IOW v Workington KOC 17 June 08

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Isle of Wight = 52

1. Jason Bunyan 3 2' 3 2 2 =12+1
2. Cory Gathercole 2' 3 3 1 0 =9+1
3. Glen Phillips 2 3 1' 1=7+1
4. Paul Fry 0 2' 2 2=6+1
5. Krzystof Stojanowski 2 3 3 1'=9+1
6. Andrew Bargh 2' 0 0 0=2+1
7. James Holder 3 1' 2' F =6+2


Workington = 43

1. Jay Herne 0 0 0=0
2. Tomi Reima 1 1 1 1' =4+1
3. Kauko Nieminen 3 4^ 2 2' 1=12+1
4. Joe Haines 1 1' 0 3=5+1
5. Carl Stonehewer 3 1 3 4^ 3 3=17
6. Charles Wright 1 0 0 3 1=5
7. John Branney 0 0 0=0


Heat Results


Heat 01: Bunyan, Gathercole, Reima, Herne 67.3 5-1 (5-1)
Islanders pair flew from the gate and were gone. Well spread out.

Heat 02: Holder, Bargh, Wright, Branney 68.7 5-1 (10-2)
Another easy 5-1, Wright pushed Bargh for the first couple of laps but couldnt get through.

Heat 03: Nieminen, Phillips, Haines, Fry 68.0 2-4 (12-6)
Tight first bend, Haines passed Fry on the fouth bend of lap 1. Fry looked like he was struggling.

Heat 04: Stonehewer, Stojanowski, Holder, Branney 68.4 3-3 (15-9)
Good win for Stoney. Branney put alot of pressure on Holder towards the end.

Heat 05: Phillips, Fry, Reima, Herne 68.6 5-1 (20-10)
Herne nearly ended up in the fence on bend 1, picked up a lot of grip and ended up losing a lot of ground once he finally got his boke under control.

Short delay as we now have tractor racing. There is FAR TOO MUCH dirt on the first bend. The ref and Bunyan are out on the track. There is literally piles of it in the middle of the track on the entrance to the first turn.

Heat 06: Gathercole, Bunyan, Stonehewer, Wright 67.6 5-1 (25-11)
Great race between Bunyan and Stonehewer. Bunyan passed Stoney on the last lap.

Heat 07: Stojanowski, NEIMINEN, Haines, Bargh 67.9 3-5 (28-16)
Nieminen to take a TR
Nieminen pushed Stojanowski all the way.

Heat 08: Gathercole, Holder, Reima, Branney 67.7 5-1 (33-17)
From the gate, all evenly spread out.

Heat 09: Stonehewer, Fry, Phillips, Wright 68.0 3-3 (36-20)
Stonehewer made a big sweep around the outside on bends 1-2 and was an easy winner.

Heat 10: Bunyan, Nieminen, Gathercole, Haines 67.9 4-2 (40-22)
Nieminen chased Bunyan for all four laps. Bunyan rode well.

Heat 11: Stojanowski, STONEHEWER, Reima, Bargh 69.5 3-5 (43-27)
Stonehewer to come in as a TS.
Good win for Stojanowski after passing Reima on the second lap. Stonehewer made up the 15m by bend 2 and hom and Bargh overtook each other for a lap or two before Stoney went on to pass Reima for the 4 points.

Heat 12: Wright, Nieminen, Phillips, Holder(F) (N/T) 1-5 (44-32)
Race awarded as Holder fell and was excluded. Holder nearly held on for 2nd place, but was struggling with the track. Picked up too much grip on the second bend and clipped the fence. He is up and Ok

INTERVAL NOW

Heat 13: Stonehewer, Bunyan, Stojanowski, Herne 68.7 3-3 (47-35)
Brilliant race up front, Bunyan tried everything to pass Stoney but he covered every move! Nearly got him on the line.

Heat 14: Haines, Fry, Wright, Bargh 69.5 2-4 (49-39)
From the gate. Workington through to the next round - well done to them.

Heat 15: Stonehewer, Bunyan, Nieminen, Gathercole 2-4 (51-43)
Stonehewer from the gate. Bunyan passed Nieminen on the third lap. Well done Workington!
*************************
Comments:

Teams confirmed.

Referee is Chris Durno.

Sunny but cool, track is well watered.

Workington hold a 15 point lead. (53-38)

Workington won the toss and take gates 1&3.

Workington go through to next round (96 - 90)

[admin]

CUP DREAMS OVER FOR ANOTHER YEAR...

