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LAKESIDE HAMMERS 57 - EASTBOURNE EAGLES 38 |
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Sat 28 Mar 2009
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| Posted by
Thanks to Eastbourne Eagles Web site |
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KNOCKOUT CUP – 1st LEG : FRIDAY 27th MARCH 2009
A nite to forget!
Sussex speedway squad the Eastbourne Eagles were left with all the hard work to do if they are yet to keep a hold of the Knockout cup trophy that they won in such glorious fashion in 2008 following a disappointing 57-38 first round, first leg defeat at the Purfleet home of near rivals, the Lakeside Hammers on Friday evening.
No doubt buoyed by a sparkling performance to wrest the Elite Shield at Poole on the Wednesday, the Sussex side would surely be hoping for a similar resolute display in order to safely negotiate the first hurdle of this season’s competition and forge themselves a place in the forthcoming semi-final stage.
However, although they started in the desired fashion, Davey Watt and Simon Gustafsson continuing in the vein of form that they had demonstrated at Wimborne Road two days previously, respectively winning heats one and two in fine style to offer the Sussex side an early 7-5 lead, a vicious volley of no fewer than seven 5-1’s to the home side in the following eight heats served to exert extensive damage to their visitors ambitio n.
Lee Richardson and Joonas Kylmakorpi, both former Eastbourne riders of course, kicked off the onslaught with a gate to flag victory over Lewis Bridger and Lukas Dryml, Kauko Nieminen and reserve Stuart Robson repeating the dose one race later, heat four witnessing a brace of falls for David Norris. The first came as he tangled with Nieminen in the run up to the first bend, the race being halted and a rerun called and at the second time of asking it appeared if Robson locked up in front of the Eagle, Norris laying his machine down to avoid any subsequent melee but none was destined to follow, the Lakeside pair heading home Gustafsson for the 5-1 that extended their lead to 15-9 on the night.
A nasty looking spill for Cameron Woodward, the Australian sailing over his handlebars necessitated a further stoppage, thankfully the young Aussie was to emerge unscathed but that was more than could be said for the Eagles dwindling fortunes, Richardson and Kylmakorpi being awarded a second maximum as they led Watt at the time the race was halted.
Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson then combined for a fourth such success, each experiencing little difficulty in fending off the Norris / Ricky Kling duo and this latest 5-1 further eased the Eagles tenuous looking grip on the competition trophy, the difference now standing at 14-points and the overall scores 25-11.
Bridger was able to halt the slide, taking a tactical ride in the next but only just as his second place points, doubled to four matched that offered by the home side, Nieminen winning his second race in succession with Robert Mear following on in third place ahead of Dryml.
The 4-4 maintained the 14-point margin, which now stood at 29-15 but the Purfleet club soon strengthened their grasp on the match still further with another trio of maximums in the next three races. Robson and Davidsson combined for the first of these before Richardson and Kylmakorpi continued their domin ance with a third such success attributable to the pair, this one coming at the expense of Norris and Kling. This stretched the disparity between the sides to a mammoth 22-points, 39-17 but the situation was set to get worse from a Sussex perspective as Shields and Davidsson followed suit in heat 10 with a comprehensive defeat of Bridger and Gustafsson the divide lengthening ever more to 26-points, the score now set at 44-18.
Desperate measures were called for and the Eagles at least began to snip away at the deficit, Watt entering the fray in the black and white helmet to ride for double points. The move duly paid off, Watt, again Eastbourne’s man of the match, winning at a canter, Woodward compounding the advantage with third place behind Nieminen, the resultant 7-2 reducing the difference to a still imposing 46-25.
Bridger provided Richardson’s first defeat of the night in the twelfth to continue the Eastbourne resurgence and with Gustafsson taking full advantage of a fall for Robson, the 4-2 cutting a further two points f rom the Lakeside lead which now stood at 19-points, 48-29.
Watt was again the man in form with a further triumph in heat 13, this one again at the expense of home number one Shields. Sadly though, Norris wasn’t able to join the party as he suffered another fall, leaving Nieminen to follow the pair home for the 3-3, one that moved the scores to 51-32 in the Hammers favour.
Robson and Kylmakorpi paired up to increase the home lead once more in the penultimate race but the 5-1 that they raced to ahead of Gustafsson and Dryml was reciprocated immediately in the last as Watt scorched to his fourth win of the night. With Bridger following in hot pursuit ahead of both Kylmakorpi and Richardson, this at least gave the Eagles supporters something to cheer ahead of the journey home, but they knew only too well that despite the closing 5-1, with 19-points (57-38) the difference between the sides, Eastbourne had a substantial task to accomplish if they were yet to preserve their Knockout Cup status.
Scorers :
Hammers : Lee Richardson 11(5), Stuart Robson 10+1(5), Adam Shields 9+1(4), Kauko Nieminen 9+1(4), Joonas Kylmakorpi 9+1(5), Jonas Davidsson 8+3(4), Robert Mear 1(3) – 57
Eagles : Davey Watt 16(5), Lewis Bridger 10(5), Simon Gustafsson 8(6), David Norris 2(4), Ricky Kling 1(3), Cameron Woodward 1(4), Lukas Dryml 0(3) – 38 |
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