Gladiators snatch victory

The five man Plymouth Prow Park Gladiators kept their play-off hopes alive with a last heat victory over the Berwick Bandits at The Coliseum.

The meeting had started with both Richie Worrall and Steve Boxall withdrawn on medical grounds, with the SCB issuing the following statement: “The SCB arranged for four riders to be randomly alcohol and drug tested at the Plymouth v Berwick fixture on Tuesday September 5. Unfortunately, one rider from each team produced a non-negative result on their test, and they were therefore excluded from the event. The samples will now be sent to the Laboratory for further analysis.Both riders will now have their SCB Registrations suspended until the results are confirmed from the Laboratory.”

With rider replacement covering the injured Dan Gilkes, Joe Thompson guesting for his injured brother Dan, and Justin Sedgmen in for injured Ben Baker, the Gladiators opened up an eight point lead by heat four, only for the Bandits to battle back to level the meeting following two maximum heat advantages in heat 5 and 7.

The scores were level after heat 12, with Gladiators guest Joe Thompson getting the better of Jye Etheridge for another shared heat.  Heat 13 saw three riders only, with Hans Andersen then excluded following a third bend clash with Kyle Howarth. The resulting rerun became a match race, with Rory Schlein taking the victory over the Gladiators skipper, to edge the Bandits back into the lead.

A shared heat 14, meant a last heat decider, which saw Howarth gate for the lead, whilst the impressive Joe Thompson battled hard against Schlein and did everything to hold Etheridge off to take the all important third place and secure the victory for the Gladiators.

Skipper Kyle Howarth top scored with 13, supported by James Pearson (13+1) and Joe Thompson with 9 (+2)

Plymouth Gladiators = 45

1. Kyle Howarth – 3, 3, 2, 2, 3 = 13

2. Dan Gilkes R/R – (BT – 1, BT – 0, JT – 2′, JP – 0 = 3+1)

3. Joe Thompson (G) – 2, 0, 2′, 1′, 3, 1 = 9+2

4. Justin Sedgmen (G) – 0, 1, 2, 1′ = 4+1 

5. Richie Worrall – DNS 

6. James Pearson – 3, 2′, 1, 3, 0, 2, 2 = 13+1 

7. Ben Trigger – 1, 2′, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0 = 6+1 

Berwick Bandits = 44

1. Rory Schlein – 2, 3, 3, 3, 2 = 13

2. Steve Boxall – DNS

3. Jye Etheridge – 3, 2′, 2′, 3, 2, 0 = 12+2

4. Leon Flint – 1, 3, 1, 3 = 8 

5. Hans Andersen – 1, 2, 3, FX = 6

6. Jacob Hook – 0, FX, 1′, 1, 0, 1, 1′ = 4+2 

7. Jason Garrad (G) – 1, 0, 0, FX = 1 

Heat Results

Heat 01: Howarth, Schlein, Trigger, Hook 4-2 49.78

Heat 02: Pearson, Trigger, Garrad, Hook (FX) 5-1 (9-3) 51.63

Heat 03: Etheridge, Thompson, Flint, Sedgmen 2-4 (11-7) 51.68

Heat 04: Trigger, Pearson, Andersen, Garrad 5-1 (16-8) 52.04

Heat 05: Schlein, Etheridge, Sedgmen, Thompson 1-5 (17-13) 50.32

Heat 06: Howarth, Andersen, Hook, Trigger 3-3 (20-16) 50.94

Heat 07: Flint, Etheridge, Pearson, Trigger 1-5 (21-21) 52.31

Heat 08: Pearson, Thompson, Hook, Garrad 5-1 (26-22) 52.47

Heat 09: Andersen, Sedgmen, Thompson, Hook 3-3 (29-25) 52.75

Heat 10: Etheridge, Howarth, Flint, Pearson 2-4 (31-29) 52.79

Heat 11: Schlein, Pearson, Hook, Trigger 2-4 (33-33) 52.18

Heat 12: Thompson, Etheridge, Hook, Trigger 3-3 (36-36) 52.91

Heat 13: Schlein, Howarth, Andersen (FX) 2-3 (38-39) 52.10

Heat 14: Flint, Pearson, Sedgmen, Garrad (FX) 3-3 (41-42) 52.38

Heat 15: Howarth, Schlein, Thompson, Etheridge 4-2 (45-44) 52.38

Courtesy of Speedway Updates

Image credit: British Speedway Network