Speedway: Diamond victory is a delight to watch

Mar 17 2008 The Journal

AS Newcastle’s team manager George English had claimed before Sunday’s Premier Trophy match with the Stoke Potters, the supporters certainly saw a new set of determined Diamonds on the track.

They brought the winning ways back to the Newcastle Stadium with a solid 51-42 victory over a handy-looking Stoke side which was capable of good scoring, but the home side’s strength-in-depth shone through.

Skipper Christian Henry had a much-improved night, scoring above his average including a good win in heat 10 over one of the brightest young Premier League stars at present – Stoke’s Lee Complin.

The biggest cheer of the night was reserved for the newcomer to the Newcastle side, Jason King, who racked up an impressive nine plus two bonus from the four rides.

Stoke’s Mark Burrows was also involved in some superb battles all night long with exciting elbow-to-elbow racing the order of the day.

Stoke took an early lead with Burrows winning heat two over Sean Stoddart, but with a Diamonds maximum 50-1 in heat three Franc and King took Newcastle back into the lead by two points. Come the end of heat five the Diamonds were eight points up when Stoke’s Barrie Evans shot out of the gate to lead heat six ahead of Henry with Argentinian Emiliano Sanchez diving under Ben Powell to take Stoke two points closer to Newcastle again.

Ben Barker took a fine win in heat eight with Burrows and Stoddart engaging in some superb combat for third place, a point which Burrows took pushing the progressive scores to 26-22.

With two heats to go Newcastle had a 10-point lead but Stoke tried one last-ditch effort to bring the teams back on level terms by nominating Complin as a tactical ride for double points.

The Potter did as required and took an early lead in heat 14 and held the all important second place. But the speedy King shot round him on lap two before Burrows fell two laps later, taking the heat score to 3-6 and the overall score to 47-40, meaning the Premier Trophy points were in Newcastle’s pot.

Newcastle team manager George English said: “This was the team I knew we had signed on track tonight and all the lads rode much more like what we knew they were capable off, although I still believe there’s score for more improvement as the season progresses.”

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Christian Henry 9+1, Ben Powell 3+1, Josef Franc 13+1, Jason King 9+2, George Stancl 12, Jamie Robertson 2+2, Sean Stoddart 3.

STOKE POTTERS: Klaus Jakobsen 0, Ben Barker 10, Jesper Kristiansen 6+2, Lee Complin 12, Emiliano Sanchez 4, Barrie Evans 6, Mark Burrows 4.