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Kings Lynn Stars v Glasgow Tigers
KO Cup (SF), 20 September 2006
Norfolk Arena, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn 67
1Kevin Doolan1332*. ..91
2Troy Bachelor32*32*3 ..132
3Trevor Harding2*112. ..61
4Daniel Nermark3333. ..120
5Tomas Topinka32*331 ..121
6Chris Mills332*2*. ..102
7John Oliver2*12*0. ..52
Glasgow 27
1Danny Bird24^0R. ..60
3Lee Dicken0R101 ..20
4Kauko Nieminen1R111 ..40
5Shane Parker214^12 ..100
6Robert KsiezakFx0013 0040
7James Cockle100R. ..10

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

King’s Lynn were at full strength for this match but Glasgow were without David McAllan who has a wrist injury and used R/R in his place at number 2.

Glasgow knew they had a tough match on their hands having failed to take any advantage from the first leg at Ashfield in a 45-45 draw but the noises coming from the Glasgow camp before the match left King’s Lynn in no doubt that the Tigers still felt they could win through to the final to meet the winners of the other semi-final tomorrow night in which Sheffield face Somerset trying to pull back a 15 point deficit. Perhaps their words of wisdom did more to motivate the home side than their own riders as the Tigers were thrashed again at Saddlebow Road.

Danny Bird made his usual fast start in the opening heat but he couldn’t hold off the challenges from Troy Batchelor who passed him on the third lap. Kevin Doolan was a comfortable third from (R/R) Lee Dicken so the home side took a 4-2. In the reserves race both Glasgow riders gated well but Robert Ksiezak fell bringing down James Cockle and Chris Mills in the process resulting in some medical attention being needed for Cockle. Ksiezak was excluded from the rerun in which James Cockle again made the gate. However he fell on the entry to the first bend on the second lap gifting a 5-1 to the Stars but remounted for the odd point. Heat 3 resulted in another 5-1 for the home side. Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding, who had a passing and repassing bout with Kauko Nieminen, did the damage as Lee Dicken retired at the back. King’s Lynn stretched their lead to 12 points with a 4-2 in heat 4. Tomas Topinka won from Shane Parker while John Oliver won the battle of the reserves taking the score after the opening four heats to 18-6.

In heat 5 Danny Bird took a TR but there was again no joy for the Tigers who were still looking for their first race winner when Daniel Nermark won from Danny Bird. The big guns failed to make the gate but Nermark fought through to first on the opening lap while Bird came from last to second by passing Trevor Harding on the third lap. Meanwhile Robert Ksiezak (R/R) went the other way, having led from the tapes but ending up last. The result was a 4-4 shared heat so the Tigers still trailed by 12 points. Things went from bad to worse for the Glasgow side when Doolan and Batchelor soon pulled away from Shane Parker in heat 6 resulting in another 5-1 for the Stars increasing their lead to 16 points. 16 became 20 when Chris Mills and Tomas Topinka added another 5-1 in heat 7 after Kauko Nieminen suffered an engine failure at the tapes leaving Dicken to take the third place point. King’s Lynn made it a hat trick of 5-1s in heat 8 (their fifth in eight heats). Troy Batchelor won with ease while John Oliver passed both the Glasgow reserves on the fourth bend. This took the score to 37-13 with Glasgow facing another rout.

In heat 9 Shane Parker took a TR but still Glasgow couldn’t provide a race winner. Daniel Nermark made it to the first bend ahead of Parker and went on to win the race from the Glasgow captain. Trevor Harding took third so the race was shared 4-4. Another 5-1 came from heat 10. This time it was Doolan and Batchelor again who left Kauko Nieminen way behind to put the Stars 28 points ahead to guarantee victory. At this stage only Danny Bird and Shane Parker had beaten any of the King’s Lynn riders but the visitors had two of their big guns, Danny Bird and Kauko Nieminen, out in heat 11 against Tomas Topinka and Chris Mills. Unfortunately for them it was the same depressing story as before as Topinka and Mills took another 5-1 after Bird had led for the first lap leaving Glasgow facing the possibility of conceding 70 points. But then came a veritable oasis in the desert for the beleaguered visitors! Robert Ksiezak shot out of the gate in heat 12 to provide Glasgow’s one and only heat winner of the match by beating Trevor Harding. Better still for the Tigers, Lee Dicken, who had passed Harding to join Ksiezak up front before being repassed, took third place from John Oliver so they took a 2-4 which meant that the score after 12 heats was 53-23.

It was business as usual for the Stars after the interval as they took full retribution for that heat 12 result with another 5-1. This time Tomas Topinka and Kevin Doolan relegated Shane Parker to third place while Danny Bird pulled up at the back. It was maximum time again in heat 14. Daniel Nermark continued his unbeaten run and was supported by Chris Mills ahead of Kauko Nieminen and Robert Ksiezak who was unable to reproduce his heroics of heat 12. In the last heat Troy Batchelor completed his paid maximum but Shane Parker had the satisfaction of preventing Tomas Topinka from joining him by finishing second. With Robert Ksiezak finishing last the Stars took a 4-2 for a 40 point victory as Glasgow failed to reach the 30 point mark for the second match running at the King’s Lynn track.

Match Report by Merlin