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Newcastle Diamonds v Somerset Rebels
Premier League, 14 August 2005
Brough Park Stadium, Newcastle

Newcastle 60
1Josef Franc33333 3.180
2Kristian Lund2*3130 ..91
3Lubos Tomicek1011*0 ..31
5James Grieves332*2*2* ..123
6Christian Henry32*3.. ..81
7Jamie Robertson2*2*112 2.102
Somerset 36
1Magnus Zetterstrom16^X.. ..70
2Jamie Smith02*21. ..51
3Ritchie Hawkins211*6^0 ..101
4Paul FryR0231 ..60
5Glenn Cunningham1221. ..60
6(g)Sean Stoddart1000. ..10
7(g)Rob Grant0001. ..10

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

Newcastle who had parted company with Richard Juul had Kristian Lund back in the side but used R/R for the injured Phil Morris. Christian Henry was fit enough to take his place in the side at number 6 but his evening was to be curtailed in a sequence of dreadful events. Somerset without their two reserves had Sean Stoddart at number 6 and Rob Grant at number 7. The Rebels were defending a 24 point advantage for the bonus point.

It’s a long time and probably a first in the Premier League for a rider to be thrown out of a meeting for foul riding. Tonight at Newcastle heat 11 and subsequent events saw this match turn sour and there will no doubt be repercussions to come as a result of the events.

In the circumstances it might be better to quote excerpts from the report which subsequently appeared on the Newcastle website and leave it at that.

A fantastic win for Newcastle over Somerset, including the capture of the precious bonus point, was overshadowed by the loss of Christian Henry to another injury after an unsavoury incident with Magnus Zetterstrom, and by brawling in the pits after the Diamonds had taken a 5-1 in heat 15 to set up a run-off for the bonus point. Almost everywhere, there were heroes in the Newcastle team. At number one, Josef Franc raced to a blistering 18 point maximum, before going out again to secure the bonus point for the Diamonds, defeating Ritchie Hawkins in the run-off.

James Grieves was involved in both altercations during the meeting, but he did not let the first incident put him off (the second occurred after James had finished racing) as he raced to a five-ride paid maximum, despite not being fully recovered from the injuries to his hand and hip. It was the hand injury which may have led, indirectly, to the fracas in the pits.

And so, to Christian Henry, and one of the most unpleasant incidents seen at Brough Park. Christian, who was just returning to form, again, had won his first heat, and followed James Grieves home for a 5-1 in his second, when he came out in heat 11 to partner James Grieves against Magnus Zetterstrom and Jamie Smith. Christian Henry was in the lead, having passed Zetterstrom who, in his turn had passed and re-passed twice with James Grieves. Suddenly, a thrilling race turned sour as, inexplicably, Zetterstrom appeared to 'line-up' Henry coming into the third bend, and 't-boned' him through the apex of the third and fourth bends. Henry flew to the fence, and the paramedics had hardly reached him before there was frantic waving for the emergency ambulance to come to his aid. Behind him, Grieves brilliantly laid down his bike to avoid further carnage before leaping to his feet to remonstrate with Zetterstrom. The pits emptied, as team mates, and mechanics streamed to the site of the incident, some to help the stricken Henry, some to rescue yet another Henry piece of scrap metal, and some to join in the complaints about the riding of Zetterstrom. Discussion and argument continued all the way back to the pits, and in the pits, too, until the referee left his box and went down to the changing rooms, where he decided, in an almost unprecedented move, to exclude Magnus Zetterstrom from the rest of the meeting, and to put the rest of the incident into his report.

Christian Henry, for his part, eventually got back to his feet, and, at first, refused the ambulance ride back to the pits, but eventually agreed to be transported. Christian has a deep gash, which required hospital attention, and stitches, in his thigh. The gash is believed to have been caused when he was hit by his own bike. The bike, several inches shorter than the normal bike, and with the front end pointing the wrong way, was taken back to the pits on the back of the tractor.

Since the referee excluded Zetterstrom from the heat for 'foul riding', and thought the incident serious enough to remove the rider from the rest of the meeting, it would have been nice to have thought that Zetterstrom might have contributed to the repair of the bike, or that any fines levied for this, or the subsequent, incident might find their way to Henry, instead of to the BSPA.

The nastiness was not over, either. At the end of heat 15, as Josef Franc stayed at the centre green to celebrate the victory, being joined by his team mates, James Grieves returned to the pits only to find himself attacked, allegedly, by Paul Fry. According to an eye-witness, James Grieves, who had just completed five hard races, was shaking his still-injured hand to alleviate the pain and stiffness, and the gesture was misunderstood in the Somerset camp. Paul Fry jumped off his bike, and knocked James over, in view of the crowd. Then, according to the eye-witness, a mechanic kicked James in the ribs while he lay on the ground, before aiming another kick at one of the officials. After that, a melee ensued that took several minutes to calm down. The referee had to visit the pits again, this time fining James Grieves and the mechanic. James was later seen heading to the changing rooms with blood from a cut head.

There was plenty of excitement to be seen in the meeting itself, too, but of a more conventional kind. The first heat produced a 5-1 for the Diamonds. Franc, Zetterstrom, and Lund, all made sharp gates. Franc, in gate 2, just held the edge over Zetterstrom, allowing Lund the outside run past Zetterstrom. Kristian was always under pressure from Zetterstrom, but three consecutive tight bends from Kristian ensured the second place, with Josef some distance ahead.

