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Isle of Wight Islanders v Newcastle Diamonds
Premier League, 23 May 2006
Smallbrook Stadium, Isle of Wight
| 1 | Chris Holder | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2* | 2* | . | . | 12 | 2 |
| 2 | Jason Doyle | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | . | . | . | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | Krister Marsh | 1* | 0 | 1 | 2 | . | . | . | 4 | 1 |
| 4 | Krzysztof Stojanowski | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1* | . | . | . | 9 | 1 |
| 5 | Jason Bunyan | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | . | . | 15 | 0 |
| 6 | Chris Johnson | 2* | 2* | 1 | 2 | . | . | . | 7 | 2 |
| 7 | Nick Simmons | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1* | . | . | . | 5 | 1 |
| 1 | George Stancl | 1 | 1* | F^ | 0 | . | . | . | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Manuel Hauzinger | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | . | . | . | 9 | 0 |
| 3 | Christian Henry | 0 | 1 | R | 3 | . | . | . | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | Josef Franc | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Fx | . | . | 8 | 0 |
| 5 | James Grieves | 2 | 2 | 4^ | 1 | 1 | . | . | 10 | 0 |
| 6 | Adam McKinna | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Jamie Robertson | 1 | 1* | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | 2 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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Both the Isle of Wight and Newcastle were at full strength for this match. The Premier League match between these two sides at Newcastle nine days ago was abandoned due to rain and poor visibility with the Islanders leading 17-18 so they must have been confident of a big win particularly considering the thrashing they gave Newcastle on the Island in the corresponding fixture last year. It didn’t quite work out that way though particularly in the early stages as Newcastle put up stiffer resistance this time! Manuel Hauzinger was probably the outsider to win heat 1 but win it he did! In fact Newcastle looked like starting with a 1-5 until Chris Holder passed George Stancl on the last lap to limit the damage to a 2-4. The reserves race went to the home side by the maximum 5-1 after a passing and repassing bout between Chris Johnson and Jaimie Robertson with Johnson taking second place behind his partner, Nick Simmons. This put the home side two points up but they found it difficult to extend that lead. Josef Franc won heat 3 from Stojanowski but Krister Marsh held on to third place despite a strong challenge from Christian Henry. The race was therefore shared just as heat 4 was too. James Grieves and Jaimie Robertson made fast starts but Jason Bunyan passed them both on the back straight to win the heat for a 3-3 taking the score after four races to 13-11. Krzysztof Stojanowski won heat 5 but Hauzinger and Stancl rode well together to keep Krister Marsh at the back for another shared race, the third on the trot. In heat 6 the Islanders moved further ahead. It looked as though James Grieves was going to win the race but, after chasing him for three and a half laps, Chris Holder found a way past. With Jason Doyle in third place the Isle of Wight moved four points ahead with the 4-2. Then Newcastle slipped further behind when the Islanders scored a 5-1 in heat 7. Although Christian Henry led from the tapes his lead did not last beyond the back straight of the opening lap as Jason Bunyan on the inside and Chris Johnson on the outside executed a scissors movement relegating him to third. With Josef Franc stuck at the back the home side’s lead stretched to eight points. It lengthened to ten points after heat 8. Jason Doyle won the race but the action was behind him where Manuel Hauzinger, returning to his former track, successfully contested the battle for second place with Nick Simmons. The result was a 4-2 and the score after eight heats was now 29-19. In heat 9 James Grieves took a TR and again made an excellent gate. He held the lead for two laps but Krzysztof Stojanowski roared past him for the win with Krister Marsh in third. This meant a 4-4 share of the points. Heat 10 resulted in another 4-2 when Chris Holder won the race after passing the fast starting Josef Franc with Jason Doyle in third place as Christian Henry pulled up with machine problems. Heat 11 brought no joy to the Diamonds either. George Stancl took the second TR and was leading the race when, on the second lap, he fell. Jason Bunyan went on to win from Manuel Hauzinger but another 4-2 to the Islanders increased their lead to 14 points. In heat 12, Christian Henry provided Newcastle’s third race winner by beating Krister Marsh and Nick Simmons but, with Jaimie Robertson finishing last, it only produced a share of the points for the visitors as the score after twelve races was 44-30. When Jason Bunyan and Chris Holder scored a 5-1 from the gate in heat 13 against James Grieves and George Stancl, Newcastle must have started worrying about the eventual size of their defeat for their prospects of winning the bonus point. They were now 18 points in arrears with two difficult races to go. However Josef Franc won heat 14 to share the heat from Chris Johnson and Krzysztof Stojanowski for a 3-3 and was nominated for heat 15 with James Grieves. In the first running of the race Chris Holder fell on the second lap but remounted as Josef Franc and James Grieves collided with each other. Franc was excluded from the rerun. Finally the expected 5-1 materialised with Jason Bunyan completing a full five ride maximum and Chris Holder taking second place from James Grieves resulting in a 22 point win for the Islanders. The Isle of Wight will be delighted with another convincing home performance in which all their team contributed to the win while Newcastle will reflect on the poor returns from their top average men, Stancl and Grieves, neither of whom won a race, in any analysis of this defeat. Match Report by Merlin |