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Newcastle Diamonds v Workington Comets
Premier Trophy (Group), 19 March 2006
Brough Park Stadium, Newcastle

Newcastle 47
1George Stancl231&32* ..111
2Christian Henry0101. ..20
3Manuel Hauzinger012.. ..30
4Josef Franc2Fx6^31* ..121
5James Grieves32332 ..130
6Adam McKinna001.. ..10
7Jamie Robertson3001*1 ..51
Workington 46
1Paul Thorp3300. ..60
2Tomasz Piszcz12*320 ..81
3Ritchie Hawkins11TFx. ..20
4James Wright33023 ..110
5Garry Stead2221. ..70
6Aidan Collins21*2*1*2 3.113
7Lee Derbyshire1*00.. ..11

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

Both teams were at full strength with George Stancl, Manuel Hauziger and Adam McKinna making their debuts for Newcastle . Workington tracked the same team which beat Sheffield last night.

It was the visitors who made by far the better start. Paul Thorp headed George Stancl home in the opening heat with Tomasz Piszcz taking third place from Christian Henry. Jaimie Robertson won the reserves race but the heat was shared 3-3 so the Comets stayed two points in front. They went further ahead with another 2-4 in heat 3. James Wright won the race from Josef Franc with Ritchie Hawkins third for a four point lead and although James Grieves took heat 4 Garry Stead and Aidan Collins filled the minor places for another shared race and the score after heat 4 was 10-14.

Things then went from bad to worse for the Diamonds. In heat 5 Josef Franc fell and was excluded from the rerun which was won by Paul Thorp. Tomasz Piszcz followed him home so the Workington 1-5 extended their lead to eight points. George Stancl offered some relief by winning heat 6 from Garry Stead. With Christian Henry third a home 4-2 reduced their deficit to six points but worse was to come for the home side. In heat 7 James Wright beat the normally invincible James Grieves round Brough Park and, with Ritchie Hawkins third, the Comets had restored their eight point lead. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Workington then stormed into a 12 point lead when Tomas Piszcz and, reserve, Aidan Collins relegated George Stancl to third in heat 8 to take the heat 8 score to 18-30! Stancl had come into the heat as a TS off 15 metres but he could make no impression on the Comets’ pair. Since he failed to beat an opponent his one point was not doubled.

In heat 9 Newcastle played a TR card giving the ride to Josef Franc who duly obliged with a win. However Stead and Collins filled the minor places so the result was a 6-3 reducing the gap to 9 points. George Stancl made no mistake winning heat 10 from Aidan Collins who replaced Ritchie Hawkins excluded for a tapes offence, but Christian Henry pegged James Wright to the back so Newcastle had pulled back another two points to trail by 7 points. Heat 11 saw James Grieves beating Tomasz Piszcz but, incredibly, young Adam McKinna opened his account by taking third place from the previously unbeaten Paul Thorp! This 4-2 pulled Newcastle back to within 5 points of the Comets. In heat 12 Ritchie Hawkins fell and was excluded from the rerun but Aidan Collins pulled the win out of the fire to make sure the heat was shared. This took the score after heat 12 to 35-40.

Newcastle were almost back to level pegging after James Grieves and George Stancl took a 5-1 from Garry Stead and Paul Thorp in heat 13 with there now being only one point between the sides. Josef Franc won heat 14 from James Wright and, with Jaimie Robertson taking the third place point from Lee Derbyshire, the resultant 4-2 saw Newcastle in front for the first time in the match at 44-43. James Wright won the last heat decider but James Grieves and Josef Franc filled the minor places for a shared heat to see Newcastle home. Workington must be devastated at taking nothing from the match but it’s not the first time Newcastle have won at home by virtue of the TR rule.

Match Report by Merlin