Post by Mr X on Jun 29, 2004 20:38:42 GMT
Monday 28 June 2004… Wolves 58 Oxford 35… ELB… Wolves win bonus.
Wolves 58
1. Mikael Max 3-3-3-3-3 = 15
2. Daniel Nermark R/R
3. Chris Neath 1-0-Tx-2 = 3
4. David Howe 3-2-3-3-3 = 14
5. Sam Ermolenko 3-3-0-R-2* = 8+1
6. Fredrik Lindgren 0-3-2*-2*-1-1 = 9+2
7. Adam Skornicki 2*-2*-2*-2*-1-R = 9+4
Oxford Silver Machine 35
1. Greg Hancock 2-6-2*-2-1 = 13+1
2. Travis McGowan 1*-1-R = 2+1
3. Sebastian Ulamek 0-0-0-1 = 1
4. Niels K Iversen 2-1-1-0 = 4
5. Rafal Dobrucki 1-1-0-1* = 3+1
6. Jonas Davidsson R-0-1 = 1
7. Ryan Fisher 1-Fx-2-3-3-2-F = 11
Team News: Simon Stead’s return to the Wolves side fails to materialise as he was advised to rest his heel injury for a week. Chris Neath moves back into the main body of the team with Adam Skornicki dropping to reserve. For Oxford, Sebastian Ulamek has recovered from his broken collarbone.
As many of a reasonable sized crowd had one eye on Tim Henman’s Wimbledon exploits on the TV screens in the bar, the meeting began on a very heavy looking track. Deep and over-watered, some fans speculated that Wolves and Oxford might have swapped track curators…
1. Max, Hancock, McGowan, Lindgren(RR) 3-3, 3-3
The track IS as heavy as it looks and Freddie gets covered in sh… ale at the back.
2. Lindgren, Skornicki, Fisher, Davidsson(ret) 5-1, 8-4
Fisher gates and looks quite good for a couple of laps before switching to his comedy clown bike. Whoops! He misses the top bend and Freddie goes by… Look out! He hilariously wobbles down the back straight, arms and legs everywhere. How the children laugh at his huge clown shoes and red nose! How they cheer as Adam passes him for 2nd place!
It is then announced that there will be a delay while the track is re-graded. In all honesty, it looks heavy from the terraces but not that bad. General opinion is that given a couple more races it would have been OK (not easy to tell from the terraces I admit). As it is, we have ten minutes of the tractors going round which seems to make the surface much worse… much of the wet stuff is now lying in huge clumps of dirt on the bends. So out comes the big blade for the second home match running (and not a drop of rain in sight) to the groans of the crowd, many of whom head for the bar to watch “Tiger Tim.” The blade does it’s stuff, and after a 40 minute delay we are ready to go again. Announcer Nigel Pearson thanks the crowd for being so patient (what other choice do we have – Go home? Beat up the bar staff?) and the problem is blamed on “the wrong sort of shale” (British Rail excuse no. 264). Too much clay in it apparently.
3. Howe, Iversen, Neath, Ulamek. 4-2, 12-6.
No problems with the track now, and Wolves Ace David Howe serves a winner stright down the line. Chris Neath easily beats an unsteady looking Ulamek and it’s advantage Wolves. There’s lots more Wimbledon puns if you want them… just let me know.
4. Ermolenko, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Fisher(Fx) 5-1, 17-7.
Fisher gets to the first bend and falls in a heap on the floor. All due to the wrong sort of rider apparently. Sam and Adam ride an aggressive first bend in the rerun and Dobrucki never threatens.
5. Hancock(TR), Howe, McGowan, Neath. 2-7, 19-14
Greg comes in as double points and gets away with a roller at the start. David prevents the 8-1 by rounding McGowan on the 4th bend.
6. Max, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Davidsson. 5-1, 24-15
Mike absolutely loves the grippy track and simply flies round in a time of 56.19, fastest time of the season and just outside the track record of 55.96. Adam hangs on to second after Dobrucki briefly threatens.
