Tofty terrific as Bears win
The Redcar Bears picked up a solid 46-44 first leg win over a strong Brummies side in the KO Cup. The Teesside outfit made the perfect start with 3 5-1’s in the first 3 races as the Brummies were left reeling by a hungry Bears side. Heat 4 saw another heat advantage for the Bears with Jake Allen getting the better of Erik Riss. Heats 5 and 6 saw the Brummies creep back into the contest with successive 4-2’s courtesy of their dangermen Chris Harris and Erik Riss. Heats 8-10 saw the Bears maintain their 12 point advantage with 3 shared heats.
Heat 11 saw a contentious refereeing decision as Chris Harris was out of shape on bend 4 and collided with Jake Allen, much to the dismay of the paying public Allen was excluded and this started the Brummies comeback as they hit a 5-1 going into the interval. Heat 12 saw man of the match Michael Palm Toft take the chequered flag and with James Sarjeant in 3rd this gave the Bears a 4-2 heat advantage.
Heat 13 saw the dynamic duo of Riss & Harris cause nightmares for the Bears as they hit a big 5-1 for the visitors. Heat 14 saw the race of the night as Jake Allen went from last to first to pick up a vital win for the Bears but heat 15 kept the tie close going into the 2nd leg as the spearhead of Harris and Riss hit another 5-1 to leave the tie finely balanced.
Jade Mudgway was deflated when asked for comment on the meeting “I am disappointed that we let Birmingham back into the meeting in the second half as we had a strong grip on the meeting up to and including heat 10, we just didn’t make the starts and Birmingham were just quicker from the tapes which has ultimately led to a closer result than I was hoping for.”
Redcar Bears : 46
1. Charles Wright – 2′, 2, 3, 1, 0 = 8+1
2. Leon Flint (G) – 3, 2′, 0, 2, 0 = 7+1
3. Michael Palm Toft – 3, 2, 3, 3, 1 = 12
4. Jordan Stewart – R/R (LF-2′, JS-0, JJ-0, JA-3) = 5+1
5. Jake Allen – 3, 3, X, 0, 3 = 9
6. James Sarjeant – 3, 0, 1, Xt, 1, 0 = 5
7. Jordan Jenkins – 2′, 1, 1′, 0, 1 = 5+2
8. Alex Goldborough – Did Not Ride = 0
Birmingham Brummies : 44
1. Chris Harris – 1, 3, 3, 2′, 2′ = 11+2
2. Valetin Grobauer – R/R (PC-R, JS-1, PC-3, AM-2′) = 6+1
3. James Shanes – 1, 1, 2, 2, 0 = 6
4. Ashley Morris – F, Fx, 1′, 2′, 1′ = 4+3
5. Erik Riss – 2, 3, 2, 3, 3 = 13
6. Paco Castagna – R, 1, 1, 3, 1′, 2, 2 = 10+1
7. Jack Thomas – 0, 0, 0 = 0
8. Luke Muff – Did Not Ride = 0