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Kings Lynn Stars v Somerset Rebels
Premier Trophy (Group), 29 March 2006
Norfolk Arena, Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn 51
1Daniel Nermark3R31*Fx ..71
2Trevor Harding1331. ..80
3Troy Bachelor1231*. ..71
4Kevin Doolan31*2*32 ..112
5Tomas Topinka3332. ..110
6Chris Mills30121 ..70
7Simon Lambert000.. ..00
Somerset 43
1Magnus Zetterstrom234^33 ..150
2Stephan Katt001*0. ..11
3Jamie Smith01*03. ..41
4Paul Fry2224^1 ..110
5Glenn Cunningham2210. ..50
6Simon Walker1*1*00. ..22
7Ben Barker21*20. ..51

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

This match was the return fixture from the one at Somerset last Friday night which was curtailed by the rain to 12 heats. As a result King’s Lynn were faced with only a four point deficit from their 38-34 defeat in search of the bonus point. The Stars’ team was on the usual lines with Simon Lambert back at number 7 in place of Shane Waldron who rode at Somerset. Somerset had Stephan Katt at number 2 in place of broken-wrist victim Pavel Ondrasik. Otherwise the Rebels were on the usual lines.

In the opening heat, rerun with all four riders after Trevor Harding had fallen on the first bend, Daniel Nermark made a fast start from the inside gate to beat Magnus Zetterstrom with Trevor Harding third for a 4-2. The reserves race, won by Chris Mills, was shared before the Rebels faced the strong King’s Lynn pairing of Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan in heat 3. Paul Fry made a good run off the outside gate to lead the race but Kevin Doolan gave chase and passed him on the second lap. Troy Batchelor also got up to challenge Fry but had to be content with third place. Another 4-2 to the Stars levelled the aggregate scores. Tomas Topinka continued the run of Stars’ race winners but again Simon Lambert was stuck at the back behind Glenn Cunningham and Ben Barker for a shared heat. The score after the opening four heats was 14-10.

In heat 5 Magnus Zetterstrom won the race for the visitors with Troy Batchelor in second place and Kevin Doolan passing Stephan Katt for third and a 3-3. King’s Lynn looked like taking a 5-1 in heat 6 with Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding leading but Nermark had an engine failure on the third lap allowing Glenn Cunningham and Simon Walker to share the points behind Harding. Heat 7 was also shared. Tomas Topinka won the race but Chris Mills lost too much ground drifting wide on the first bend to challenge Paul Fry and Jamie Smith. Heat 8 made it five shared heats in a row. Trevor Harding won the race but Ben Barker and Stephan Katt filled the minor places ahead of Simon Lambert. This brought the score after heat 8 to 26-22 but with the Stars producing all but one of the race winners it seemed just a matter of time before they pulled away, particularly with Simon Lambert’s three compulsory rides exhausted.

Sure enough in heat 9 Troy Batchelor and Kevin Doolan scored the threatened 5-1 ahead of Glenn Cunningham to stretch the Stars’ lead to 8 points. When Paul Fry could only split Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding in heat 10, King’s Lynn added another two points to their lead stretching it to 10 points with the 4-2. It was TR time and Magnus Zetterstrom appeared in heat 11 with the black and white helmet cover. It was Tomas Topinka who kept up his winning run though heading the closely following Zetterstrom home. Chris Mills took the third place point from Stephan Katt so the race was shared 4-4. As expected Chris Mills replaced Simon Lambert in heat 12 for the Stars while the Rebels must have wished they’d given a TR to Jamie Smith who won this one from Mills and Batchelor. Smith’s celebratory wheelie came to an abrupt end when he caught the tractor’s grader and was thrown from his bike. The shared heat meant that the gap stayed at 10 points with the heat 12 score reading 42-32.

After a lengthy delay while the medics attended to Jamie Smith, Magnus Zetterstrom emerged to win heat 13 ruining Tomas Topinka’s maximum hopes. Daniel Nermark took third place so the race was shared. In heat 14 Paul Fry took a TR but Kevin Doolan won the heat with Chris Mills third for another shared heat this time a 4-4 leaving Somerset still looking for a heat advantage. In the first running of the last heat Paul Fry and Daniel Nermark came together going into the third bend with Paul Fry falling as a result. Daniel Nermark was excluded as the culprit. In the rerun Somerset finally won a heat. Magnus Zetterstrom beat Kevin Doolan with Paul Fry unchallenged for third place. The 2-4 reduced the Stars 10 point advantage to eight points but it was too little too late for the Rebels as the Stars took all three points.

Match Report by Merlin