7. Ermolenko, Lindgren, Iversen, Ulamek. 5-1, 29-16
Great start from Sam, Fredrik gets squeezed out on the back straight but rides a great 3rd and 4th bend around the outside of Iversen for the 5-1. Everyone expected this match to be close…
8. Howe, Skornicki, Davidsson, McGowan(TR) (Fx) 5-1, 34-17
Travis McGowan gets a double points ride but takes a very heavy looking fall on the run in to the 1st bend. Nobody can quite work out what went wrong for him, presumably some sort of machine failure. After lengthy treatment he is taken off the track in an ambulance with a hip injury and Oxford’s fading hopes leave with him. Easy 5-1 in the rerun. Mmmm… donuts!
9. Howe, Fisher, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Neath (Tx) 4-2, 38-19
Chris is too eager at the start and touches the tapes. Fisher leads the rerun but a smart 2nd bend from David, who is really on form tonight, sees him take the lead. Adam drops his first points of the night when he can’t catch Fisher.
10. Max, Lindgren, Iversen, Ulamek. 5-1, 43-20
Another impressive win from Mikael who is joined at the front by the hard riding Freddie. Iversen closed him down on the first bend but Lindgren won’t be denied and storms underneath him on the 3rd bend. Very impressive stuff and it’s becoming a rout now.
11. Fisher, Hancock, Lindgren, Ermolenko. 1-5, 44-25
Sam has the drop on Greg, but the referee decides there’s a fault on the serve and asks them to play a let. In the rerun, Fisher looks much more like the Fisher King (rather than Fisher ‘king Awful as he did earlier). Impressive team riding from Hancock and it’s the speedway equivalent of a consolation goal.
12. Fisher, Neath, Ulamek, Skornicki (ret) 2-4, 46-29
Adam’s bike coughs and splutters from the start presenting Ulamek with his only point of the night (a paid minimum!) Chris almost catches Flyin Ryan at the front.
13. Max, Hancock, Dobrucki, Ermolenko (ret) 3-3, 49-32.
In the battle of the Monmore specialists, Hancock makes a fine start but Mikael picks up speed off the 2nd bend and dives up the inside on the 3rd bend, pulling away for an excellent win. Sam stops with a puncture in a safe 3rd presenting Dobrucki with an unearned point (another paid mimimum!).
14. Howe, Fisher, Lindgren, Iversen. 4-2, 53-34
David takes his fourth win of the night and shows his passion for the team by grabbing his race suit aggressively on the victory lap. A message to his critics perhaps? He’s pushed all the way by Fisher who passes Lindgren on the 4th bend for 2nd.
15. Max, Ermolenko, Hancock, Fisher (F) 5-1, 58-35
There’s mild surprise on the terraces when Sam gets the nod ahead of David for the last heat… Hancock makes another excellent start but Mikael produces a replay of heat 13 and a superb 2nd bend helps him fly past down the back straight on the inside. The king of Monmore has his crown back… or does he? Sudden Sam is not finished yet and he’s out scraping the fence on the 3rd and 4th bend, somehow finding enough grip to charge through a tiny gap on the outside of Hancock down the home straight! A brilliant ride from both Wolves riders and another memory to store away from Sam’s amazing Wolves career. Full credit to Greg Hancock who gave them just enough room to race.
Five Star Ratings
MIKAEL “15 POINT” MAX ***** An absolutely awesome performance. Perfect.
“CRAFTY” CHRIS *** No lack of effort but he will inevitably find the points hard to come by at number 3.
“DASHING” DAVID ***** An excellent night’s work. Looks confident and aggressive again, back to his best form for Wolves.
“SUDDEN” SAM **** Made up for a dodgy ride with that superb outside pass of Hancock in heat 15. Vintage stuff yet again.
“FAST” FREDDIE **** Very impressive, has taken an instant liking to Monmore and rides with aggression and confidence.
“BONUS KING” ADAM **** One star for each paid win! Another rider bang on form tonight.
“TIGER” TIM ***** Is this finally his year (of course not!).
WEATHER **** The showers kept away.
TRACK CONDITIONS ** An embarrassing night for a club who pride themselves on a professionally run show. To their credit the track rode very well after the delay.
ATTENDANCE *** A regraded rat.
WOLVES PERFORMANCE ***** A much easier win than expected against dangerous looking opponents. Very impressive.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE *** The long delay and runaway win took some of the gloss off a fine performance but heat 15 sent ‘em home happy!
WOLVES MAN OF THE MATCH: On any other day, David Howe’s superb 14 points would be enough, but it has to be MIKAEL who was in stunning form tonight… simply unbeatable.
