Post by Lawt on Oct 8, 2005 19:35:21 GMT
WOLVES 51 OXFORD 45, CRAVEN SHIELD,
MONDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 3 3 2 1* 3 =12+1
Magnus Karlsson 1 1 3 1 0 =5
Steve Johnston 2 3 1 1 =7
Fredrik Lindgren F E/F 3 2 =5
David Howe 3 3 1 2 0 =9
Ronnie Correy 2 1 3 3 1* =10+1
Krzsztof Pecyna 0 2* 1 =3+1
Oxford Silver Machine:
Greg Hancock 2 2 2 6^ 2 =14
Henka Gustafsson X 1* 0 = 1+1
Freddie Erikssonn 1 0 1 0 =2
Billy Hamill 3 2 6^ 0 1* = 12+1
Luke Priest X 0 0 = 0
Travis McGowan 3 2 2 2 0 2 3 = 14
Lubos Tomicek 1 1 0 = 2
A three - man Oxford team once again proved too good for Wolves in the end (remember the League encounter when we pinched a draw) with Greg Hancock sneaking what could prove to be an invaluable bonus point after a run – off was required to determine the destination of this. Even if Wolves had won the bonus point tonight, qualification to the next stage still hinges on the remaining group fixture of Swindon v Oxford. I believe for Wolves to progress they need Swindon to beat Oxford by more than 7 points but by less than 15 points – any other result will see either Oxford or Swindon progress to the semi-final (how can you have a semi-final with six teams still in the competition?). Ultimately Wolves threw away a number of points during the meeting through a number of mishaps and were unlucky that both Billy Hamill & Greg Hancock were available to take Tactical rides on each occasion that Wolves moved at least 9 points in front. A Wolves victory was never in doubt however how costly would the loss of that bonus point prove to be?
Wolves won the toss & took gates one and three.
Heat 1: (Re-Run) P.Karlsson, Hancock, M.Karlsson, Gustafsson (fell & excluded), 57.64. 4-2, 4-2.
Peter made the start & Hancock quickly decided to team-ride Gustafsson for a drawn heat until the latter overcooked it on the 2nd lap. His exclusion gave Hancock a second opportunity however, despite a better start, he was unable to get around Peter on the second bend who eased away for a comfortable win.
Heat 2: McGowan, Correy, Tomicek, Pecyna, 58.51. 2-4, 6-6.
The first set back of the night came as early as Heat 2 with McGowan leading from start to finish & Tomicek holding onto 3rd place to bring the scores on the night level. Ronnie battled well although didn’t really threaten the leader. As for Krzsztof, he was clearly not ready when the tapes went up & ultimately that cost him a points finish. He did challenge for third however Tomicek was a little wild and in the end he settled for self-preservation.
Heat 3: Hamill, Johnston, Eriksson, Lindgren (fell & retired), 57.77. 2-4, 8-10.
Hamill away first with Freddie building up speed and challenging him on more than one occasion. Unfortunately Freddie tried too hard & clipped the 2nd bend fence on the 3rd lap, causing him to fall. That turned a 3-3 at the time into a 2-4 for Oxford. How costly could that prove?
Heat 4: (Re-Run) Howe, Pecyna, Tomicek, Priest (fell & excluded), 58.53. 5-1, 13-11.
That’s more like it as both Wolves riders make the start. Priest is having a real go before falling on the 2nd lap whilst in third & gets excluded. In the re-run Wolves again lead from the start & despite a brief challenge from Tomicek hold on for a 5-1.
Heat 5: Johnston, Hancock, Gustafsson, Lindgren (E/F), 59.09. 3-3, 16-14.
Drama before the race even started with Hancock swapping bikes just before being timed out. He emerged on McGowan’s bike but was slow away & until the 3rd bend on the last lap Wolves were holding a well deserved 5-1. Disaster then struck with Freddie blowing his engine to smithereens when well clear, resulting in Oxford earning a very lucky 3-3. The loss of those points could again turn out to be crucial.
