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Newport Wasps v Isle of Wight Islanders
Premier Trophy (Group), 19 March 2006
Queensway Meadows, Newport

Newport 47
1Neil Collins3322*1 ..111
2Chris Schramm0111*. ..31
3Carl Wilkinson2*33F. ..81
4Tony Atkin312*2. ..81
5Craig Watson3F333 ..120
6Joel Parsons21Fx11* ..51
7Sam Hurst0Fx0.. ..00
Isle of Wight 42
1Chris Holder1*020. ..31
2Jason Doyle223Fx2 ..90
3Krister Marsh1302*. ..61
4Krzysztof Stojanowski02*33R ..81
5Robert KasprzakFn.... ..00
6Chris Johnson11*203 ..71
7Nick Simmons3202*1 1091

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

It was a new look Newport side which took to the track with only three of last year’s team still present. Chris Schramm and Carl Wilkinson who rode for Berwick last year were included plus a brand new reserve partnership of Joel Parsons and Sam Hurst. Isle of Wight had Chris Holder at number 1 after his problems with the immigration officials with Robert Kasprzak making his debut. They too had a new reserve pairing of Chris Johnson and Nick Simmons.

The opening race was won by Neil Collins for a 3-3 but it was the Islanders who took the lead when Nick Simmons won the reserves race from Joel Parsons for a 2-4. The Wasps soon turned that around with a 5-1 in heat 3 from Tony Atkins and Carl Wilkinson then Craig Watson made a welcome return to track action in heat 4 after his injuries of last year. It was business as usual for Craig who won the race from Johnson and Kasprzak for another 3-3 which brought the score to 13-11 after four heats.

Newport went further in front with a 4-2 in heat 5. It was Carl Wilkinson again to the fore but Jason Doyle took second place from Tony Atkin and Chris Holder then the Wasps took another 4-2 in heat 6 with Neil Collins winning for the second time to stretch the home side’s lead to six points. However things started to go awry for the Wasps when Craig Watson fell in heat 7 resulting in a 1-5 when Krister Marsh and Krzysztof Stojanowski led Joel Parsons home to cut the gap to two points. Bad went to worse for the home side when Jason Doyle and the impressive Chris Johnson scored another 1-5 in heat 8 at the expense of Chris Schramm to move into the lead as the score after eight heats was now 23-25.

Carl Wilkinson made it three unbeaten rides by winning heat 9. Tony Atkin backed him up for a 5-1 ahead of Robert Kasprzak as the Wasps regained the lead by two points. However, Neil Collins was beaten in heat 10 by Stojanowski for a shared race then Craig Watson won a rerun heat 11 from Chris Holder after Joel Parsons and Jason Doyle were excluded. The 3-2 put the Wasps three ahead but they got a real shock in heat 12 when Chris Johnson and Krister Marsh hit a maximum ahead of Parsons and the previously unbeaten Wilkinson. This put the Islanders back in the lead with the score at 35-36 and the alarm bells were ringing in the home camp.

Heat 13 brought relief however as Craig Watson and Neil Collins saw off Nick Simmons and Craig Doyle for a 5-1 which restored Newport’s three point lead. Simmons had come in to the heat to replace Robert Kasprzak who had withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury. Stojanowski won heat 14 for a share of the points which kept the visitors in with a shout but Craig Watson won the last heat from Jason Doyle with Neil Collins taking third place for a 4-2 to give Newport a 5 point win.

Match Report by Merlin