Mark Rowe.
Wolves 58
1. Mikael Max 3-3-3-3-3 = 15
2. Daniel Nermark R/R
3. Chris Neath 1-0-Tx-2 = 3
4. David Howe 3-2-3-3-3 = 14
5. Sam Ermolenko 3-3-0-R-2* = 8+1
6. Fredrik Lindgren 0-3-2*-2*-1-1 = 9+2
7. Adam Skornicki 2*-2*-2*-2*-1-R = 9+4
Oxford Silver Machine 35
1. Greg Hancock 2-6-2*-2-1 = 13+1
2. Travis McGowan 1*-1-R = 2+1
3. Sebastian Ulamek 0-0-0-1 = 1
4. Niels K Iversen 2-1-1-0 = 4
5. Rafal Dobrucki 1-1-0-1* = 3+1
6. Jonas Davidsson R-0-1 = 1
7. Ryan Fisher 1-Fx-2-3-3-2-F = 11
Team News: Simon Stead’s return to the Wolves side fails to materialise as he was advised to rest his heel injury for a week. Chris Neath moves back into the main body of the team with Adam Skornicki dropping to reserve. For Oxford, Sebastian Ulamek has recovered from his broken collarbone.
As many of a reasonable sized crowd had one eye on Tim Henman’s Wimbledon exploits on the TV screens in the bar, the meeting began on a very heavy looking track. Deep and over-watered, some fans speculated that Wolves and Oxford might have swapped track curators…
1. Max, Hancock, McGowan, Lindgren(RR) 3-3, 3-3
The track IS as heavy as it looks and Freddie gets covered in sh… ale at the back.
2. Lindgren, Skornicki, Fisher, Davidsson(ret) 5-1, 8-4
Fisher gates and looks quite good for a couple of laps before switching to his comedy clown bike. Whoops! He misses the top bend and Freddie goes by… Look out! He hilariously wobbles down the back straight, arms and legs everywhere. How the children laugh at his huge clown shoes and red nose! How they cheer as Adam passes him for 2nd place!
It is then announced that there will be a delay while the track is re-graded. In all honesty, it looks heavy from the terraces but not that bad. General opinion is that given a couple more races it would have been OK (not easy to tell from the terraces I admit). As it is, we have ten minutes of the tractors going round which seems to make the surface much worse… much of the wet stuff is now lying in huge clumps of dirt on the bends. So out comes the big blade for the second home match running (and not a drop of rain in sight) to the groans of the crowd, many of whom head for the bar to watch “Tiger Tim.” The blade does it’s stuff, and after a 40 minute delay we are ready to go again. Announcer Nigel Pearson thanks the crowd for being so patient (what other choice do we have – Go home? Beat up the bar staff?) and the problem is blamed on “the wrong sort of shale” (British Rail excuse no. 264). Too much clay in it apparently.
3. Howe, Iversen, Neath, Ulamek. 4-2, 12-6.
No problems with the track now, and Wolves Ace David Howe serves a winner stright down the line. Chris Neath easily beats an unsteady looking Ulamek and it’s advantage Wolves. There’s lots more Wimbledon puns if you want them… just let me know.
4. Ermolenko, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Fisher(Fx) 5-1, 17-7.
Fisher gets to the first bend and falls in a heap on the floor. All due to the wrong sort of rider apparently. Sam and Adam ride an aggressive first bend in the rerun and Dobrucki never threatens.
5. Hancock(TR), Howe, McGowan, Neath. 2-7, 19-14
Greg comes in as double points and gets away with a roller at the start. David prevents the 8-1 by rounding McGowan on the 4th bend.
6. Max, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Davidsson. 5-1, 24-15
Mike absolutely loves the grippy track and simply flies round in a time of 56.19, fastest time of the season and just outside the track record of 55.96. Adam hangs on to second after Dobrucki briefly threatens.
7. Ermolenko, Lindgren, Iversen, Ulamek. 5-1, 29-16
Great start from Sam, Fredrik gets squeezed out on the back straight but rides a great 3rd and 4th bend around the outside of Iversen for the 5-1. Everyone expected this match to be close…
8. Howe, Skornicki, Davidsson, McGowan(TR) (Fx) 5-1, 34-17
Travis McGowan gets a double points ride but takes a very heavy looking fall on the run in to the 1st bend. Nobody can quite work out what went wrong for him, presumably some sort of machine failure. After lengthy treatment he is taken off the track in an ambulance with a hip injury and Oxford’s fading hopes leave with him. Easy 5-1 in the rerun. Mmmm… donuts!