Heat 2 was another 5-1 for the Diamonds, this time in a procession as the Diamonds won easily, with Henry having a lead of nearly a quarter of a lap over last man Grant by the end of the race. Lund appeared again in heat 3, as a replacement rider for Phil Morris. Kristian was rolling at the start, but got away with it to make a good gate, and he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Paul Fry along the back straight of the first lap. However, Fry was the stronger rider, and took the lead. The 4-2 for Somerset looked certain until, on the fourth bend of the third lap, Paul Fry had an engine failure, leaving Lund to take the win under pressure from Ritchie Hawkins. Lubos Tomicek, drastically under-powered, was well adrift of the others.

Newcastle increased their lead to 14 points in heat 4 when Jamie Robertson made the gate, then slowed the race up to allow James Grieves to come round the outside of both Glenn Cunningham and Jamie, and set off for a clear heat win. Jamie had to work hard to keep Cunningham behind him until the Somerset rider locked up slightly on the second bend of the fourth lap, and the second place was secured for the Diamonds.

Despite the presence of Zetterstrom in heat 5, Newcastle elected to use Robertson, rather than Franc, to replace Phil Morris, and Somerset took the opportunity to nominate Zetterstrom for double points. Jamie and Lubos were both moving at the gate and, although Lubos made the gate, Jamie was going backwards when the tapes rose, and missed the gate altogether. Zetterstrom had a comfortable lead, and Jamie Smith was able to pass Tomicek easily through the first two bends, by virtue of the more powerful engine. It then took Jamie a lap to get past Tomicek before he could set off after Smith, and Jamie was very unlucky not to catch Smith in a close finish. Both Franc and Lund made the gate in heat 6. Josef stayed well in front of the others, but Kristian locked up on the second bend of the second lap, and Glenn Cunningham took advantage of the mistake to move into second place. By the flag, the race was well strung-out.

Heat 7 was re-run after Christian Henry was sandwiched between Ritchie Hawkins and Paul Fry within yards of the start. In the re-run, Hawkins was rolling slightly, and was moving in the wrong direction when the tapes rose. In his search for his favourite part of the track, James Grieves, perhaps not expecting to see the reserve in such close contention, accidentally took his own man up to the fence, allowing both Hawkins and Fry to pass, and fill the minor places. However, with Grieves gone, Henry was able to use the same grip, and pass Fry coming out of the bend, and Hawkins on the back straight, to put Newcastle on a 5-1. For the remainder of the race, Hawkins looked like he would pass Henry at the first opportunity, but Henry held on brilliantly to confirm the maximum win for the Diamonds.

Kristian Lund made the gate in heat 8, and was very hard on Jamie Smith coming out of the second bend, leaving Smith with no racing room. Again, the best of the racing was behind the leader, as Lund raced away, and Robertson tried a series of moves, both inside and outside, to get past Smith. Finally, on the exit from the last bend, Robertson tried to blast his was round Smith, but the Somerset rider had seen the move coming, and blocked the run of Robertson to take second place. The heat finished 4-2 to the Diamonds, and, with seven heats to go, the Diamonds, despite the seven point reverse from the tactical ride, had clawed back fifteen points of the twenty-four point deficit.

Lubos Tomicek was again to be seen moving at the tapes at the start of heat 9, but he got away with it, and made a good gate alongside Josef Franc. Glenn Cunningham came alongside Tomicek on the back straight, but Lubos was able to shrug off his opponent to retain his second place. However, Cunningham came at him again, and succeeded in passing Tomicek on the third lap. From there, Tomicek appeared to go backwards, almost being caught by Sean Stoddart.

Heat 10 was stopped by the referee when Kristian Lund was caught rolling at the start. In the rerun, Franc, Fry, and Lund all gated together, but Lund moved to the back of the field, and made little impact on the rest of the heat as Josef raced clear of Paul Fry. Heat 11 has already caused enough discussion, but the resulting 5-1 for Newcastle ensured that the Diamonds won the meeting, and gave Newcastle a lead of 21 points in their bid for the bonus point. Another tactical ride in heat 12, this time for Ritchie Hawkins, resulted in another six-point heat win for Somerset. Jamie Robertson made the gate, and held off the challenge of Hawkins for two laps before the Somerset rider came past. Lubos Tomicek, who had started from a 15-metre penalty mark for the first of two tape offences, got past Sean Stoddart for third place.

Because Magnus Zetterstrom has been excluded from the remainder of the meeting after the heat 11 incident, Somerset could only field one rider in heat 13, and James Grieves and Josef Franc took a relatively easy 5-1 one. With just two heats to go, and a 22-point lead, the Diamonds looked well-placed to take the bonus point, but, without Christian Henry, there was no option for Newcastle but to put Lubos Tomicek in as the replacement rider for Phil Morris so that Jamie Robertson could replace Henry. Tomicek again touched the tapes at the start, and, riding from the 15-metre penalty mark, he was unable to catch the previously pointless Rob Grant after Grant stopped his run coming out of the second bend of the last lap. Jamie Robertson missed the gate, and, although he was able to pass Grant, he could not catch Paul Fry. Only a 5-1 in heat 15 would give the Diamonds a chance of the bonus point in a run-off, and James Grieves and Josef Franc duly obliged, The start caused tension as Josef Franc slid to the ground under pressure, but the referee deemed an unsatisfactory start. In the re-run, James made the gate, but Josef was stranded in third place behind Paul Fry. On the first lap, Josef tried to drive round Fry, but the move was anticipated, and Fry blocked the run. On the next lap, Josef stuck tight to the white line through the fourth bend to move alongside Fry, before two more equally tight bends made the second place safe. James Grieves, seeing the Franc had got the second place, moved over to let Josef take the win, and an 18-point maximum. With the events that followed heat 15, the run-off for the bonus point was almost an anti-climax, but Josef Franc, from the inside gate, took the victory over Ritchie Hawkins.

Match Report by Merlin