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Reading Racers v Newport Wasps
Premier League, 23 May 2005
Smallmead Stadium, Reading
| 1 | Andrew Appleton | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2* | 2* | . | . | 10 | 2 |
| 2 | Steve Masters | R | 1 | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Zdenek Simota | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | . | . | . | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | Richard Wolff | 1 | 0 | 2* | 3 | . | . | . | 6 | 1 |
| 5 | Matej Zagar | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | . | . | 15 | 0 |
| 6 | Chris Johnson | 1* | 0 | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Mathieu Tresarrieu | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | Kristian Lund | 2* | 2 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | Mads Korneliussen | 3 | 1* | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | . | 12 | 1 |
| 4 | Neil Collins | 2* | 1* | 1 | 2 | 2 | . | . | 8 | 2 |
| 5(g) | Chris Neath | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | 10 | 0 |
| 6 | Tony Atkin | 3 | 0 | 2 | R | 2* | 0 | . | 7 | 1 |
| 7 | Karlis Ezergailis | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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Reading have had a miserable time of it recently and must have approached this match with some trepidation since Newport seem to be as much, if not more, of a force away from home as they are at home. Reading had Chris Johnson back at number 6 and so were at full strength. Newport had Chris Neath as a guest replacement for Craig Watson and used R/R at number for 1 for Michael Coles who, it is rumoured, has retired with a back injury. If Reading thought they were in for an easier time of it tonight Newport made them think again in the opening heats. Racers must have had a feeling of déjà vu as the Wasps rattled in two 1-5s in the opening three heats to lead 5-13. Chris Neath and Kristian Lund did the damage in heat 1 and Mads Korneliussen and Neil Collins in heat 3. In between, Newport even had the winner of heat 2 in Tony Atkin. Matej Zagar and Mathieu Tressarieu scored a 4-2 in heat 4, however, to pull the score back to 9-15 after four heats. A shared heat 5 was followed by a 4-2 to the Racers from Appleton and Masters then a shared heat 6 was followed by yet another from Tressarieu and Masters in heat 8 so the score after eight heats was 23-25. Reading finally took the lead in heat 9 when their problem pairing of Simota and Wolff came to life with a 5-1 ahead of Chris Neath for a two point lead at 28-26 but Newport quickly levelled again with a 2-4 in heat 10 from Korneliussen and Collins at 30-30. Reading were back in front again though in heat 11 with a 4-2 from Zagar and Tressarieu but Newport wiped the lead out and were back in front themselves again with a 1-5 in heat 12 at 35-37. Reading duly wiped out that lead in heat 13 and went back in front with a 5-1 from Zagar and Appleton at 40-38. This time there was no Newport fight back as the Racers increased their lead to four points with a 4-2 from Wolff and Tressarieu at 44-40 leaving the Wasps requiring a 1-5 for a draw. With Zagar and Appleton in heat 15 for the Racers this was always going to be a long shot and the Reading pair wrapped things up with a last heat 5-1. Match Report by Merlin |