Agilia Bears are the KO Cup Winners!
Redcar Agilia Bears are the 2019 KO Cup Winners! Has a nice ring to it..
On a historic night for the club, the Bears lost the meeting 47-43 but won on aggregate 94-86 after a great battling performance from the Newcastle Diamonds who pushed the Bears all the way. Indeed, it was the Diamonds who started the meeting well with a 5-1 in the first heat. Steve Worrall and guest James Sarjeant got out well from the tapes, and with Charles Wright looking to make a move round the outside he made a mistake and was forced to the back.
The Bears got themselves into the meeting with a 3-3 in heat 2, with Tom Woolley holding off a hard charging Danny Phillips for a vital point. Then a 5-1 from Jordan Stewart and Ben Barker got the Bears back level after 3 heats. Two consecutive 4-2s from the Bears saw them then increase their lead to 4 on the night, and 16 in total.
The battling Diamonds however then started to take control of the meeting however with a 4-2 and 5-1 advantages which saw them level the aggregate scores after 12 heats. That run did see a couple of decisions from the referee which the Redcar fans in attendance did not agree with. First was heat 7, when Danny Phillips locked up coming out of bend 4 and was then collected by Ben Barker. The referee adjudged Barker to be the cause of the stoppage, much to the Cornishman’s anger. Heat 12 also had the Bears fans up in arms, with Wright and Ostegaard clashing in a tight first bend. Ostegaard came down and the referee again adjudged the Bears to be at fault.
The Bears dug deep however, and heat 13 saw a 5-1 for the visitors to steady the nerves somewhat. Riss gated and led from the front, however Wright brilliantly passed both Diamonds to join him in second. Then came a crucial heat 14. Jordan Stewart gated and led superbly from the front, under immense pressure from Matthew Wethers to send the Bears fans wild as they could sense the trophy was almost won. The Diamonds needed a 5-1 in the last heat to level the scores on aggregate, but once Erik Riss gated and was soon joined by Skipper Wright that never looked likely. They were roared home by the huge travelling support to give the Bears the KO Cup Trophy!
Huge congratulations to the team and promotion tonight, and a massive, massive thank you to all the Bears fans for their support throughout the season and tonight!
Newcastle Diamonds = 47 (86)
1. Steve Worrall – 3, 1, 3, 1, 1 = 9
2. Thomas Jorgensen R/R
3. James Sarjeant (G) – 2′, 1, FX, 1′, 1 = 5+2
4. Matthew Wethers – 0, 2, 3, 2, 2, 0 = 9
5. Ulrich Ostergaard – 2, 3, 2′, 3, 0 = 10+1
6. Max Clegg – 3, 3, 1, 1, 2′, 3, 1′ = 14+2
7. Danny Phillips – 0, 0 = 0 WITHDRAWN
Redcar Bears = 43 (94)
1. Charles Wright – 0, 3, X, 2′, 2′ = 7+2
2. Kasper Andersen – 1, 1, 2, 1 = 5
3. Ben Barker (G) – 2′, X, 0, 2 = 4+1
4. Jordan Stewart – 3, 2, 1, 3 = 9
5. Erik Riss – 3, 2, 3, 3, 3 = 14
6. Tom Woolley – 1′, 0, 0 = 1+1
7. Nathan Greaves – 2, 1, 0, 0, 0 = 3