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Workington Comets v Isle of Wight Islanders
Premier League, 23 July 2005
Derwent Park, Workington
| 1 | Carl Stonehewer | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1* | 1* | . | . | 11 | 2 |
| 2 | Shaun Tacey | 1 | 2* | 3 | 1 | . | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 3 | Scott Robson | 0 | 1* | 2* | 2 | . | . | . | 5 | 2 |
| 4 | James Wright | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | . | . | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | Kauko Nieminen | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | . | . | . | 11 | 0 |
| 6 | Jamie Courtney | Fn | . | . | . | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Aidan Collins | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 1 | Craig Boyce | 2 | 3 | 4^ | 3 | X | . | . | 12 | 0 |
| 2 | Steen Jensen | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1* | . | . | . | 3 | 1 |
| 3 | Krister Marsh | 1 | 1* | 0 | 3 | . | . | . | 5 | 1 |
| 4 | Ulrich Ostergaard | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | . | . | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | Tomas Suchanek | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | Jason Doyle | 1 | F | 1 | 1 | . | . | . | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | Glen Phillips | 3 | R | 1* | 0 | . | . | . | 4 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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It must have been with a huge sigh of relief that Workington welcomed Kauko Nieminen back to their ranks after his long absence through injury. The Comets started with a full 7 man team for a change but they were soon down to six men again when Jaimie Courtney crashed in his opening race and withdrew from the meeting. By the end of the meeting they were down to five riders as Carl Stonehewer joined Courtney on his way to hospital with an arm injury as a result of a collision with Craig Boyce in the last heat. The Isle of Wight were at full strength but, with the match on the Island being drawn, the bonus point would go to the winner of this match. Carl Stonehewer beat Craig Boyce in heat 1 with Shaun Tacey third for a 4-2 but in heat 2 Jaimie Courtney fell and injured his hand which needed a visit to hospital so the Comets were a man down. In the rerun Glenn Phillips beat Aidan Collins and the 2-4 for the Islanders levelled the scores again. The visitors were in front after heat 3 won by Ulrich Ostergaard from James Wright with Krister Marsh third for a 2-4 but Workington squared the match again with a 4-2 from Nieminen and Collins to make the score after four heats 12-12. Craig Boyce won heat 5 for a 3-3 but a 5-1 from Stonehewer and Tacey put the Comets 4 points ahead in heat 6. Heats 7 and 8 were shared then Workington took another 5-1 in heat 9 from James Wright and Scott Robson to double the Comets’ lead to eight points at 31-23. A 4-2 from Stonehewer and Tacey increased the Comets’ lead to 10 points to take the score to 35-25 after 10 heats. In heat 11 Craig Boyce took a TR but was beaten by Kauko Nieminen. However, since Steen Jensen picked up the third place point, the Islanders won the race 3-5 to cut the deficit to 8 points. A Marsh/Doyle 2-4 in heat 12 cut it again to 6 points at 40-34 then Craig Boyce won heat 13 from Nieminen and Stonehewer for a shared heat to keep the Islanders in touch. But James Wright won heat 14 from Ostergaard for a 4-2 in heat 14 which clinched both match and bonus point for the Comets. There seems no respite for Workington however as in heat 15 Craig Boyce collided with Carl Stonehewer which resulted in an arm problem and hospital visit for Stonehewer. Ostergaard won the rerun as Boyce was excluded. So once again Workington finished a match with two riders in hospital! There must be some sort of curse on the Comets this season. Match Report by Merlin |