Kevin Doolan enjoys the come-from-behind final victory which completed King’s Lynn’s cleansweep of Premier speedway. Picture: Matthew Usher

King’s Lynn in stunning comeback to complete treble

October 27, 2006

PADDY DAVITT

King’s Lynn 63, Sheffield 30 (100-82 on aggregate)

Champions. No arguments.

Premier Trophy winners, Premier League KO Cup winners, Premier League table-toppers – the crowning glory.

Rob Lyon’s braves saved the best until last to clinch King’s Lynn’s first ever league title after a nerve jangling play-off final, second leg in ront of 4,500 adoring followers.

Skipper Tomas Topinka with the Premier Trophy. Picture: Matthew Usher

If sport is decided on fine margins the treble winners’ season to end all
seasons came down to the fractions of a second it took the heat-six start gate to rise skywards.

Tigers’ skipper Andre Compton dragged his sickly machine off the track as Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding toured round for an early victory parade to wipe out Sheffield’s first-leg advantage.

Kevin Doolan fittingly clinched the title in heat 14 – the Aussie’s great childhood pal Ashley Jones never far from the history-makers’ thoughts in this record-breaking season after his death racing at home during the close season.

Fireworks heralded the arrival of the Premier League’s finest into the
coliseum before an explosive opener – Ricky Ashworth t-boning Daniel
Nermark exiting turn three.

Ashworth was excluded for his pains, but British U21 champion Ben Wilson out-gated the Swede on the re-run.

Chris Mills and John Oliver settled the nerves with another comprehensive reserve display, skipper Tomas Topinka applauding his
young charges at the pit entrance.

Aussie aces Troy Batchelor and Doolan tandem rode to perfection, with barely a bike length separating the men from Down Under.

Wheel-to-wheel action from last night’s play-off final second leg at the Norfolk Arena. Picture: Matthew Usher

Oliver dived into his skipper’s slipstream to complete a hat-trick of early maximums – Topinka serving up his trademark wheelie to delight the huge home support.

Ashworth and Wilson re-emerged in a high-class heat five, but Doolan powered away for the win.

Ashworth repelled the marauding Batchelor in a fierce duel for second.

Compton’s misfiring machine earned little sympathy from the massed ranks in the home straight, with Nermark flying from the tapes to nudge Lynn in front on the aggregates.

Topinka foiled a brief challenge from Canadian champion Kyle Legault in
the night’s first sub-60 second flag, but Wilson pounced on Oliver’s last-lap slip to land a major tactical.

Batchelor rocketed around the Arena to clinch heat nine in 59.1 – Doolan and Compton indulging in a spot of ‘eyeballs out speedway’ in the fight for turn-one territory.

Trevor Harding earned the hardest two points of his young life to stretch Lynn’s slender advantage – expertly shutting the door on tactical raider Legault.

Topinka produced the pass of the season – maybe any season at
Saddlebow – to mug Ashworth in a thrilling last-bend dash for the line to claim heat 11.

Rob Lyons (left) and Tomas Topinka congratulate Troy Batchelor. Picture: Matthew Usher

Batchelor kept up the pressure in the next as Lynn edged closer to history, but Topinka’s heavy first-bend spill at the start of a high-octane heat 13 ratcheted up the tension.

Lynn’s teak tough captain marvel reappeared to split the Tigers pair as Nermark took a short cut for the win.

Sheffield entered last-chance saloon – ten points behind approaching the final two laps.

Tigers’ team boss Reg Wilson sent out Compton on a tactical sub mission off 15 metres.

Doolan and Mills powered from the gate, but Sanchez hit the shale with the Stars tantalisingly close to the clean sweep.

The Argentinian hitched a ride back to the pits in the ambulance before being withdrawn with a foot injury.

Compton cut a lonely figure in the re-run as Doolan and Mills served up
take two to claim the title in style and spark wild celebrations around
Saddlebow.

Batchelor smashed Lynn through the traditional 60-point barrier in the
finale to light the touchpaper on the party to end all parties.

Chris Mills gives some encouragement to John Oliver. Picture: Matthew Usher

Rider scores

King’s Lynn

1 Daniel Nermark 2, 3, 3, 3 = 11
2 Trevor Harding 1*, 2*, 2, 2* = 7+3
3 Troy Batchelor 3, 1, 3, 3, 3 = 13
4 Kevin Doolan 2*, 3, 1, 3 = 9+1
5 Tomas Topinka 3, 3, 3, 1 = 10
6 Chris Mills 2*, 1, 0, 2*, 2* = 7+3
7 John Oliver 3, 2*, f/o, 1 = 6+1

