May 24, 2022

The SWTR Centurions slipped to a 40-50 point defeat to a strong Leicester Lion Cubs Team in their latest NDL Fixture at The Coliseum last night.

After some heavy morning rain a very well prepared track required some technical skills and the early heats saw a number of falls and re-starts with Centurions Guest Alfie Bowtell perhaps unfairly excluded after making what looked like a clean passing move on Dan Thompson in a thrice rerun opening Heat that eventually saw the visitors take a 5-1 lead.

Ben Trigger won heat 2 and with Eli Meadows grabbing a point after an unfortunate fall for Vinnie Joe Foord for The Cubs the Centurions narrowed the gap to 2 points. Richard Andrews won Heat 3 after Lion Cub Tom Spencer fell on the 3rd lap and with debutant Ben Phillips picking up a point the scores were level 9-9 after 3 Heats. The sides swapped 4-2 heat results in Heats 4 and 6, either side of a shared Heat in Heat 5, leaving the scores level at 18 points each after 6 races.

Connor Coles and Spencer scorched to a 5-1 for the visitors over a disappointing Adam Extance and Ben Trigger in Heat 7 and The Cubs exciting youngsters Vinnie Joe Fford shocked the Home support with another 5-1 in Heat 8 ahead of Trigger and Connor King to quickly establish an 8 point lead. Trigger was being kept busy by Team Manager Mattie Bates and made a flying start in Heat 9 to fend off Joe Thompson for 4 laps and with Andrews gaining a well deserved 3rd place, the Centurions were able to stem the flow in Heat 9. 

Heats 10 and 11 though saw the Cubs exert their authority with 4-1 and 5/1 Heat advantages to storm into an unassailable 12 point lead. Richard Andrews and Ben Trigger gated on a 5-1 in Heat 12 to briefly raise hopes but the unfortunate Andrews suffered an engine failure to sum up the bad luck for The SWTR Centurions on the night and a shared Heat did nothing to reduce the deficit. Heats 13 and 14 were shared before the SWTR Centurions gained a 4-2 Heat advantage courtesy of a win for Alfie Bowtell and a third place from Trigger in Heat 15.

Bowtell recovered after his first heat exclusion to score 11 points from his 4 completed rides, Trigger scored an impressive 13 points from his 7 rides and Andrews certainly deserved a lot more than his final tally of 6 points for his efforts. 

With Adam Extance and Connor King a shade below their recent form and newcomer Ben Phillips adapt well enough with 3 points from 3 rides and Eli Meadows again chipping in with a point the SWTR Centurions who were clear underdogs; with neither a full time replacement nor a Rider Replacement facility available for the departed Henry Atkins yet available, could be proud of their efforts on a tough night against superior opposition.

Dan Thompson and Connor Coles led a solid Leicester team to victory, well supported by Connor Coles and Joe Thompson and well supported particularly by young riders Mickie Simpson and Vinnie Joe Foord who showed glimpses and their undoubted potential.

The SWTR are next in action on Wednesday 1st June with a visit to Oxford and will be hoping to strengthen the Team in the interim.

A reminder that the NEXT ACTION at The Coliseum is the eagerly awaited Jubilee Bank/School Holiday week Championship League clash between the buoyant Plymouth Westcolour Gladiators and the Edinburgh Monarchs led by the very much in form Sam Masters and Josh Pickering. This Match sees the start of the Clubs summer UNDER 16’s Go FREE and Under 16 FREE Season Pass initiative.

Full details of the initiative including the return of the popular Childrens Running Races are here

Match Tickets are ON SALE via the Club Website / Ticket Portal here and early Booking is strongly recommended to reserve a Seat and a place in the Running races and remember ALL Under 16’s go FREE and we anticipate a Bumper Bank Holiday Crowd.

Plymouth Centurions = 40

1. Alfie Bowtell (Guest) – X, 3, 2, 3, 3 = 11

2. Connor King – 1, 1, 0, 0 = 2

3. Richard Andrews – 3, 2, 1, R = 6

4. Ben Phillips (Guest) – 1, 1’, 1’ = 3+2

5. Adam Extance – 2, 1, 1, 0 = 4

6. Ben Trigger – 3, 0, 1, 3, 3, 2, 1 = 13

7. Eli Meadows – 1, 0, 0 = 1

Leicester Lion Cubs = 50

1. Dan Thompson – 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 = 13

2. Mickie Simpson – 2’, 0, 2’, 2’ = 6+3

3. Connor Coles – 2, 3, 3, 2, 0 = 10

4. Tom Spencer – X, 2’, 1, 3 = 6+1

5. Joe Thompson – 3, 2, 2, 1’ = 8+1

6. Kai Ward – 2, R, 0 = 2

7. Vinnie Foord – F/X, 1, 3, 1’, 0 = 5+1

Heat Results

Heat 01 Re-Run x3: D. Thompson, Simpson, King, Bowtell (X) 1-5, 53.93

Heat 02 Re-Run x2: Trigger, Ward, Meadows, Foord (F/X) 4-2, 5-7, 52.00

Heat 03: Andrews, Coles, Phillips, Spencer (X) 4-2, 9-9, AWARDED NO TIME

Heat 04: J. Thompson, Extance, Foord, Meadows 2-4, 11-13, 54.56

Heat 05: D. Thompson, Andrews, Phillips, Simpson 3-3, 14-16, 52.72

Heat 06: Bowtell, J. Thompson, King, Ward (R) 4-2, 18-18, 51.97

Heat 07: Coles, Spencer, Extance, Trigger 1-5, 19-23, 52.59

Heat 08: Foord, Simpson, Trigger, King 1-5, 20-28, 54.87

Heat 09: Trigger, J. Thompson, Andrews, Ward 4-2, 24-30, 52.66

Heat 10: Coles, Bowtell, Spencer, King 2-4, 26-34, 52.50

Heat 11: D. Thompson, Simpson, Extance, Meadows 1-5, 27-39, 52.71

Heat 12: Trigger, Coles, Foord, Andrews (R) 3-3, 30-42, 54.12

Heat 13: Bowtell, D. Thompson, J. Thompson, Extance 3-3, 33-45, 52.84

Heat 14: Spencer, Trigger, Phillips, Foord 3-3, 36-48, 54.06

Heat 15: Bowtell, D. Thompson, Trigger, Coles 4-2, 40-50, 52.03

Courtesy of Speedway Updates

Image Credit: Jon Sproad.