Heat 6: P.Karlsson, McGowan, M.Karlsson, Priest, 57.98. 4-2, 20-16.
Result settled by the first bend.
Heat 7: Howe, Hamill, Correy, Eriksson, 57.37. 4-2, 24-18.
David wins this from the gate with the fastest time of the night. Ronnie rounds Eriksson towards the end of the first lap & holds him off comfortably.
Heat 8 : M.Karlsson, McGowan (reserve replacement), Pecyna, Gustafsson, 58.71. 4-2, 28-20.
Oxford looked to have jumped out of the start however Magnus, off gate 4, produced a Rickardsson style round the boards ride to storm into the lead & hold on for a well deserved victory. Krzysztof passed Gustafsson on the second lap to set up another 4-2 for Wolves.
Heat 9: Lindgren, McGowan, Johnston, Tomicek (reserve replacement), 58.73. 4-2,32-22.
For much of the race Wolves looked to be adding another 5-1 however with the track becoming increasingly slick Johnno was eventually passed after an excellent ride from Mcgowan. At last Freddie finished a race.
Heat 10: Hamill (Tactical Ride ), P.Karlsson, Eriksson, M.Karlsson, 58.91. 2-7, 34-29.
Despite the slick conditions, this turned out to be the best race of the night so far. Eriksson popped out with Hamill close behind. Peter produced an excellent pass on Hamill & then attacked Eriksson going into the 1st bend on the following lap. This forced Hamill into using the outside line & by the time the riders exited the 2nd bend he had gone from 3rd to 1st & Eriksson from 1st to 3rd. Whilst it was a good ride from Hamill, I doubt he would have ridden that line if he had had another option.
Heat 11: Correy, Hancock, Howe, McGowan (reserve replacement), 58.43. 4-2, 38-31.
Hancock appeared to make the start off gate 4 but Ronnie rode a tremendous 1st bend & went on to take an excellent win. David toiled away at the back & was awarded 3rd place ‘on the line’ although this seemed a little harsh on McGowan. Track definitely getting too slick.
Heat 12: Correy (reserve replacement), Mcgowan, Johnston, Eriksson, 59.44. 4-2 42-33.
Peter Adams bowed to the demands of the terrace Team Manager’s and replaced Krzysztof with Ronnie who produced a fantastic 1st bend, creating an opening for Johnno that he gratefully accepted. For the rest of the race Johnno appeared to be going backwards down the straights but pulling away from the Oxford riders around the bends. This continued until the run in to the line when Mcgowan sneaked past Johnno to take 2nd place on the line.
Heat 13: Hancock (Tactical Ride), Howe, P.Karlsson, Priest, 59.2. 3-6, 45-39.
Good start by Hancock who only just held the lead after a strong first lap challenge from David. Track has now become very slick. Two races to go & the Teams are now level on aggregate.
Heat 14: Mcgowan (reserve replacement), Lindgren, Correy, Hamill, 58.99. 3-3, 48-42.
Although McGowan had ridden well, he saved his best until last by winning this heat when most would have expected one of the other three to have come out victorious. I believe this was the best race of the night, not only for the quality of the racing but also because so much hinged on it. Ronnie once again rode a good first bend, keeping Hamill behind him with Freddie trailing at the back. Considering the state of the track Freddie produced an incredible ride to not only overtake Hamill but to also ensure that Ronnie stayed in the points. Who said this man can’t ride Monmore Green !!
Heat 15: P.Karlsson. Hancock, Hamill, Howe, 58.87. 3-3, 51-45.
Oxford won the toss & selected gates 1 & 3. Both Oxford riders seemed to make the start however PK, learning from his younger brother, blasted round the outside of both of them on the 1st bend & held on for a comfortable win. David did make some ground up but never really threatened. The drawn heat left the overall match result all square so a run off for the bonus point was required.
Run Off for Bonus Point : Hancock. P.Karlsson, 58.97.
Oxford won the toss again & Hancock chose gate 1 & Peter gate 3. Peter appeared to make the start & I believe tried to move to the white line too quickly. Hancock gave him a slight nudge entering the 1st bend & that was that. Peter made a superb effort but the conditions as much as Hancock defeated him.