Sheffield

1 Ricky Ashworth exc, 2, 1*, 0 = 3+1
2 Ben Wilson 3, 0, 6, 2 = 11
3 Emiliano Sanchez e/f, 0, 0, f/o = 0
4 Kyle Legault 1, 2, 1, 2, = 6
5 Andre Compton 1, e/f, 2, 2, 1, 1 = 7
6 Paul Cooper 0, 1 = 1
7 Mark Thompson 1, 0, 1, 0, 0 = 2

Heat details

Heat 1: Wilson, Nermark, Harding, Ashworth 3-3 3-3
Heat 2: Oliver, Mills, Thompson, Cooper 5-1 8-4
Heat 3: Batchelor, Doolan, Legault, Sanchez 5-1 13-5
Heat 4: Topinka, Oliver, Compton, Thompson 5-1 18-6
Heat 5: Doolan, Ashworth, Batchelor, Wilson 4-2 22-8
Heat 6: Nermark, Harding, Cooper, Compton 5-1 27-9
Heat 7: Topinka, Legault, Mills, Sanchez 4-2 31-11
Heat 8: Wilson, Harding, Thompson, Oliver 2-7 33-18
Heat 9: Batchelor, Compton, Doolan, Thompson 4-2 37-20
Heat 10: Nermark, Harding, Legault, Sanchez 5-1 42-21
Heat 11: Topinka, Wilson, Ashworth, Mills 3-3 45-24
Heat 12: Batchelor, Legault, Oliver, Thompson 4-2 49-26
Heat 13: Nermark, Compton, Topinka, Ashworth 4-2 53-28
Heat 14: Doolan, Mills, Compton, Sanchez 5-1 58-29
Heat 15: Batchelor, Mills, Compton, Ashworth 5-1 63-30.


Stars face uphill battle for glory

Troy Batchelor (right) gets away from the line at the start of heat three in Sheffield. Picture: Matthew Usher

October 26, 2006

PADDY DAVITT

Sheffield 52, King’s Lynn 37

Lynn need a Saddlebow masterclass to clinch the 2006 Premier League play-off final after Sheffield unleashed a late first leg blitz at Owlerton.

Rob Lyon’s treble chasers had silenced the Yorkshire faithful to lead by one down the home stretch until Andre Compton’s heat 11 success triggered a barrage of four maximums.

Teenage terror Tai Woffinden (paid 14) fired brilliantly from reserve to
back up his skipper on a night when the cup kings were unable to respond.

The gladiators emerged to the strains of ‘Rocky’ and a crescendo of airhorns from the 2,500 crowd after a 25-minute delay for track grading following heavy rain during the previous 24 hours.

Ricky Ashworth powered away to claim the opener but Daniel Nermark fired into turn one to foil Ben Wilson before repelling a last-bend dash from the Sheffield racer.

Chris Mills glided to a superb reserves win – pulling away from the precociously talented Woffinden.

Lynn’s high class Aussie duo Kevin Doolan and Troy Batchelor produced a pincer movement to outflank Emiliano Sanchez but Canadian champion Kyle Legault squared the heat.

Woffinden doubled Sheffield’s slender lead with a super slick gate – Lynn’s Czech maestro Tomas Topinka cutting a forlorn figure in the rear on his first outing of the night.

Mills minimised the damage to fend off fit again Tigers’ skipper Compton – Lynn’s impressive reserve recovering his composure after picking up extra grip down the back straight.

Nermark quenched Sheffield’s early fire – blasting off the outside line to shut the door with Trevor Harding conjuring a heroic effort to down the marauding Legault for the visitors’ first heat advantage.

Topinka re-emerged with a vengeance to kick start his meeting but Batchelor’s unfortunate spill exiting turn two in the next gifted the Tigers a priceless advantage.

Wilson pounced on Mills’ last bend smash to anchor the final’s first maximum and move Sheffield eight clear at halfway.

The cup kings hit back instantly – Sanchez hitting the shale in front of
the massed visiting ranks before the luckless Legault dragged his misfiring machine off the track much to the disgust of the home faithful.

Topinka and Oliver coasted to a rare 5-0 to cut the deficit and Lynn nudged in front when Ashworth suffered a painful electrical failure – Batchelor and Doolan tandem riding to perfection.

Compton’s heat 11 win stung Sheffield into a late fightback.

Wolverhampton’s newly acquired Elite League starlet Woffinden underlined his class to coax home Sanchez before Compton and Ashworth blasted out of the traps with Nermark and Topinka unable to
check the Owlerton onslaught.

Legault swallowed up Doolan in a crackerjack penultimate race – the canny Canadian’s brave outside line wearing down Lynn’s vice captain
before Ashworth took the finale as fireworks whistled overhead.

Tigers: Ashworth 9+2, Wilson 6+1, Sanchez 4+1, Legault 5+1, Compton 12, Cooper 2+1, Woffinden 14.

Stars: Nermark 9, Harding 3+1, Batchelor 6, Doolan 6+2, Topinka 6, Mills 5, Oliver 2+1.