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Hull Vikings v Rye House Rockets
Premier League, 22 June 2005
Craven Park, Hull

Hull 57
1Emiliano Sanchez32*Fx3. ..81
2Paul Thorp13313 ..110
3Craig Branney331*2. ..91
4Emil Kramer2*1232* ..102
5Garry Stead30... ..30
6Simone Terenzani2*2301 ..81
7Joel Parsons32*111* ..82
Rye House 33
1Stuart Robson2M^R1*1 ..41
2Edward Kennett0224^. ..80
3Brent Werner13330! 0.100
4Daniel KingF12*2. ..51
5Chris NeathX132. ..60
6Steve BoxallFx.... ..00
7Tommy AllenFn.... ..00

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

After last week’s heavy home defeat at the hands of Edinburgh Hull faced the daunting task of taking on the favourites for the league title this year, Rye House. They were boosted by having won on the road at Newport last Sunday and were at full strength as were Rye House but not for long as it turned out.

What an unbelievable start there was to this match. Rye House could hardly believe what happened over the opening six heats which saw them score only six points! Emiliano Sanchez passed Stuart Robson to win the opening heat with Paul Thorp third for a 4-2 but disaster struck the Rockets in heat 2 when Steve Boxall fell bringing his fellow reserve, Tommy Allen down with him. Boxall was withdrawn from the meeting with a hip injury as was Allen who was dazed and unable to continue. As a result it was clear that, with no reserves, there were going to be a number of heats when Rye House could only track one rider. As it was they couldn’t track any in the rerun of heat two so the Vikings had a 5-0 walkover. It got worse for the Rockets as they conceded a 5-1 to Craig Branney and Emil Kramer who headed home Brent Werner and Daniel King. But if that was bad, heat 4 was even worse. Chris Neath was the only rider Rye House were able to track since they were now without a reserve but he brought down Garry Stead and was excluded leaving the two Hull riders to score another 5-0 walkover. The score after heat 4 was 19-3.

The farce continued in heat 5. Stuart Robson was nominated for a TR but failed to beat the 2 minute time allowance as Rye House went with three riders having blown one of their tactical options. Craig Branney won the heat from Edward Kennett with Emil Kramer third as Hull scored a 4-2. In heat 6 again the Rockets had only one rider. Chris Neath gated but he was passed by Paul Thorp and Emiliano Sanchez for a 5-1 to the Vikings which took the score to 28-6. At last the Rockets got their act together as, in heat 7, they scored a 2-4 with a win for Brent Werner ahead of Simone Terenzani with Daniel King third from an out of sorts Garry Stead who took no further part in the meeting thereafter. In heat 8 Hull took another 4-2 when Paul Thorp beat Edward Kennett with Joel parsons third as Stuart Robson suffered an engine failure. The score after heat 8 was 34-12.

Chris Neath, the Rockets only rider in the heat, won heat 9 for a 3-3 then Rye House took a 1-5 when Werner and King turned the tables on Thorp and Sanchez to make the score 38-20. The next three heats were shared but in heat 11 it took a second place for Edward Kennett on a TR to do it while Stuart Robson had another engine failure as the score went to 48-30 after heat 13. In heat 14 Rye House plugged one of their reserves’ rides with a Tactical Substitute ride for Brent Werner. However Werner could not overcome the 15 metre handicap as Hull took a 4-2 with a Kramer win over King. In heat 15 Hull brought the curtain down on a miserable and less than memorable night for the Rockets with another 5-1 from Thorp and Kramer ahead of Robson, who at least completed four laps, to stretch the winning margin to 24 points.

Match Report by Merlin