webster on the opening lap and eventually fell on lap 3. Meanwhile, Westacott appeared to be set for a race win, but Martin reeled him in and blasted around him as they entered the final lap, to keep Oxford's hopes alive (44-39).
Oxford team manager Peter Oakes won the toss the gate positions for Heat 15 and chose 2 & 4, placing Smethills & Bargh off the same positions as Heat 13, when the two had stolen a march going into the first turn. However, Stephens, a renowned sharp starter, this time made a perfect gate from the inside and the Cheetahs were up against it. Bargh flew around Stephens after a lap, and Smethills then also started to close in on Stephens, as excitement grew on the terraces. Stephens pushed Smethills out to the boards on the second bend of lap 3, but Smethills was not going to be denied and shot around the home captain with a lap remaining. It was still quite close on the final lap, with Stephens right on the tail of the Oxford pair, but Smethills crossed the line first in front of Bargh with Stephens third and the Cheetahs had completed a remarkable comeback (45-44).
And so finished an amazing night of speedway - although it means the Cheetahs still have to travel to the St. Bonniface Arena a further three times - in the cup replay (dates have yet to be decided), in the league and in the outstanding Conference Trophy fixture!
Although the Cheetahs threw away countless points, especially in the opening races, the way the riders refused to buckle and eventually came back to force the replay can only be admired. And for the spectator, it was a brilliant match to watch.
PLYMOUTH DEVILS 45
Seemond Stephens 2 3 3 0 1 (9)
Billy Legg 1* 2* R 0 (3+2)
Tom Brown 2* 2 2 3 (9+1)
Jamie Westacott 3 1* 1* 2 (7+2)
Nicki Glanz 1* 1 2 2 0 (6+1)
Tom Webster 2* R 1* 1* (4+3)
Ben Hopwood 3 2 2 0 (7)
Team manager: David Short
OXFORD CHEETAHS 44
Lee Smethills 3 3 3 1 3 (13)
Danny Betson R 0 3 FX (3)
Jordan Frampton FX 2* 2 2 (6+1)
Sam Martin R 3 1* 2*# 3 (9+2)
Andrew Bargh 3 R 3 3 2* (11+1)
Oliver Gay FX 1 FX (1)
Brendan Johnson X R 1 F (1)
Team manager: Peter Oakes
Referee: Chris Dunro plus trainee referee John Homer
# = tactical substitute ride from 15m
HEAT DETAILS:
1: Smethills (O), Stephens (P), Legg (P), Betson (O) (ret), 54.66 (3-3).
2: (Re-run) Hopwood (P), Webster (P), Johnson (O) (fell, remounted then excluded, left track), Gay (fell, excluded), 56.09 (8-3).
3: (Re-run) Westacott (P), Brown (P), Martin (O) (fell, remounted, ret), Frampton (fell, excluded), 54.81 (13-3).
4: (Re-run) Bargh (O), Hopwood (P), Glanz (P) (penalised 15m for touching tapes), Johnson (O) (ret), 55.53 (16-6).
5: Smethills (O), Brown (P), Westacott (P), Betson (O), 53.31 (19-9).
6: Stephens (P), Legg (P), Gay (O) (fell, remounted), Bargh (O) (ret), 56.19 (24-10).
7: (Re-run) Martin (O), Frampton (O), Glanz (P), Webster (fell, remounted, ret) (P), 54.84 (25-15).
8: Betson (O), Hopwood (P), Johnson (O), Legg (P) (ret), 55.28 (27-19).
9: (Re-run) Bargh (O), Brown (P), Westacott (P), Gay (O) (fell, remounted then fell, excluded), awarded - no time (30-22).
10: Stephens (P), Frampton (O), Martin (O), Legg (P), 54.78 (33-25).
11: Smethills (O), Glanz (P), Webster (P), Betson (O) (fell, excluded), awarded - no tine (36-28).
12: Brown (P), Frampton (O), Martin (O) (t/s off 15m handicap), Hopwood (P), 54.66 (39-32).
13: Bargh (O), Glanz (P), Smethills (O), Stephens (P), 54.88 (41-36).
14: Martin (O), Westacott (P), Webster (P), Johnson (O) (fell), 55.37 (44-39).
15: Smethills (O), Bargh (O), Stephens (P), Glanz (P), 54.97 (45-44).
All the best
Rob
