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Sheffield Tigers v Workington Comets
Premier Trophy (Group), 04 May 2006
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield

Sheffield 57
1Ricky Ashworth32313 ..120
2Ben WilsonFx1*22*. ..52
3Emiliano Sanchez11*23. ..71
4Kyle Legault321*3. ..91
5Andre Compton33332* ..141
6Paul Cooper2*1101 ..51
7Benji Compton3T1*1. ..51
Workington 38
1Paul Thorp234^21 ..120
2Tomasz Piszcz1*031*. ..52
3Ritchie Hawkins0Fx02. ..20
4James Wright2212. ..70
5Garry Stead236^00 ..110
6Lee DerbyshireFx.... ..00
7Aidan Collins10000 0010

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

Both Sheffield and Workington were at full strength for this match. Sheffield had five points to pull back from the first match at Workington in search of the bonus point.

In the opening heat Ben Wilson fell and was excluded from the rerun which was brought back for a restart when Paul Thorp got a flyer. Ricky Ashworth had a tapes to flag victory for a shared race. There was then a delay as Lee Derbyshire required medical attention to an eye problem. In heat 2 he then fell on the third lap and required further medical attention of a different nature after which he was sent to hospital with a suspected broken leg. This caused a lengthy delay while an ambulance turned up to take him to Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital to the extent that an hour after the start time only one heat had been raced. In the rerun of the reserves race Sheffield scored a 5-1 to put them four points ahead, one behind on aggregate. It looked like another 5-1 would go the Tigers’ way in heat 3 as Kyle Legault and Emiliano Sanchez led heat 3 but James Wright passed Sanchez on the third lap to limit the damage to a 4-2 which put the home side six points ahead and saw them lead on aggregate. Benji Compton touched the tapes in heat 4 and Paul Cooper came into the heat in his place. Andre Compton won the race from Garry Stead but with Paul Cooper third it was another 4-2 to Sheffield which took the score after heat 4 to 16-8.

In heat 5 Paul Thorp was soon off for a comfortable win. With Tomasz Piszcz in second place it looked as though the Comets would earn their first race advantage but Piszcz decided to have a close inspection of the fence and was passed by Kyle Legault and then Emiliano Sanchez so the heat finished as a 3-3. In heat 6 Workington had another race winner in Garry Stead from Ricky Ashworth and new British under-21 Champion, Ben Wilson, for another 3-3. Heat 7 was rerun after Ritchie Hawkins had fallen and been excluded. Andre Compton had another easy win ahead of James Wright with Paul Cooper picking up the gift third place point for a 4-2 which put the Tigers 10 points ahead. Workington threatened a 1-5 in heat 8 as Tomasz Piszcz and Aidan Collins led from the tapes. However the third lap was a bad one for the Comets’ reserve as first Ben Wilson passed him followed by Benji Compton. The shared heat took the score after eight races to 29-19.

In heat 9 Garry Stead took a TR. Emiliano Sanchez was the early race leader but Stead passed him on the last bend for the full six points. He got no support so the race result was a 3-6 to Workington cutting the Sheffield lead to seven points and getting them back to only two down on aggregate. In heat 10 the Comets slipped 11 points behind again when Sheffield’s Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson took a 5-1 from James Wright so they gave Paul Thorp a TR in heat 11, a brave move with Andre Compton in the heat for the home side. Compton duly won the race to continue his unbeaten run with Paul Thorp second. Tomasz Piszcz finished third so the Comets took a 3-5 from the heat bringing them back to nine points in arrears, four on aggregate. Heat 12 was won by Emiliano Sanchez from Ritchie Hawkins who passed Benji Compton for second place to give Sheffield another two points’ advantage with the 4-2 as the heat 12 score went to 44-33.

Andre Compton had his fourth win in heat 13 with Paul Thorp in second place. The real race was at the back though between Ricky Ashworth and Garry Stead with the Sheffield rider prevailing for a 4-2. The result of heat 14 was another 4-2 to Sheffield. Kyle Legault was the race winner beating James Wright and Paul Cooper. In the last heat Ricky Ashworth made the early running followed by Paul Thorp and Gary Stead but Andre Compton had passed both Workington riders before the first lap had been completed for a final heat 5-1 to Sheffield giving them a 19 point win.

Match Report by Merlin