Slow starting Bears defeated by Brummies
Birmingham took a 50-40 win over Redcar as the Bears struggled to overcome a slow start in the second city. Redcar’s 10 last places in comparison to Birmingham’s 5 was ultimately the difference on the night. Justin Sedgemen hit 10 for the hosts whilst Lewis Kerr top scored with 11 for the Bears.
The meeting started with a shared heat with Charles Wright taking the win after the race was awarded due to Redcar’s Adam Roynon coming to grief on lap 2. Birmingham trapped on a maximum heat advantage which they held in heat 2 as James Shanes and James Pearson combined to send Birmingham into an early 8-4 lead. Redcar’s early troubles were exacerbated with another Birmingham 5-1 in heat 3 as Paco Castagna and Ashley Morris took a comfortable win over Erik Riss and Kasper Andersen.
The first super race of the evening arrived in heat 4 as Lewis Kerr and Justin Sedgemen battled for the win with Kerr taking the win but with Jordan Jenkins at the back, the Bears could not eat into the Brummies early lead. Redcar’s nightmare start continued in heat 5 as Castagna and Morris combined for another maximum heat advantage to send Birmingham into a startling 12 point lead.
Heat 6 saw Birmingham extend their lead to 16 as Claus Vissing and Stefan Nielsen held off a hard charging Kerr for another Brummies 5-1. The Bears resurgence began with back to back 4-2’s in heats 7 and 8 with Riss and Jenkins taking the chequered flag.
After a shared heat 9 won by the impressive looking Kerr, the Brummies hit another 4-2 with Vissing taking an impressive win with Riss successfully overcoming Nielsen to limit the heat 10 damage. Redcar’s first 5-1 of the evening arrived in heat 11 as Wright and Jenkins combined to get the better of James Shanes and Justin Sedgemen and suddenly Redcar had a chance.
The realistic hopes of winning the meeting were cruelly ended in heat 12 when Jade Mudgway elected to use his tactical substitute in the form of Kerr. The Kings Lynn man suffered mechanical problems at the start meaning Redcar could not eat into Birmingham’s 10 point lead despite Riss winning the race.
Redcar’s slim hopes of a victory were emphatically ended by Sedgemen who won heat 13 impressively despite early pressure from Kerr. Jenkins rounded off a personally impressive evening with a comfortable heat 14 win but with both Brummies usurping Andersen the hosts’ lead remained at 10.
Ahead of heat 15, Redcar required a 5-1 to take a consolation point home but Sedgemen proved too quick out of the gate to round off a disappointing night for the Bears.
Redcar team boss Jade Mudgway was understandably disappointed with the result, “We weren’t sharp enough out of the gate in the first 7 races. We didn’t perform well enough in the early stages but I thought Birmingham rode really well as a side and they were more aggressive out of the starts in the early stages.”
The Kiwi believes the slow start ultimately cost his side, “We showed our usual levels of determination to try and pull back the deficit but we ultimately left ourselves with too much to do in the second half of the meeting.”
Birmingham Brummies = 50
1. Claus Vissing = 7
2. Stefan Nielsen = 7+1
3. Paco Castagna (G) = 10
4. Ashley Morris = 7+3
5. Justin Sedgemen = 10
6. James Shanes = 5+1
7. James Pearson = 4+3
Redcar Bears = 40
1. Charles Wright = 8+1
2. Adam Roynon = 1
3. Erik Riss = 10+1
4. Kasper Andersen = 1
5. Lewis Kerr = 11
6. Jason Edwards = 0
7. Jordan Jenkins = 9+1