IOW v Scunthorpe 8 July 08

[admin]

Isle of Wight = 60

1. Jason Bunyan 3 2' 3 2 3 =13+1
2. Cory Gathercole X withdrawn from meeting
3. Glen Phillips 3 1' 2' 3 =9+2
4. Krzysztof Stojanowski 2' 2 3 3 =10+1
5. Paul Fry 3 3 2' 1' 2' =11+3
6. Andrew Bargh 3 0 3 2' 0 0 =8+1
7. James Holder 0 2' 3 1 3 =9+1


Scunthorpe = 32

1. Richard Hall 1' 3 4^ 0 3 1 =12+1
2. Carl Wilkinson 2 1 0 2 1 0 =6
3. Magnus Karlsson R/R
4. Viktor Bergstrom 0 1' 0 2 2 =5+1
5. Emiliano Sanchez 1 1 1 1 0 =4
6. Ben Powell 1' 0 0 1' 1' =3+3
7. Byron Bekker 2 0 0 =2



Heat Results


Heat 01:Bunyan, Wilkinson, Hall, Gathercole(Fx) N/T 3-3 (3-3)
Gathercole out in the front when coming out of bend two and his chain snapped, throwing him over the handlebars. He is up and OK. Race awarded.

Heat 02:Bargh, Bekker, Powell, Holder 69.2 3-3 (6-6)
Island pair made the gate, Holder got out of control and went from second to last. Good race between him and Powell, but Powell held on to third place.

Heat 03:Phillips, Stojanowski, Wilkinson, Bergstrom 68.3 5-1 (11-7)
Wilkinson made the gate but was soon passed by the two Island riders.
Gathercole has had to withdraw from the meeting with a wrist injury

Heat 04:Fry, Holder, Sanchez, Bekker 68.2 5-1 (16-8)
From the gate.

Heat 05:Hall, Stojanowski, Phillips, Wilkinson 67.8 3-3 (19-11)
Great 1st bend by Hall, went from third to first by using the inside line. Wilkinson raced hard at the back but couldnt get through.

Heat 06:Holder, Bunyan, Sanchez, Powell(R) 68.4 5-1 (24-12)
From the gate. Powell had an engine failiure.

Heat 07:Fry, HALL, Bergstrom, Bargh 68.1 3-5 (27-17)
Hall to take a RR and will put on the black and white helmet as a TR.
Fry made the gate and was comfortable out front.

Heat 08:Bargh, Wilkinson, Holder, Bekker 68.6 4-2 (31-19)
From the gate.

Heat 09:Stojanowski, Phillips, Sanchez, Powell 68.3 5-1 (36-20)
Island pair comfortable out front.

Heat 10:Bunyan, Bargh, Sanchez, Bergstrom 68.6 5-1 (41-21)
From the gate.

Heat 11:Holder, Fry, Wilkinson, Hall 68.6 5-1 (46-22)
From the gate again. Easy 5-1 for the Island pair.

Heat 12:Phillips, Bergstrom, Powell, Bargh 68.5 3-3 (49-25)
Good win for Phillips, Bargh didnt have an answer for the Scunny pair in second and third.

**INTERVAL**

Heat 13:Hall, Bunyan, Fry, Sanchez 68.1 3-3 (52-28)
Fry had the lead for two laps until Hall cut back on bend 1 to pass him. Fry then got out of control on bend 3 and Bunyan passed him also.

Heat 14:Stojanowski, Bergstrom, Powell, Bargh 68.8 3-3 (55-31)
Comfortable win for Stojanowski.

Heat 15:Bunyan, Fry, Hall, Wilkinson 68.2 5-1 (60-32)
Wilkinson came close to passing Fry but then lost control which allowed Hall to come through.

*************************
Comments:

Teams now confirmed from track.

Referee is D Holt.

Isle of Wight win the toss and take gates 1&3.

[admin]

ISLANDERS ANXIOUSLY AWAIT UPDATE ON INJURED CORY...

