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Kings Lynn Stars v Newcastle Diamonds
Premier League, 09 September 2005
Norfolk Arena, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn 52
1Oliver Allen3332*. ..111
3Ashley Jones2*0F02 ..41
4Kevin Doolan32313 2*.141
5Tomas Topinka33333 ..150
6Tommy Stange1R1.. ..20
7Jan Jaros0012*2* 0162
Newcastle 38
1Josef Franc12110 ..50
2Kristian Lund0300. ..30
3Lubos Tomicek1*2230 1.91
5James Grieves23210 ..80
6Jamie Birkinshaw32*1*F. ..62
7Jamie Robertson2*1*101 2.72

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

On a wet evening at Saddlebow Road King’s Lynn used R/R for Troy Batchelor at number 2 in their match against Newcastle who, in turn, used R/R for Phil Morris. The Diamonds had a 20 point lead from the match at Brough Park to defend for the bonus point and, although King’s Lynn may have fancied their chances of winning the bonus point, Newcastle shook them rigid in a fight for the match points let alone the bonus. The match was late in starting as work was needed to improve the track surface and lay sawdust in the wet conditions.

When it did get under way, it all started so well for the Stars who took an opening 5-1 from Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones ahead of Josef Franc and Kristian Lund but they got a shock when the visitors pulled level with a 1-5 in heat 2 after Jan Jaros suffered an engine failure when well in front. Kevin Doolan passed Josef Franc to win heat 3 but Lubos Tomicek passed Ashley Jones for third place so the race was shared. Tomas Topinka won heat 4 for another shared heat and the score after the opening four heats was 12-12.

In heat 5 Kristian Lund stunned the home fans by beating Kevin Doolan for the only points he scored all match and, with Ashley Jones falling, Newcastle took the lead with a 2-4. For some obscure reason Oliver Allen was replaced by reserve Tommy Stange in heat 6 and Newcastle took full advantage of facing both King’s Lynn reserves when James Grieves and James Birkinshaw took a 1-5 to increase the visitors’ lead to six points. With the score at 15-21 there was a delay while more work was done on the track and a further track inspection took place but, when the action resumed, King’s Lynn got their act together. In heat 7 it took a pass by Lubos Tomicek on Tommy Stange to turn a home 5-1 to a 4-2 with Kristian Lund this time stuck at the back. Then in heat 8 the Stars finally scored a 5-1 when Jan Jaros passed Kristian Lund to join his partner Oliver Allen to level the scores at 24-24.

In heat 9 it looked as though King’s Lynn would take the lead when Kevin Doolan beat James Grieves but James Birkinshaw finally got past Ashley Jones for third place and a shared heat. However in heat 10 the Stars did take the lead with a 4-2 from Oliver Allen and Kevin Doolan split by Lubos Tomicek. Then the home side hit Newcastle hard with a 5-1 in heat 11 from Tomas Topinka and Jan Jaros ahead of Josef Franc after James Birkinshaw had fallen. However Newcastle pulled two points back in heat 12 when an impressive ride by Lubos Tomicek took him from third to first ahead of Ashley Jones and James Birkinshaw finally passed Jan Jaros. This took the score after 12 heats to 38-34 which sealed the bonus point for Newcastle.

In heat 13 Tomas Topinka and Oliver Allen scored a decisive 5-1 ahead of James Grieves and Josef Franc to put the home side eight points in front with two races to go. Kevin Doolan won heat 14 to put the match beyond Newcastle and with Jan Jaros finishing third the Stars took a 4-2 to stretch their lead to 10 points. In the final heat King’s Lynn put some gloss on the score by taking another 5-1 as Tomas Topinka completed his full five ride maximum and Kevin Doolan followed him home ahead of Lubos Tomicek and James Grieves.

Match Report by Merlin