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Kings Lynn Stars v Rye House Rockets
KO Cup (Final), 21 October 2005
Norfolk Arena, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn 63
1Oliver Allen3332*1 ..121
2Ashley Jones2*2*22*. ..83
3Troy Bachelor32*32. ..101
4Kevin Doolan2*32*3. ..102
5Tomas Topinka33333 ..150
6(g)Simon Lambert210.. ..30
7Jan JarosFx2*01*2* ..53
Rye House 27
2Edward Kennett01120 ..40
3Brent Werner10213 2.90
4Daniel KingFxR01*1 ..21
5Chris Neath11101 0.40
6Steve Boxall1.... ..10
7Tommy Allen3R031 0Fx70

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

King’s Lynn had Simon Lambert at number 6 as a guest for Tommy Stange. Rye House were without Stuart Robson and used Rider Replacement at number 1 in his absence. They also nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8 for this match. Tactical Rides and Tactical Substitutes were not allowed for this tournament.

Rye House won the toss and went from gates 1 and 3 but if they hoped that would help them in the opening heat they were mistaken. Although Chris Neath and Edward Kennett made good starts for the Rockets they were soon passed by Oliver Allen. Ashley Jones had joined him in second place before the first lap was finished as the Stars opened with a 5-1. Jan Jaros led heat 2 before falling at the end of the second lap while leading and was excluded. In the rerun it looked as though Rye House might take a 1-5 to square the score but Simon Lambert passed Steve Boxall to limit the damage to a 2-4. After the race Steve Boxall, who had also fallen in the first running of the heat, was examined by the medics and was withdrawn from the meeting suffering from concussion. In the third heat Daniel King was next to be excluded for falling. In the rerun the riders were called back after an unsatisfactory start with Brent Werner warned for moving at the start. At the third attempt Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan took a 5-1 to put the Stars six points ahead and things got worse for Rye House in heat 4. Tomas Topinka and Jan Jaros added another four points to the home side’s lead with another 5-1 ahead of Chris Neath which took the score after the opening four races to 17-7.

King’s Lynn made it three 5-1s in a row when Doolan and Batchelor left Kennett in their wake in heat 5 and it became four in a row with another maximum heat win for Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones ahead of Chris Neath. At this stage Rye House had managed only 9 points from six heats. In heat 7 Daniel King had barely made it off the start line before his bike packed up. Tomas Topinka beat Brent Werner with Simon Lambert picking up the third place point for a 4-2 stretching the Stars’ lead to 20 points. However things improved for the Rockets in heat 8. Tommy Allen won the race from Ashley Jones while Edward Kennett eventually won the third place point after a hard fought battle with Jan Jaros. This 2-4 took the score after 8 races to 33-15.

Chris Neath who had yet to beat an opponent touched the tapes in heat 9 and, with Tommy Allen, Rye’s sole reserve, already replacing Steve Boxall, had little alternative other than to go from 15 metres back. Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan ran up their third consecutive 5-1 as a pairing in the rerun to stretch King’s Lynn’s lead to 22 points. Then in heat 10 Oliver Allen and Ashley Jones scored King’s Lynn’s seventh 5-1 by heading home Brent Werner and Daniel King and the lead was now 26 points. Tomas Topinka won heat 11 but Edward Kennett and Daniel King filled the second and third places ahead of Simon Lambert for a shared heat. In heat 12 Brent Werner burst into life by passing Troy Batchelor on the first lap to go on and win the race. It looked as though Rye House might take a 2-4 but Jan Jaros passed Tommy Allen on the third lap to share the points. The score after 12 heats was 49-23.

The expected 5-1 from Tomas Topinka and Oliver Allen materialised in heat 13 with Chris Neath taking the third place point from Edward Kennett. Then King’s Lynn made it nine 5-1s in 14 heats in the next race with Kevin Doolan and Jan Jaros awarded first and second places after Tommy Allen had fallen and been excluded. In the last race Brent Werner denied Oliver Allen his maximum by finishing second to Tomas Topinka but ahead of Allen for a 4-2 which gave the Stars a healthy 36 point lead for the second leg tomorrow night at Hoddesdon.

Rye House have had some massive wins at home this season but they’ll have to go some to overturn King’s Lynn’s first leg lead although they won’t have to contend with TRs in their efforts to do so.

Match Report by Merlin