Speedway: Toughest task yet facing the Diamonds

Apr 23 2008 The Journal

NEWCASTLE Diamonds’ Premier League campaign continues tonight at one of the toughest away venues to visit.

The Tyneside outfit are the guests of King’s Lynn Stars at their fortress known as the Norfolk Arena with a start time of 7.30pm.

The Stars who won the league championship in 2006 have a superbly-impressive record in recent years with seven national trophies won in three seasons including the Knockout Cup for the last three seasons.

This means the Diamonds will have to be firing on all cylinders this evening in order to make an impression, but are still without the influential Czech, George Stancl who is still in Prague receiving vital treatment to his broken collar bone.

The rider replacement rule will have to cover his absence again, a situation that has been wholly ineffective to date, gaining only four points on Monday at home in the defeat by Scunthorpe being a prime example – where Stancl would be expected to hit double figures every time.

Stancl’s missing four rides tonight puts more strain on the remaining six Diamonds who have had their unfair share of problems to deal with in the last week.

Their 21-year-old reserve, Sean Stoddart has been placed in a race against the clock after one of his engines went missing and his remaining machine blew up in the pits on Monday.

The young Scot has been pulling out all the stops to get a competitive engine together, which has caused him financial strain on top of his impending 7.30pm deadline for tonight’s match.

King’s Lynn’s top two men of Czech Tomas Topinka and Aussie Kevin Doolan are seen as the main dangers.

But with former Workington Comet, Rusty Harrison and Shaun Tacey also hitting big scores it means tonight will see some heavy racing in which Newcastle will have to up their game considerably with sheer determination and desire to win to gain a favourable result.

Newcastle team manager, George English said: “We all know tonight is going to be one of the hardest matches of the season, and while we know taking a win at the Norfolk Arena is a rare occurrence we will not be going in with a defeatist attitude.

“Far from it the lads will be going out there to score as many points as they can in an effort to contain the Stars as much as possible.

“It could be a gargantuan task, but it will be a highly charged and entertaining meeting. Here’s hoping we come away with our heads held high.”