Five Star Ratings:
Weather: **** Overcast but dry, as much as you can expect for late September.
Track conditions: *** The threat of rain resulted in a drier than normal track however it still produced some good action.
Attendance: ** Clashed with the second leg of the Play-Off Final however the turn out was not too bad, probably swelled by some spoons !!.
Wolves’ Performance: **** Very Good – conditions clearly didn’t suit us but we battled against a fair bit of bad luck and a couple of successful tactical rides & still only lost the bonus point in a run off.
Entertainment value: *** Racing not up to the usual standard however we still saw 3 or 4 great races.
Man of the Match: Peter Karlsson rode very well however for the second home match on the trot it has to be ‘Rocket’ Ronnie Correy who produced a couple of excellent victories late on that kept Wolves in the hunt for the Bonus Point. Well done Ronnie.
Referee (Craig Ackroyd): **** No decisions to make other than to order two re-runs.
Rider ratings:
Peter **** Another great showing in Wolves colours – the slick conditions clearly affected him when not making the start.
Magnus *** Whenever you meet sides that include a couple of track specialists & a reserve that is going well then the second strings are always bound to struggle. A five point return is respectable and included a both crucial & sensational heat 8 victory.
Johnno *** Clearly didn’t get on with the slick conditions but battled throughout.
Freddie *** On another night he would have scored 10 & probably been in heat 15. Produced a terrific ride in Heat 14 from the back following a poor start.
David *** Tailed off a little as the track became slicker however another strong contribution.
Ronnie **** Despite not getting out of the start that well, Ronnie rode some excellent first bends and really got stuck in tonight. Just shaved out Peter for Man of the Match.
Krzysztof ** Not being ready for your supposed easiest race of the night is criminal. Recovered from that with a couple of better rides & was taken out of his last outing as by then Ronnie was ‘on fire’.
So that’s all our qualifying matches completed – we now need to wait for the outcome of the Swindon v Oxford match to see if we have any more meaningful fixtures this season.
Mike Thomas.
MONDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 3 3 2 1* 3 =12+1
Magnus Karlsson 1 1 3 1 0 =5
Steve Johnston 2 3 1 1 =7
Fredrik Lindgren F E/F 3 2 =5
David Howe 3 3 1 2 0 =9
Ronnie Correy 2 1 3 3 1* =10+1
Krzsztof Pecyna 0 2* 1 =3+1
Oxford Silver Machine:
Greg Hancock 2 2 2 6^ 2 =14
Henka Gustafsson X 1* 0 = 1+1
Freddie Erikssonn 1 0 1 0 =2
Billy Hamill 3 2 6^ 0 1* = 12+1
Luke Priest X 0 0 = 0
Travis McGowan 3 2 2 2 0 2 3 = 14
Lubos Tomicek 1 1 0 = 2
A three - man Oxford team once again proved too good for Wolves in the end (remember the League encounter when we pinched a draw) with Greg Hancock sneaking what could prove to be an invaluable bonus point after a run – off was required to determine the destination of this. Even if Wolves had won the bonus point tonight, qualification to the next stage still hinges on the remaining group fixture of Swindon v Oxford. I believe for Wolves to progress they need Swindon to beat Oxford by more than 7 points but by less than 15 points – any other result will see either Oxford or Swindon progress to the semi-final (how can you have a semi-final with six teams still in the competition?). Ultimately Wolves threw away a number of points during the meeting through a number of mishaps and were unlucky that both Billy Hamill & Greg Hancock were available to take Tactical rides on each occasion that Wolves moved at least 9 points in front. A Wolves victory was never in doubt however how costly would the loss of that bonus point prove to be?
Wolves won the toss & took gates one and three.
Heat 1: (Re-Run) P.Karlsson, Hancock, M.Karlsson, Gustafsson (fell & excluded), 57.64. 4-2, 4-2.