The Wightlink Islanders management will be anxiously awaiting news later this morning concerning the full extent of the hand / wrist injury sustained by in-form Aussie Cory Gathercole after he crashed out of last night's home league match with the Scunthorpe Scorpions.
They will be hoping that his injuries prove not to be that serious, enabling him to take his place in the side that travels to Birmingham later today for the scheduled away Premier League match against the Brummies but he must be rated as very doubtful for the fixture.
Cory was leading the opening heat last night, and seemingly on his way to securing a maximum 5-1 heat win with skipper Jason Bunyan in second place, when his rear chain snapped as he exited the second bend on the last lap at high speed, causing him to take a very awkward looking tumble.
There was much relief amongst the assembled fans on the terraces when he got to his feet and was able to walk back to pits but his left hand / wrist started swelling rapidly and track paramedic Clive Greedy swiftly ruled him out of the remainder of the match.
Cory and his mechanics immediately made their way back to the mainland, informing the club's management that the intention was for him to go to his local hospital in Swindon for X-rays once he arrived home or first thing this morning. A further bulletin will be issued later this morning once the club receives an update on Cory's condition.

AND CONCERN OVER JAMES TOO...

Yes there's concern too over the second Aussie in the Wightlink Islanders side James Holder who was taken ill during last night's match but bravely continued riding despite feeling, and it has to be said looking none too well. Hopefully he'll be feeling a lot better when he wakes up this morning and will declare himself fit to ride tonight especially with major doubts over Gathercole's fitness to ride in the meeting.

ISLANDERS OVERCOME THEIR PROBLEMS TO TAKE THE STING OUT OF THE SCORPIONS...

The Wightlink Islanders made light of Cory Gathercole crashing out of the match in the opening race and James Holder feeling distinctly unwell all evening to storm to a 60-32 home victory over the Scunthorpe Scorpions at Smallbrook last night.
Inspirational skipper Jason Bunyan led the way, being beaten just once in his five outings and deservedly received the 'man of the match' award afterwards from meeting sponsors Sydenhams.
But it was a fine all-round team effort from the remaining six Islanders who were determined to ensure that they extended their unbeaten home league record this season, despite losing Gathercole at such an early stage of proceedings.
The statistics of the match amply demonstrate the strength-in-depth of the Wightlink Islanders side with them providing 13 of the 15 race winners, each of them barring the unfortunate young Aussie, registering at least two each.
After the points were shared in each of the first two races, the Islanders broke the deadlock in heat three when Glen Phillips and Kryzsztof Stojanowski combined for a maximum 5-1 win over the Scunthorpe pairing of Carl Wilkinson and Swede Viktor Bergstrom and a further maximum score in the very next race from Paul Fry and James Holder put the home side eight points clear at 16-8 and they never looked back.
The anticipated strong challenge from the Scunthorpe side never materialised with only their skipper Richard Hall showing any real fight and it was he who recorded the Scorpions only two heat wins in heats 5 and 13.
"It was another fine and fully deserved win for us," said Islanders team manager David Croucher as he reflected on the match afterwards, "especially after losing Cory in the opening race and James feeling ill all night.
"I had thought that Scunthorpe would push us all the way when I looked at their line up earlier in the day but quite frankly the way all our team are riding at the moment, I can't really can't see anyone beating us around Smallbrook this year.
"But if we are to push for a place in the league's top four come the end of the season, and thus qualify for the play-offs for the title we must add to our solitary away win we have achieved up to this point, but if x-rays show that Cory has broken any bones and will be sidelined for a while that's obviously going to make that task much harder.
"Needless to say we will be anxiously awaiting further news on him later this morning and we can only keep our fingers crossed."


TWO AWAY MATCHES THIS WEEK...

The Wightlink Islanders have two away league matches this week with them firstly travelling to Birmingham tonight and then to Workington on Saturday.

[admin]

CORY MAY NEED OPERATION TO PIN HAND INJURY...

It looks as if Wightlink Islander Cory Gathercole may need an operation to rectify the injuries he sustained as a result of his who crash in the opening heat of last night's 60-32 home league win over Scunthorpe.
X-rays at his local hospital in Swindon have revealed that the young Australian has suffered a break just below the thumb of his left hand, a plaster cast was fitted temporarily and he has to return to the hospital tomorrow (Thursday) to see a specialist.
It will then be decided whether he should undergo an operation to pin the broken bone or to allow the injury to heal naturally. We will issue a further update once we know the decision.
As an aside, the X-rays taken on last night's injury also discovered that he had broken the scaphoid bone in the same wrist some time ago that has healed itself and, in typical speedway fashion Cory cannot remember any crash he might have had that could have caused such an injury!

ISLANDERS MATCH AT BIRMINGHAM TONIGHT IS OFF!

Tonight's scheduled away Premier League match at Birmingham has been postponed with heavy rain that swept in from the west this morning waerlogging the circuit. It is proposed to re-stage the meeting at Perry Barr on Wednesday September 17.