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Sheffield Tigers v Rye House Rockets
Young Shield (SF), 13 October 2005
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield

Sheffield 59
1Sean Wilson2*332*3 ..132
2Ben Wilson32*02*. ..72
3Ricky Ashworth33331 ..130
4Richard Hall2*2*FxFx. ..42
5Andre Compton33R3. ..90
6(g)David McAllan101.. ..20
7Kyle Legault32*12*3 ..112
Rye House 36
2Edward Kennett016^2*0 0.91
3Brent Werner001*0. ..11
4Daniel King12132^* ..91
5Chris Neath10021 ..40
6Steve Boxall011*.. ..21
7Tommy Allen212*02 2.91
8(g)Luke Bowen2!.... ..20

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

Sheffield had David McAllan at number 6 while Rye House used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Stuart Robson and nominated Luke Bowen as their number 8. Having won the league and the Premier Trophy, Rye House are out to add the Jack Young Shield and KO Cup to their list of trophies but, of all the teams in the league, the opponents they would most want to avoid were probably Sheffield given the Rockets poor record round Owlerton. In their least two league matches there they lost 64-30 (2005) and 69-25 (2004) although they did slightly better in the semi-final of the Premier Trophy this year when they lost 50-39. On that occasion though, they were indebted to a 14 point return from Stuart Robson who was absent tonight. On the other hand Sheffield are one of the worst teams round the Rye House track having lost there twice this season by 66-26 (Premier Trophy) and 61-32 (League) so they were likely to need a sizeable lead for the second leg.

What a start Sheffield made to this match dropping only one point in the opening six heats to leave the Rockets dreading another Owlerton nightmare. Only Tommy Allen managed as much as a second place over these six heats finishing ahead of David McAllan in the reserves race. Even when the Rockets made the gate they were passed. In heat 2 Boxall and Allen led from the tapes but conceded a 4-2 and in heat 5 Edward Kennett was fast away only for Ricky Ashworth to pass him on the second lap with Richard Hall following suit on the third lap. The score after these opening six heats was 29-7. It was incredible to believe that they added only one more point to that lead over the next 9 heats!

In heat 7 Rye House at last made their mark. Andre Compton provided Sheffield’s seventh successive race winner but Daniel King and Brent Werner relegated the chasing David McAllan to last place for a shared heat. Then, after all that had gone before, Rye House produced a 1-8 in heat 8. Edward Kennett took a TR and won the heat. He was followed home by Tommy Allen ahead of Kyle Legault and Ben Wilson to almost double Rye House’s total. This took the score to 33-18 after the opening eight heats.

In heat 9 the previously unbeaten Richard Hall fell and was excluded from the rerun. Ricky Ashworth won the rerun, passing Chris Neath on the first lap in the process, but the Rye House pair of Neath and Steve Boxall were guaranteed three points by finishing the race to take the interval score to 36-21, a score which had looked highly unlikely three heats earlier. After the interval Sheffield were back on song with a 5-1 from the two Wilsons in heat 10 heading home King and Werner from the gate but things went wrong for the Tigers in heat 11 when Andre Compton suffered an engine failure at the gate leaving Daniel King and Edward Kennett to take a maximum from David McAllan who fell on the third lap in his attempt to pass Daniel King. This pulled the Tigers’ lead back to 15 points and guaranteed that the Rockets would pass the 30 point mark in the tie with the score now reading 42-27.

There was a strange occurrence in heat 12. Rye House called on Luke Bowen, their number 8, to take a Tactical Substitute ride going from 15 metres back. With the Sheffield pair of Kyle Legault and Ricky Ashworth out in front, Tommy Allen slowed down to let Bowen through for the two points much to the annoyance of the Sheffield team manager (although why I have no idea because it’s been happening all season) for a 5-2 to the Tigers. The home side followed that with the predictable 5-1 from Andre Compton and Sean Wilson but Rye House took another heat advantage in heat 14. In this heat Daniel King took a TR and, when Richard Hall fell for the second time in the match, the race was stopped and awarded. At the time of the stoppage Tommy Allen was ahead of King with Kyle Legault leading so Rye House took a 3-4 with King’s third place point being doubled.

In the final race Sheffield went with Sean Wilson and Ricky Ashworth against Rye House’s Tommy Allen and Edward Kennett. Although Sean Wilson won the race Tommy Allen chased him all the way and, by finishing second, prevented Sheffield from reaching the 60 point mark as Ricky Ashworth too the third place point from Edward Kennett for a 4-2. This left Sheffield with a 23 point lead to take to Hoddesden but, going on previous results, this does not look like being enough.

Match Report by Merlin