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Rye House Rockets v Kings Lynn Stars
KO Cup (Final), 22 October 2005
Hoddesdon Stadium, Rye House

Rye House 56
2Edward Kennett1*3130 ..81
3Brent Werner1*2*32*3 3.143
4Daniel King23113 ..100
5Chris Neath22*232 R.111
6Steve Boxall202*.. ..41
7Tommy Allen1*33F2* ..92
Kings Lynn 34
1Oliver Allen31232 ..110
2Ashley Jones0021*. ..31
3Troy Bachelor33RFx1* ..71
4Kevin Doolan0111. ..30
5Tomas Topinka1221. ..60
6Jan Jaros3001. ..40
7(g)Benji ComptonRF0F. ..00

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

Rye House used Rider Replacement for Stuart Robson at number 1 and again nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8. King’s Lynn had Benji Compton as a guest at number 7 in place of Tommy Stange. With the equivalent of nine 5-1s to pull back it looked like mission impossible for the Rockets. In the end the Stars won comfortably to deny Rye House one of the season’s major honours.

With such a big deficit to overcome it was crucial for Rye House to get off to a good start but it didn’t happen. In fact King’s Lynn all but secured victory by supplying the race winners for each of the first three heats. Although there was little between Chris Neath and Oliver Allen in the opening heat it was Neath who won it for the visitors to share the points. Jan Jaros made the gate to win heat 2 then Troy Batchelor headed Daniel King and Brent Werner home in heat 3 to ensure another two shared heats. Finally Rye House scored one of the 5-1s they needed in heat 4 as Tommy Allen hit the front with Chris Neath making an excellent pass on Tomas Topinka to follow him home. The score after the opening four heats was 14-10 with King’s Lynn still 32 points ahead on aggregate.

Heat 5 gave the home fans some hope as the Rockets took another 5-1 this time when Daniel King and Brent Werner beat the heat 1 race winner, Oliver Allen. In heat 6 the Rockets pulled another two points back with a 4-2 when Tomas Topinka could only split the Kennett/King pairing but heat 7 really killed off any lingering hopes for the home side when King’s Lynn took a 2-4. Troy Batchelor beat Chris Neath by a distance and Kevin Doolan passed Steve Boxall for the third place point. The Stars looked like following this up with a 1-5 but Tommy Allen passed first Jan Jaros then Ashley Jones to win the race while Edward Kennett relegated Jan Jaros to the back for a 4-2. This took the score after 8 races to 29-19 with King’s Lynn still 26 points ahead with seven races left needing only to share one of the remaining heats for overall victory.

Heat 9 produced another 4-2 to Rye House with Brent Werner beating Tomas Topinka and Daniel King third. In heat 10 the Rockets kept the match mathematically alive by scoring a 5-1 through Edward Kennett and Brent Werner as Troy Batchelor pulled up after being passed. It was all over in heat 11, though, as King’s Lynn took the three points they needed. Chris Neath won the heat but Tommy Allen fell chasing Oliver Allen for second place which meant that the race was shared 3-3. Troy Batchelor fell and was excluded from the rerun of heat 12 which resulted in a 5-1 to the home side thanks to Brent Werner and Tommy Allen. This took the score to 46-26 on the night and to 73-89 on aggregate.

King’s Lynn took a 2-4 in heat 13 with Oliver Allen beating Chris Neath and Tomas Topinka leading Edward Kennett home. Rye House responded with a 5-1 from King and Boxall from Kevin Doolan but the last heat was shared when Chris Neath had an engine failure as Brent Werner beat Oliver Allen and Troy Batchelor.

Congratulations go to King’s Lynn. The two teams have it all to do again next week in the final of the Jack Young Shield where the only difference will be that Tactical Rides and Tactical Substitutes will be allowed.

Match Report by Merlin