Bears take 12 point lead to Newcastle
Redcar Agilia Bears will defend a 12 point lead in the KO Cup Final second leg on Sunday, as they defeated Newcastle 51-39 at the Media Prima Arena on Friday night.
The bumper crowd were treated to some great racing throughout the night, and the tie is now finely poised. Before the meeting, promoter Jitendra Duffill had stated he would like to take a 12 point lead to Newcastle and his team duly delivered.
The Bears started the meeting off well, with Charles Wright winning heat 1 and Kasper Andersen finishing third to give the Bears a 4-2 advantage. A shared heat followed in heat 2, before guest Jake Allen pulled off a superb ride to win heat 3 ahead of Lasse Bjerre. Three successive heat advantages then saw the Bears pull out a 10 point lead.
The Diamonds battled hard however to ensure the Bears did not pull any further away. After 12 heats, the Bears lead remained at 8 points. However, a heat 13 5-1 from Erik Riss and Charles Wright saw the Bears pull out a 12 point gap. Two shared heats in the remaining two heats ensured the Bears kept the 12 point lead and will mean for an intriguing night on Tyneside on Sunday night.
Erik Riss top scored for the Bears with 13+1, with Charles Wright scoring 11+1. Ex-Bear Lasse Bjerre top scored for the Diamonds with 9+1. The Bears travel to Leicester tomorrow night in the second leg of the play-off Semi Final, before facing Newcastle again on Sunday on the second leg of the KO Cup Final.
Redcar Bears = 51
- Charles Wright – 3, 3, 2, 2′, 2
- Kasper Andersen – 1, 1, 3, 0
- Jake Allen (g) – 3, 2′, 2, 3
- Jordan Stewart – 0, 3, 1′, 2
- Erik Riss – 3, 3, 3, 3, 1′
- Tom Woolley – 0, 0, 0
- Nathan Greaves – 3, 1, 0, 0, 1′
Newcastle Diamonds = 39
- Steve Worrall – 2, 0, 2, 1, 3
- Thomas Jorgensen R/R (MC 0) (LB 1) (UO 2) (MW 1′)
- Lasse Bjerre – 2, 1, 1′, 3, 2, 0
- Matt Wethers – 1′, 2, 1, 1′, 3
- Ulrich Ostergaard – 2, 2, 2, 3, 0
- Max Clegg – 0, 1′, 0, 0, 1
- Danny Phillips – 2, F, 1′, 0