Peter made the start & Hancock quickly decided to team-ride Gustafsson for a drawn heat until the latter overcooked it on the 2nd lap. His exclusion gave Hancock a second opportunity however, despite a better start, he was unable to get around Peter on the second bend who eased away for a comfortable win.
Heat 2: McGowan, Correy, Tomicek, Pecyna, 58.51. 2-4, 6-6.
The first set back of the night came as early as Heat 2 with McGowan leading from start to finish & Tomicek holding onto 3rd place to bring the scores on the night level. Ronnie battled well although didn’t really threaten the leader. As for Krzsztof, he was clearly not ready when the tapes went up & ultimately that cost him a points finish. He did challenge for third however Tomicek was a little wild and in the end he settled for self-preservation.
Heat 3: Hamill, Johnston, Eriksson, Lindgren (fell & retired), 57.77. 2-4, 8-10.
Hamill away first with Freddie building up speed and challenging him on more than one occasion. Unfortunately Freddie tried too hard & clipped the 2nd bend fence on the 3rd lap, causing him to fall. That turned a 3-3 at the time into a 2-4 for Oxford. How costly could that prove?
Heat 4: (Re-Run) Howe, Pecyna, Tomicek, Priest (fell & excluded), 58.53. 5-1, 13-11.
That’s more like it as both Wolves riders make the start. Priest is having a real go before falling on the 2nd lap whilst in third & gets excluded. In the re-run Wolves again lead from the start & despite a brief challenge from Tomicek hold on for a 5-1.
Heat 5: Johnston, Hancock, Gustafsson, Lindgren (E/F), 59.09. 3-3, 16-14.
Drama before the race even started with Hancock swapping bikes just before being timed out. He emerged on McGowan’s bike but was slow away & until the 3rd bend on the last lap Wolves were holding a well deserved 5-1. Disaster then struck with Freddie blowing his engine to smithereens when well clear, resulting in Oxford earning a very lucky 3-3. The loss of those points could again turn out to be crucial.
Heat 6: P.Karlsson, McGowan, M.Karlsson, Priest, 57.98. 4-2, 20-16.
Result settled by the first bend.
Heat 7: Howe, Hamill, Correy, Eriksson, 57.37. 4-2, 24-18.
David wins this from the gate with the fastest time of the night. Ronnie rounds Eriksson towards the end of the first lap & holds him off comfortably.
Heat 8 : M.Karlsson, McGowan (reserve replacement), Pecyna, Gustafsson, 58.71. 4-2, 28-20.
Oxford looked to have jumped out of the start however Magnus, off gate 4, produced a Rickardsson style round the boards ride to storm into the lead & hold on for a well deserved victory. Krzysztof passed Gustafsson on the second lap to set up another 4-2 for Wolves.
Heat 9: Lindgren, McGowan, Johnston, Tomicek (reserve replacement), 58.73. 4-2,32-22.
For much of the race Wolves looked to be adding another 5-1 however with the track becoming increasingly slick Johnno was eventually passed after an excellent ride from Mcgowan. At last Freddie finished a race.
Heat 10: Hamill (Tactical Ride ), P.Karlsson, Eriksson, M.Karlsson, 58.91. 2-7, 34-29.
Despite the slick conditions, this turned out to be the best race of the night so far. Eriksson popped out with Hamill close behind. Peter produced an excellent pass on Hamill & then attacked Eriksson going into the 1st bend on the following lap. This forced Hamill into using the outside line & by the time the riders exited the 2nd bend he had gone from 3rd to 1st & Eriksson from 1st to 3rd. Whilst it was a good ride from Hamill, I doubt he would have ridden that line if he had had another option.
Heat 11: Correy, Hancock, Howe, McGowan (reserve replacement), 58.43. 4-2, 38-31.
Hancock appeared to make the start off gate 4 but Ronnie rode a tremendous 1st bend & went on to take an excellent win. David toiled away at the back & was awarded 3rd place ‘on the line’ although this seemed a little harsh on McGowan. Track definitely getting too slick.
Heat 12: Correy (reserve replacement), Mcgowan, Johnston, Eriksson, 59.44. 4-2 42-33.
