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Reading Racers v Isle of Wight Islanders
Premier Trophy (Group), 27 March 2005
Smallmead Stadium, Reading

Reading 46
1Danny Bird23... ..50
2Chris Mills1*101. ..31
3Richard Wolff01*10. ..21
4Andrew Appleton3202*1 ..81
5Matej Zagar33326! 3.200
6Chris Johnson2*000. ..21
7Mathieu Tresarrieu30102 ..60
Isle of Wight 47
1Craig Boyce33232 ..130
2Manuel Hauzinger0031*. ..41
3Krister Marsh1*2330 ..91
4Ulrich Ostergaard21*2*1. ..62
5Jason Bunyan2X2*1. ..51
6Steen Jensen0231. ..60
7Jason Doyle11*2*0. ..42

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

The last match to begin was at Reading , where the Racers took on the Isle of Wight and what a sensational match this turned out to be as the Islanders riding their first match of the season turned over Reading, seen by many as championship contenders, in spite of a 20 point return from Matej Zagar! In addition to Reading’s misery at losing this match the reports from the track are saying that Danny Bird has a broken leg following a sickening crash with Jason Bunyan in heat 6. Both teams were at full strength for this match.

It all looked so routine at the start. A shared opening heat won by Craig Boyce from Danny Bird was followed by a 5-1 to Reading from their two reserves, Mathieu Tressarieu and Chris Johnson from Jason Doyle and Steen Jensen to put the Racers 4 points ahead. Then came three drawn heats with wins from Appleton, Zagar and Boyce before a calamitous heat 7 which could have a serious bearing on Reading’s prospects this season.

Jason Bunyan ran into Danny Bird which resulted, it is rumoured, in Bird suffering a broken leg which could sideline him for a long time. The race was awarded with Bunyan excluded giving the Racers a 6 point lead at 21-15. Heat 7 was shared after another win from Matej Zagar but the wheels came off the Reading bandwagon big time in the next three heats which saw them lose three 1-5s on the trot! Firstly Hauzinger and Doyle took the maximum in heat 8. Then Steen Jensen and Jason Bunyan did likewise in heat 9 ahead of Richard Wolff and Andrew Appleton followed by another 1-5 from Krister Marsh and Ulrich Ostergaard in heat 10 in which the Racers had to field Mathieu Tressarieu for Danny Bird. The score now stood at 27-33 and the Reading heads were down. Matej Zagar kept on his winning ways by taking heat 11 for a shared heat but Reading slipped further behind when Mathieu Tressarieu could only separate Krister Marsh and Steen Jensen with Wolff at the back for a 2-4 to the Islanders who were now eight points adrift at 32-40. It got worse too for the Racers. In heat 13 Craig Boyce inflicted the only defeat of the night on Matej Zagar as the Isle of Wight took another 2-4 to stretch the lead to 10 points at 34-44. Desperate measures were needed and Matej Zagar took a Tactical Substitute ride in heat 14 from 15 metres back. He did his bit by passing them all to win the race and Andrew Appleton likewise followed him home for the big 8-1.

This took the score to 42-45 and left Reading in with a fighting chance of a win with a possible 5-1 in the last heat. It was not to be, however, for although Matej Zagar beat Craig Boyce Andrew Appleton could only finish third ahead of Krister Marsh for a 4-2 which was one point short of what would have been a phenomenal comeback.

Match Report by Merlin