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Newport Wasps v Newcastle Diamonds
Premier League, 30 April 2006
Queensway Meadows, Newport

Newport 46
1Neil Collins221*2*0 ..72
2Chris Schramm1*1*32. ..72
3Carl WilkinsonFx221. ..50
4Tony Atkin301*2. ..61
5Craig Watson33333 ..150
6Joel Parsons21110 1*.61
7Billy Legg00... ..00
Newcastle 44
1George Stancl33202 ..100
2Christian Henry012R. ..30
3Josef Franc2232*1* ..102
4Manuel Hauzinger1*0R.. ..11
5James Grieves2331. ..90
6Jamie Robertson30033 ..90
7Adam McKinna11*00. ..21

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

Newport tracked the same team which rattled up 62 points last Sunday while Newcastle were also at full strength with Manuel Hauzinger returning to the side after his continental exploits. Hauzinger swopped places with Josef Franc who now rode at number 3 instead of 4.

The Wasps may have had a field day last week but they found this a real struggle. Unfortunately the match was marred by an unsavoury incident after heat 13 involving James Grieves and Neil Collins which resulted in Grieves being fined and thrown out of the match (or heat 15 to be more precise).

The Diamonds gave notice of intent by racing into a four point lead over the opening five races. George Stancl won the opening race for a 3-3 then Newcastle took a 2-4 in the reserves race with a Jaimie Robertson win from Joel Parsons while Adam McKinna beat Billy Legg for third place. Carl Wilkinson fell and was excluded from heat 3. Tony Atkin won it though from Franc and Hauzinger so the race was shared as was heat 4 won by Craig Watson from James Grieves. This took the score to 11-13.

Newcastle extended their lead with another George Stancl win in heat 5 from Carl Wilkinson. Christian Henry took third place for a 2-4 to put the Diamonds four ahead. James Grieves won heat 6 for a share of the points but Newport hit back with consecutive 4-2s in heats 7 and 8. In the first Craig Watson and Joel Parsons were split by Josef Franc and in the second Chris Schramm beat Christian Henry with Joel Parsons picking up the third place point. The score after 8 heats was now tied at 24-24.

James Grieves won heat 9 and Josef Franc heat 10 for Newcastle but the Wasps filled the minor places so the score was still tied. In heat 11 Newport took the lead for the first time in the match. Craig Watson ended George Stancl’s winning streak while Joel Parsons picked up third place after Christian Henry had fallen for a 4-2 and two point lead. After heat 12 however the Wasps found themselves behind again when Newcastle scored a 1-5 through Jaimie Robertson and Josef Franc ahead of Carl Wilkinson. The heat 12 score was then 35-37.

Back came Newport with a 5-1 of their own in heat 13. It looked like the race would be shared when Craig Watson led with Stancl and Grieves in the minor places but on the last lap Neil Collins found a gap to pass both Newcastle riders for the maximum heat win which put the Wasps back in front again. Jaimie Robertson won heat 14 for the Diamonds and a shared race which meant that it was a last heat decider. Craig Watson completed his maximum in heat 15 to end Newcastle’s hopes with George Stancl and Josef Franc following him home.

Match Report by Merlin