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Rye House Rockets v Berwick Bandits
Premier League, 29 May 2006
Hoddesdon Stadium, Rye House

Rye House 65
1Ross Brady12*31*. ..72
3Edward Kennett2*2331* ..112
4Tommy Allen331*2*1 ..102
5Chris Neath12*322 ..101
6Luke Bowen332*2*3 ..132
7Steve Boxall2*3332* ..132
8(g)Danny Betson1.... ..10
Berwick 27
1Stanislaw Burza231#33 ..120
2David Meldrum000.. ..00
3Lee Smethills1001. ..20
4Michal Makovsky0124^0 ..70
5Andreas Bergstrom211&10 ..50
6Danny Warwick0000. ..00
7Craig Branney1000. ..10

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

Rye House Rockets cruised to another home win over a disappointing Berwick side. For the visitors, Stanislaw Burza rode well for his three heat wins and was the only Berwick rider to offer much resistance. Berwick were at full strength while Rye House again used rider replacement for the injured Jamie Courtney. However, with the current form of both reserve riders, Steve Boxall and Luke Bowen, Courtney's absence is not being missed. For the second meeting in a row, Rye House named Danny Betson at number 8.

Tommy Allen took the first rider replacement ride in heat 1 and won comfortably after passing Bursa off the second bend. Ross Brady took third place ahead of David Meldrum. Heat 2 saw the first of eight 5-1 heat wins for the home side when Bowen and Boxall finished well clear of Daniel Warwick and Craig Branney. Allen won again in heat 3 ahead of team mate Edward Kennett with Lee Smethills and Michal Makovsky never quite near enough to challenge. Boxall produced the fastest time of the afternoon when he won heat 4. His partner, Chris Neath, started poorly and couldn't get on terms with Andreas Bergstrom who held on for second place. 18-6 to Rye House after four heats.

Heat 5 was one of the best. Burza forced his way to the front ahead of Allen and Kennett and looked to have the race in the bag. With a lap to go, Kennett finally got a challenge in but he was too wide. Again, Burza established a lead down the back straight but Kennett gave it one last go off the last bend. There was nothing in it at the line but Burza had held on by an inch. Boxall and Brady took a 5-1 in heat 6 but while Boxall made it look very easy, Brady was struggling for pace. Bergstrom slowly began to catch him but the line came in time for Brady. Bowen and Neath were too good for Makovsky and Smethills, Neath keeping a close watch on the Berwick pair and leaving Bowen to blaze out in front.

Berwick gave Bergstrom a tactical substitute ride in heat 8 but, from a 15 metre handicap, there was no way he was going to get close to the Bowen/Boxall partnership. Rye scored another 5-1 in heat 9. Kennett took his familiar wide course and won easily, leaving Allen to fend off Bergstrom and make it 41-13 after 9 heats.

Danny Betson took the rider replacement ride in heat 10, partnering Brady, but couldn't repeat last week's race win. This time it was Brady who led from start to finish. Betson found himself in second place but a couple of errors allowed Makovsky through. Two more 5-1s followed. Neath and Bowen beat Burza (tactical ride) and Meldrum in heat 11 and the Kennett/Boxall pairing won heat 12.

The last three heats were shared. Burza gated quickly in heat 13 to win from Neath and Brady and then the rain arrived. After a few minutes delay, Makovsky appeared as a tactical rider in heat 14 and led from the tapes. Once again, Bowen reminded the home fans of his progress when he caught and passed Makovsky with impressive ease while Allen struggled to get round the wet track into third place. Burza led all the way in the last heat to record his third race win, this time ahead of Neath and Kennett.

Match Report by Candyman