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Kings Lynn Stars v Berwick Bandits
KO Cup (1st Round), 31 May 2006
Norfolk Arena, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn 70
1Daniel Nermark32*12*. ..82
2Trevor Harding2*3333 ..141
3Troy Bachelor32*33. ..111
4Kevin Doolan2*32*3. ..102
5Tomas Topinka3333. ..120
6Chris Mills2*2*2*2*. ..84
7John Oliver3F2*11 ..71
Berwick 20
1Stanislaw Burza1010. ..20
2David Meldrum0110. ..20
3Lee Smethills0100^. ..10
4Michal Makovsky1021#2 ..60
5Andreas Bergstrom1*1110 ..41
6Danny Warwick000.. ..00
7Craig Branney12020 ..50

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

Both King’s Lynn and Berwick were at full strength for this match. King’s Lynn reverted to their early season line-up with Trevor Harding back at number 2 and Troy Batchelor returning to number 3. Berwick welcomed Andreas Bergstrom back from Sweden having missed him last night on the Isle of Wight.

Berwick started this match with a four point advantage from the first leg but it was never likely to be enough to give them a reasonable chance of an aggregate win. Indeed a 44 point lead wouldn’t have been enough! It took 60.1 seconds for their lead to be wiped out in the opening heat when Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding cut inside the fast starting Stanislaw Burza on the second bend for a 5-1. Following a delay to let the sun go down, the Stars scored another 5-1 when John Oliver made a good start to lead his partner, Chris Mills, home from Craig Branney. Not to be outdone, Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan added a third 5-1 in heat 3 with the Berwick pair of Makovsky and Smethills never in contention. The sequence ended in heat 4. Tomas Topinka won easily enough but at the back John Oliver passed Andreas Bergstrom but fell on the third lap trying to pass Craig Branney. This led to a shared race and the score after four races was 18-6.

It was back to the 5-1s in heat 5 as Doolan and Batchelor added another with David Meldrum finishing third after a battle with his partner, Stanislaw Burza for the odd point. 5-1 number five appeared in heat 6 as Trevor Harding and Daniel Nermark won from the gate from Andreas Bergstrom. 5-1 number six then arrived in heat 7 with Tomas Topinka winning. However Chris Mills had to pass Lee Smethills to join his partner up front with a disappointing Makovsky trailing in last. The now routine 5-1 number seven followed in heat 8 with Trevor Harding and John Oliver winning from David Meldrum and the score now read 38-10.

King’s Lynn’s eighth 5-1 was the result of heat 9. Batchelor and Doolan won from Bergstrom and all of the Stars’ riders were still unbeaten apart from John Oliver. The sequence of six consecutive maximums finally ended in heat 10 when Michal Makovsky passed Daniel Nermark off the second bend. He held on for second place as Trevor Harding won the race for a 4-2 extending the Stars’ lead to 34 points. But it was back to normal service in heat 11 as Tomas Topinka and Chris Mills added a ninth 5-1 from Stanislaw Burza. In heat 12 Lee Smethills took a TR but Berwick gave it to the wrong man! Troy Batchelor won from Craig Branney who moved into second place when Lee Smethills moved John Oliver over but Oliver passed Lee Smethills on the third lap for third place so it was another 4-2 for the home side stretching their lead to 40 points as the score was now 46-16 with Berwick still not guaranteed to reach 20 points.

Daniel Nermark and Stanislaw Burza came together approaching the first bend but the race continued and resulted in another 5-1 for the Stars with Tomas Topinka and Daniel Nermark winning from Andreas Bergstrom. In heat 14 Michal Makovsky took Berwick’s second TR but to no effect. It was King’s Lynn’s 11th 5-1 when Kevin Doolan and Chris Mills wrapped up their maximums with Makovsky finishing third. In the last heat King’s Lynn elected to go with John Oliver and Trevor Harding against Michal Makovsky and Andreas Bergstrom. With Berwick winning the toss for gate positions surely the Bandits would find the two points they needed to hit the 20 point mark. They just made it! Trevor Harding joined the maximum men by winning the race but Michal Makovsky finished second ahead of John Oliver who held on to third place from Bergstrom’s challenge for a 4-2.

Match Report by Merlin