Peter Adams bowed to the demands of the terrace Team Manager’s and replaced Krzysztof with Ronnie who produced a fantastic 1st bend, creating an opening for Johnno that he gratefully accepted. For the rest of the race Johnno appeared to be going backwards down the straights but pulling away from the Oxford riders around the bends. This continued until the run in to the line when Mcgowan sneaked past Johnno to take 2nd place on the line.
Heat 13: Hancock (Tactical Ride), Howe, P.Karlsson, Priest, 59.2. 3-6, 45-39.
Good start by Hancock who only just held the lead after a strong first lap challenge from David. Track has now become very slick. Two races to go & the Teams are now level on aggregate.
Heat 14: Mcgowan (reserve replacement), Lindgren, Correy, Hamill, 58.99. 3-3, 48-42.
Although McGowan had ridden well, he saved his best until last by winning this heat when most would have expected one of the other three to have come out victorious. I believe this was the best race of the night, not only for the quality of the racing but also because so much hinged on it. Ronnie once again rode a good first bend, keeping Hamill behind him with Freddie trailing at the back. Considering the state of the track Freddie produced an incredible ride to not only overtake Hamill but to also ensure that Ronnie stayed in the points. Who said this man can’t ride Monmore Green !!
Heat 15: P.Karlsson. Hancock, Hamill, Howe, 58.87. 3-3, 51-45.
Oxford won the toss & selected gates 1 & 3. Both Oxford riders seemed to make the start however PK, learning from his younger brother, blasted round the outside of both of them on the 1st bend & held on for a comfortable win. David did make some ground up but never really threatened. The drawn heat left the overall match result all square so a run off for the bonus point was required.
Run Off for Bonus Point : Hancock. P.Karlsson, 58.97.
Oxford won the toss again & Hancock chose gate 1 & Peter gate 3. Peter appeared to make the start & I believe tried to move to the white line too quickly. Hancock gave him a slight nudge entering the 1st bend & that was that. Peter made a superb effort but the conditions as much as Hancock defeated him.
Five Star Ratings:
Weather: **** Overcast but dry, as much as you can expect for late September.
Track conditions: *** The threat of rain resulted in a drier than normal track however it still produced some good action.
Attendance: ** Clashed with the second leg of the Play-Off Final however the turn out was not too bad, probably swelled by some spoons !!.
Wolves’ Performance: **** Very Good – conditions clearly didn’t suit us but we battled against a fair bit of bad luck and a couple of successful tactical rides & still only lost the bonus point in a run off.
Entertainment value: *** Racing not up to the usual standard however we still saw 3 or 4 great races.
Man of the Match: Peter Karlsson rode very well however for the second home match on the trot it has to be ‘Rocket’ Ronnie Correy who produced a couple of excellent victories late on that kept Wolves in the hunt for the Bonus Point. Well done Ronnie.
Referee (Craig Ackroyd): **** No decisions to make other than to order two re-runs.
Rider ratings:
Peter **** Another great showing in Wolves colours – the slick conditions clearly affected him when not making the start.
Magnus *** Whenever you meet sides that include a couple of track specialists & a reserve that is going well then the second strings are always bound to struggle. A five point return is respectable and included a both crucial & sensational heat 8 victory.
Johnno *** Clearly didn’t get on with the slick conditions but battled throughout.
Freddie *** On another night he would have scored 10 & probably been in heat 15. Produced a terrific ride in Heat 14 from the back following a poor start.
David *** Tailed off a little as the track became slicker however another strong contribution.
Ronnie **** Despite not getting out of the start that well, Ronnie rode some excellent first bends and really got stuck in tonight. Just shaved out Peter for Man of the Match.
Krzysztof ** Not being ready for your supposed easiest race of the night is criminal. Recovered from that with a couple of better rides & was taken out of his last outing as by then Ronnie was ‘on fire’.
So that’s all our qualifying matches completed – we now need to wait for the outcome of the Swindon v Oxford match to see if we have any more meaningful fixtures this season.
Mike Thomas.