9. Howe, Fisher, Skornicki, Dobrucki, Neath (Tx) 4-2, 38-19
Chris is too eager at the start and touches the tapes. Fisher leads the rerun but a smart 2nd bend from David, who is really on form tonight, sees him take the lead. Adam drops his first points of the night when he can’t catch Fisher.
10. Max, Lindgren, Iversen, Ulamek. 5-1, 43-20
Another impressive win from Mikael who is joined at the front by the hard riding Freddie. Iversen closed him down on the first bend but Lindgren won’t be denied and storms underneath him on the 3rd bend. Very impressive stuff and it’s becoming a rout now.
11. Fisher, Hancock, Lindgren, Ermolenko. 1-5, 44-25
Sam has the drop on Greg, but the referee decides there’s a fault on the serve and asks them to play a let. In the rerun, Fisher looks much more like the Fisher King (rather than Fisher ‘king Awful as he did earlier). Impressive team riding from Hancock and it’s the speedway equivalent of a consolation goal.
12. Fisher, Neath, Ulamek, Skornicki (ret) 2-4, 46-29
Adam’s bike coughs and splutters from the start presenting Ulamek with his only point of the night (a paid minimum!) Chris almost catches Flyin Ryan at the front.
13. Max, Hancock, Dobrucki, Ermolenko (ret) 3-3, 49-32.
In the battle of the Monmore specialists, Hancock makes a fine start but Mikael picks up speed off the 2nd bend and dives up the inside on the 3rd bend, pulling away for an excellent win. Sam stops with a puncture in a safe 3rd presenting Dobrucki with an unearned point (another paid mimimum!).
14. Howe, Fisher, Lindgren, Iversen. 4-2, 53-34
David takes his fourth win of the night and shows his passion for the team by grabbing his race suit aggressively on the victory lap. A message to his critics perhaps? He’s pushed all the way by Fisher who passes Lindgren on the 4th bend for 2nd.
15. Max, Ermolenko, Hancock, Fisher (F) 5-1, 58-35
There’s mild surprise on the terraces when Sam gets the nod ahead of David for the last heat… Hancock makes another excellent start but Mikael produces a replay of heat 13 and a superb 2nd bend helps him fly past down the back straight on the inside. The king of Monmore has his crown back… or does he? Sudden Sam is not finished yet and he’s out scraping the fence on the 3rd and 4th bend, somehow finding enough grip to charge through a tiny gap on the outside of Hancock down the home straight! A brilliant ride from both Wolves riders and another memory to store away from Sam’s amazing Wolves career. Full credit to Greg Hancock who gave them just enough room to race.
Five Star Ratings
MIKAEL “15 POINT” MAX ***** An absolutely awesome performance. Perfect.
“CRAFTY” CHRIS *** No lack of effort but he will inevitably find the points hard to come by at number 3.
“DASHING” DAVID ***** An excellent night’s work. Looks confident and aggressive again, back to his best form for Wolves.
“SUDDEN” SAM **** Made up for a dodgy ride with that superb outside pass of Hancock in heat 15. Vintage stuff yet again.
“FAST” FREDDIE **** Very impressive, has taken an instant liking to Monmore and rides with aggression and confidence.
“BONUS KING” ADAM **** One star for each paid win! Another rider bang on form tonight.
“TIGER” TIM ***** Is this finally his year (of course not!).
WEATHER **** The showers kept away.
TRACK CONDITIONS ** An embarrassing night for a club who pride themselves on a professionally run show. To their credit the track rode very well after the delay.
ATTENDANCE *** A regraded rat.
WOLVES PERFORMANCE ***** A much easier win than expected against dangerous looking opponents. Very impressive.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE *** The long delay and runaway win took some of the gloss off a fine performance but heat 15 sent ‘em home happy!
WOLVES MAN OF THE MATCH: On any other day, David Howe’s superb 14 points would be enough, but it has to be MIKAEL who was in stunning form tonight… simply unbeatable.
Mark Rowe.
?? We are just a bunch of faceless cowards!!!!
