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Hull Vikings v Reading Racers
Premier League, 25 May 2005
Craven Park, Hull
| 1 | Emiliano Sanchez | 2* | 1 | 2* | 2 | 2 | . | . | 9 | 2 |
| 2 | Paul Thorp | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1* | . | . | 12 | 1 |
| 3 | Craig Branney | R | 1* | 2 | 1* | . | . | . | 4 | 2 |
| 4 | Emil Kramer | 3 | 2 | 1* | 1 | . | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 5 | Garry Stead | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1* | . | . | . | 5 | 1 |
| 6 | Simone Terenzani | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | . | . | 8 | 0 |
| 7 | Joel Parsons | 2* | R | 0 | . | . | . | . | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | Zdenek Simota | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | . | . | . | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | Steve Masters | R | Fx | . | . | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Andrew Appleton | 2 | 2* | R | 3 | 0 | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 4 | Richard Wolff | 1* | 3 | 1 | 3 | . | . | . | 8 | 1 |
| 5 | Matej Zagar | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | . | . | 14 | 0 |
| 6(g) | Danny Norton | 1 | R | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | Mathieu Tresarrieu | F | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2* | . | 6 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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Considering some of their visitors’ recent performances Hull must have been expecting an easy time of it against Reading but it certainly didn’t work out that way. Hull were at full strength for this match but Reading had Danny Norton at number 6 for the injured (again) Chris Johnson. Perhaps the two 5-1s in the opening two heats for the Vikings lulled them into a false sense of security but they never extended that lead all match long. After a shared heat 3, Matej Zagar beat Garry Stead and the Racers took a 2-4 to cut the gap to six points at 15-9 after heat 4. Zdenek Simota beat Emil Kramer to win heat 5 which was shared then a 4-2 from Paul Thorp, who beat Matej Zagar, and Emiliano Sanchez had the Vikings 8 points ahead again after heat 6. The Racers then shocked the home side by scoring a 1-5 from Wolff and Appleton ahead of Garry Stead to halve the gap to four points then a 2-4 from Mathieu Tressarieu, who beat Paul Thorp, and Danny Norton shaved another two points off to make the score 25-23 after 8 heats and Hull realised they had a real match on their hands. A Zagar win shared heat 9 but Hull moved six points ahead with a 5-1 from Thorp and Sanchez in heat 10 then eight points ahead with a 4-2 in heat 11 from Terenzani and Stead. Heat 12 won by Andrew Appleton was shared as was heat 13 won by Matej Zagar so Reading were still eight points in arrears with two heats to go. Strangely Reading opted not to give a Tactical Substitute ride to Matej Zagar in heat 14 but they took a 1-5 from Wolff and Tressarieu to cut the gap to four points at 44-40 needing another 1-5 for a draw. Had they used Zagar as a tactical substitute and taken a 1-8 they could still have won because they would have trailed by only 44-43 going into the last heat. As it was Matej Zagar won heat 15 but Emiliano Sanchez and Paul Thorp kept Andrew Appleton stuck at the back for a shared heat and Hull were home and dry. Match Report by Merlin |