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Rye House Rockets v Kings Lynn Stars
PL Playoff (SF), 14 October 2006
Hoddesdon Stadium, Rye House
| 1 | Edward Kennett | 1* | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | . | . | 10 | 1 |
| 2 | Stuart Robson | 2 | 1* | 2 | 1 | . | . | . | 6 | 1 |
| 3 | Steve Boxall | 3 | F | 1* | 3 | . | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 4 | Tommy Allen | 1 | 2 | 2 | R | . | . | . | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Chris Neath | 3 | 3 | 3 | T | 3 | . | . | 12 | 0 |
| 6(g) | Tai Woffinden | 3 | 1* | F | Fx | 0 | . | . | 4 | 1 |
| 7(g) | Daniel Giffard | 0 | 2* | 1* | 1 | . | . | . | 4 | 2 |
| 1 | Daniel Nermark | 3 | 3 | 1* | 2 | 2 | . | . | 11 | 1 |
| 2 | Trevor Harding | 0 | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Troy Bachelor | Fx | 0 | R | 2 | . | . | . | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | Kevin Doolan | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2* | 0 | . | . | 8 | 1 |
| 5(g) | Jason Lyons | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | . | . | . | 7 | 0 |
| 6 | Chris Mills | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1* | . | . | . | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | John Oliver | 1* | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | . | . | 10 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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Rye House had two guests forming their reserve pairing. Tai Woffinden wore the number 6 and Daniel Giffard the number 7 race jacket. King’s Lynn had Jason Lyons guesting for the injured Tomas Topinka at number 5. Both teams were battling for a place in the final where Sheffield already awaited the winners. Rye House had not had a successful time against King’s Lynn in their meetings this season and were looking for a sizeable win to take to the Norfolk Arena for the second leg. They would be disappointed not to have won by more but threw too many points away leaving the Stars favourites to win on aggregate. The opening heat had to be rerun when Daniel Nermark gave Edward Kennett a shove on the first bend causing him to fall. It was ‘all four back’ but Nermark made the gate in the rerun and held off Stuart Robson’s late challenge to win on the line. Edward Kennett finished third so the race was shared. Tai Woffinden made a fast start in the reserves race to win it but Chris Mills and John Oliver finished behind him for another 3-3. Heat 3 also needed a rerun after Troy Batchelor disappeared through the fence on the first bend of the third lap while lying third. He was excluded and the rerun resulted in a 4-2 to the Rockets. Kevin Doolan was taken wide on the opening bends while Steve Boxall and Tommy Allen headed off for a 5-1. Doolan got past Allen at the start of the last lap to restrict Rye House’s advantage to two points but the lead stretched to six points after Rye House scored a 5-1 in heat 4. Chris Neath and Daniel Giffard saw off John Oliver with Jason Lyons stuck at the back to take the score after four heats to 15-9. The home side were unlucky in heat 5 when Steve Boxall, well ahead of the field, suffered an engine failure promoting Daniel Nermark to first place. At the back Tommy Allen passed Trevor Harding on the first two bends of the last lap to salvage two points from the heat for the Rockets but the 2-4 cut the home side’s lead to four points. Jason Lyons made amends for his first race lapse by winning heat 6 but Kennett and Robson shared the points then in heat 7 Rye House restored their six point advantage. Chris Neath romped to a comfortable win ahead of Kevin Doolan while at the back Tai Woffinden passed Troy Batchelor on the back straight of the opening lap for a 4-2. John Oliver rocketed from the gate in heat 8 to lead home Stuart Robson and Daniel Giffard for a shared race taking the score after eight races to 27-21. Jason Lyons won heat 9 for the Stars passing Tommy Allen on the third lap while Steve Boxall passed Chris Mills for third place on the last lap to share the points. Kevin Doolan passed Stuart Robson in heat 10 to follow race leader, Edward Kennett, home for a 4-2 which increased Rye House’s lead to eight points. It stayed that way with another shared race in heat 11. Chris Neath passed the King’s Lynn pair on the back straight of the first lap but Tai Woffinden fell trying to pass third placed Daniel Nermark. Woffinden fell in the next race too, this time clipping Chris Mills’ back wheel when he looked like passing him on the opening bends of the last lap. Steve Boxall won the race from Troy Batchelor so the heat was shared which took the score after twelve races to 40-32. Things looked bad for the Rockets when Chris Neath broke the tapes in heat 13 and was replaced by Tai Woffinden out for his third race on the trot. In the rerun Daniel Nermark fell on the first bend and the referee invited all four back. In the second rerun Edward Kennett won comfortably from Daniel Nermark and Jason Lyons so this race was shared too and Rye House still led by eight points. Daniel Giffard replaced Tai Woffinden in a crucial heat 14 which proved disastrous for the Rockets. Chris Mills and Kevin Doolan scored a 1-5 ahead of Giffard as Tommy Allen retired from the race to halve the home side’s lead and leave them in danger of having no advantage at all for the second leg. Fortunately for the Rockets that didn’t happen. In fact they increased their lead to 6 points with a 4-2. Daniel Nermark led from the tapes but was passed by Chris Neath on the back straight on the second lap. Edward Kennett then took up the chase on Nermark and almost passed him on the line but the race finished with the Rockets having to be content with a two point advantage from it. Six points is not likely to be enough for Rye House to hold off King’s Lynn in the second leg, given their past record on the Saddlebow Road circuit, but perhaps the prize at stake will inspire them to greater things. Match Report by Merlin |