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Rye House Rockets v Newport Wasps
Premier League, 17 September 2005
Hoddesdon Stadium, Rye House

Rye House 64
1Stuart Robson33303 2*.141
3Brent Werner13333 3.160
4(g)Luke Bowen102*2*. ..52
5(g)Oliver Allen12*30. ..61
6Steve Boxall2*32*21 ..102
7Tommy Allen32*32*3 ..132
Newport 28
1Henrik Vedel2212X ..70
2Tony AtkinF01*10 ..21
3Neil Collins22^321 ..100
5Mads Korneliussen212^1*. ..61
6Lee Dicken10001 ..20
7Karlis Ezergailis00001 0.10

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

Rye House moved to within touching distance of the Premier League title with a comfortable 64-28 victory against the Newport Wasps. Rye House were without Daniel King and Edward Kennett (both competing in the World U-21 final in Austria) and were also missing Chris Neath, out with an injured back after a freak accident in his workshop. Luke Bowen stepped into King's number four position, guest Oliver Allen was at number five and Rye used rider replacement for Kennett. Newport used rider replacement for Jason King.

Stuart Robson got Rye off to a good start in the first heat but Brent Werner was impeded when Tony Atkin fell, allowing Henrik Vedel to take second place. Tommy Allen and Steve Boxall took a 5-1 in heat 2 ahead of Lee Dicken and Karlis Ezergailis. It was a close thing though with Dicken, in his best ride of the night, almost catching Boxall close to the line. Luke Bowen was first away in heat 3 from Neil Collins but Werner came from third to first on the third lap. Collins moved through into second place and Rye took the heat 4-2.

Steve Boxall won heat 4 from Mads Korneliussen, an excellent ride by Boxall considering his early return to the side after breaking bones in his left foot. Oliver Allen's third place meant another 4-2 to Rye House. Werner was away quickly in heat 5 and won easily - the first of five straight race wins for the American. Vedel and Atkin took the minor places and shared the heat. Robson and Tommy Allen were too quick for Korneliussen and Dicken in heat 6 and Rye were now 30-13 ahead after six heats. Korneliussen also earned himself a warning from the referee for moving at the tapes.

Neil Collins was out as a tactical substitute in heat 7 but made little impression as the Allen brothers raced to a 5-2. Rye followed up with a 5-1 in heat 8 (Robson and Boxall) before Newport used their last tactical option in heat 9 when Korneliussen took a tactical ride from 15 metres back. Werner and Korneliussen touched at the first bend and Werner ended up on the track but the referee brought all four riders back for the restart. Werner won it easily but Luke Bowen rode well to stay ahead of Korneliussen for another 5-2. Newport managed a 4-2 win in heat 10 thanks to a good ride from Neil Collins. Boxall took second place but the main interest was at the back. Having fallen on the last bend of the first lap, Robson remounted and set off after Karlis Ezergailis but he couldn't catch him in time.

Heat 11 produced an exciting finish. Oliver Allen led all the way from Henrik Vedel with Tommy Allen in third place until the very last bend when Tommy Allen came alongside Vedel. In the home straight, Allen just managed to get his bike in front at the line. It looked like another 5-1 in heat 12 when Werner and Boxall hit the front ahead of Collins and Dicken but a mistake by Boxall coming out of the second bend allowed Collins through to take second place. Newport must have thought they had won heat 13 when Vedel and Korneliussen led Robson and Oliver Allen but Robson had other ideas and hit the front on the last bend for a shared heat after Vedel drifted too wide. Tommy Allen and Luke Bowen were never headed in heat 14 and then Werner and Robson wrapped up the evening with a 5-1 against Collins and Vedel, Vedel excluded after hitting the boards coming out of the second bend.

Although the scoreline suggests a one-sided contest, credit to Newport for producing some entertaining racing, just as they had done when the two sides met in March. Unlike that meeting however, Newport had only three riders that looked capable of taking points off the Rockets who need just one more home win to take the league title.

Match Report by Merlin