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Workington Comets v Newcastle Diamonds
KO Cup (1st Round), 27 May 2006
Derwent Park, Workington

Workington 54
1Paul Thorp2303. ..80
2Tomasz Piszcz02*33. ..81
3Ritchie Hawkins02*2*2. ..62
4James Wright23323 ..130
5Garry Stead3232*0 ..101
6(g)Richie Dennis2*1*00. ..32
7Aidan Collins3111*. ..61
Newcastle 40
1George Stancl3121. ..70
2Manuel Hauzinger1021*. ..41
3Christian Henry3026^2 ..130
4Josef Franc132^*31* ..102
5James Grieves2R10. ..30
6(g)Sean Stoddart0100. ..10
7Jamie Robertson1001. ..20

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

Workington used Richie Dennis as a guest reserve replacement for the injured Lee Derbyshire at number 6. Newcastle were without broken scaphoid victim, Adam McKinna, and had Sean Stoddart in his place at number 6..

Newcastle got off to a bright start when George Stancl won the opening heat in the fastest time of the season while Manuel Hauzinger passed Tomasz Piszcz for a 2-4 but the reserves race resulted in a 5-1 with Richie Dennis doing well to keep Jaimie Robertson back in third. Christian Henry then beat James Wright in heat 3 and, with Ritchie Hawkins falling and remounting, Josef Franc’s third place gave the Diamonds a 2-4 to square the match again. Workington were back in front after heat 4 though when Garry Stead passed James Grieves to win the race with Aidan Collins in third place for a 4-2 which brought the score to 13-11.

Workington then struck two consecutive 5-1 blows to take command of the tie. Firstly in heat 5 James Wright and Ritchie Hawkins both passed the fast starting George Stancl then in heat 6 James Grieves had machine trouble from the start as Paul Thorp and Tomasz Piszcz scored another maximum for a 10 point lead. In heat 7 Josef Franc gated to a win over Garry Stead but surprisingly Richie Dennis held off the attentions of Christian Henry for all four laps to share the race. Tomasz Piszcz had his usual heat 8 win beating Manuel Hauzinger and, with Aidan Collins third, the Comets stretched their lead to 12 points taking the score to 30-18.

Things went from bad to worse for Newcastle when they conceded another 5-1 in heat 9. James Wright won the heat but Ritchie Hawkins blocked James Grieves and then raced off to take second place. Newcastle then gave a TR to Josef Franc in heat 10. Tomasz Piszcz led early on only to be passed by both Newcastle riders. Undaunted he fought his way back again to win the race. Christian Henry in second place must have forgotten that his partner was on a TR because he made no effort to let him pass so Josef Franc’s third place meant only one extra point for the Diamonds in a 3-4 heat result. Heat 11 was shared but Garry Stead had his work cut out getting from last place to first. He caught and passed George Stancl on the last bend to take the three points which took the score to 41-26.

In heat 12 it was Christian Henry’s turn for a TR and he made the most of it by winning from Hawkins and Collins for a 3-6 which cut the deficit to 12 points but Workington scored another 5-1 in heat 13 with Thorp and Stead outgunning Stancl and Grieves so the Comets’ lead increased to 16 points. Newcastle cut two points off it though in heat 14 with a 2-4 when Josef Franc beat James Wright with Jaimie Robertson third. It was hard luck on Richie Dennis though who held second place until the last bend when it all went wrong as he let James Wright, who had been riding shotgun behind him, through only to find Robertson passing him too. In heat 15 Newcastle did well to share the race 3-3. James Wright won comfortably but Christian Henry and Josef Franc team rode well to keep Garry Stead at the back to keep the Comets’ lead at 14 points for the second leg tomorrow night.

Match Report by Merlin