The Wightlink Islanders Premier League KO Cup dreams are over for another year after they failed to pull back the 15 points deficit they faced from the away leg against the Workington Comets in the return, sponsored by Hartwell of Carisbrooke Rd, Newport at Smallbrook stadium last night
They went into the match trailing 53-38 after that first leg in Cumbria and although Jason Bunyan and his side won last night's encounter by 51 point to 43 it wasn't enough, and it's the Comets who now go onto meet the Edinburgh Monarchs in the semi-finals.
The Islanders had received a big boost yesterday morning when Paul Fry, sidelined for the last month following his crash in the league match at Berwick, confirmed that at last the medics had given him the all clear to resume racing.
Furthermore Workington were forced to go into the match bereft of the services of their No.1 Daniel Nermark who was racing for his club Piraterna in their away league match at Masarna back in his native Sweden.
Although they were certainly taking nothing for granted prior to the meeting, all the indicators pointed to the fact that an aggregate victory was well within the Wightlink Islanders capabilities but it wasn't to be!
After the opening eight heats last night they had indeed moved into the aggregate lead albeit by a mere point as they led 33-17 on the night and therefore 71-70 overall.
It looked as if the remaining seven races would see the task completed with ease but the Cumbrian side's skipper Kauko Nieminen and the man who has long been dubbed "Mr. Workington Speedway" Carl Stonehewer had other ideas!
And it was that duo who stunned the home camp by inspiring their side onto overall victory with Stonehewer the star of the show as he romped to 17 points from his six rides which included no less than four heat victories.
The home side were left stunned but co-promoter Dave Pavitt was somewhat philosophical afterwards saying, "the tie was there for us to win and, when you boil it down to basics we just didn't do what was necessary to see us through to the semis.
"Yes we're disappointed but we must congratulate Workington, wish them luck in the rest of the competition and now, from our perspective put our disappointment behind us and knuckle down to the task of ensuring that we do what is required to reach the play offs for the league title."
There was an injury scare surrounding in-form reserve James Holder after he crashed whist in second place in heat 12 and he took no further part in the match.
However the good news is that whilst he aggravated his existing hand/wrist injury, he's confident that it won't prevent him riding in our away league matches at Sheffield (Thursday) and Stoke (Saturday).

LAST NIGHT'S MATCH DETAILS:

Final Score: Wightlink Islanders 51 Workington 43
(Premier League KO Cup 1/4 Final, 2nd leg)
Workington win 96-89 on aggregate

IOW scorers (in riding order - No. of rides in brackets): Jason Bunyan 12+1 (5), Corey Gathercole 9+1 (4), Glen Phillips 7+1 (4), Paul Fry 6+1 (4), Krzysztof Stojanowski 9+1 (4), Andrew Bargh 2+1 (4), James Holder 6+2 (4).
Workington scorers (in riding order - No. of rides in brackets): Jay Herne 0 (3), Tomi Reima 4+1 (4), Kauko Nieminen 12+1 (5), Joe Haines 5+1 (4), Carl Stonehewer 17 (6), Charles Wright 5 (5), John Branney 0 (3),

"WE'RE EVEN MORE DETERMINED NOW" SAYS CROUCHER...

The Wightlink Islanders must put their cup disappointment behind them and quickly for they head up to Yorkshire tomorrow (Thursday) in search of a second away league win of the season at the home of the Sheffield Tigers.
And away team manager Dave Croucher believes that the team's failure to reach the KO Cup semi finals will inspire them to scrap for every point on a circuit where in the past they haven't always fared well.
"Make no mistake the team are feeling wounded after being dumped out of the cup tonight," he said after last night's meeting, "and they are very determined indeed to take no heed of past Isle of Wight performances at Sheffield and come away with the three league points they would get for achieving a win on the night.
"And that would certainly put them in the right frame of mind as well to secure another three points when we travel to Stoke in the league on Saturday."

STAND BY FOR A 'WAVE' OF EXCITEMENT!

There's not long to wait now for we believe that we will be in a position in a matter of a few days now to make a major announcement that will bring a real 'wave' of excitement not only to our club, but to the whole of the Isle of Wight.


NEXT TUESDAY AT SMALLBROOK...

Next Tuesday's thrilling speedway action on the island will see the Wightlink Islanders take on the Sheffield Tigers in a Premier League match.
Tapes rise on the first race at the usual time of 7.30 p.m. so why not come along and witness THE most exciting two hours of sheer speed, skill, thrills and spills on our sunshine isle.