Tought night for The Gladiators & The Centurions

The Plymouth Westcolour Gladiators Championship Team and the Plymouth SWTR Centurions National Development League team both endured a difficult weekend on their Northern Tour.

Whilst the Gladiators Management were pleased to see the return of Michael Palm Toft and Hans Andersen from recent injuries for the weekend, they remain increasingly frustrated at the delay in processing the recent drug test B sample for Ben Barker,  which was taken on Wednesday 27th July, and for which the club believe Barker has a rational explanation as he had been taking high doses of prescription painkillers for well documented injuries, that are known to impact on the basic kind of A sample tests.  

As a result The Westcolour Gladiators were forced to use NDL rider Tom Wooley at Edinburgh as no suitable guests were available on the night and whilst Tom did his utmost in every race, he could not be expected to replace Barker like for like.

The Westcolour Gladiators scored a losing bonus point in a 48-42 defeat at Edinburgh on Friday night in a match where the Gladiators improved markedly as the night wore on and could have snatched more points but for some close finishes and bad luck on occasions.

Guest Leon Flint was once again outstanding value replicating a 13 point haul at the Track where he had guested for the Gladiators last season and he was given strong support by Andersen with 11 points, Palm Toft with 9 points and Ben Morley with 8 points.

However, still without Barker on Saturday at Berwick and with both Palm Toft and Andersen suffering from recurrences of their injuries on a bumpier than usual Shielfield Park Track, which is one of the biggest and fastest in the UK and with guest Lewis Kerr suffering from some mechanical issues and fellow guest Kasper Andersen, replacing Barker, also suffering from a painful fall, the Westcolour Gladiators slipped to their heaviest League defeat of the season with a 59-30 point loss, the first time they have slipped below 40 points on their travels all season.

Lewis Kerr deserved more than his 9 points, Kasper Andersen was excellent value for his 7 points before his fall and Hans Andersen with 7 points and Ben Morley with 5 points including a fall, tried their hardest on a difficult night.  Palm Toft was forced to withdraw from the meeting. 

With both of the Andersens feeling the effects of their earlier efforts, Palm Toft already withdrawn and both reserves and a tactical substitute option not permitted for the nominated Heat 15, the Westcolour Gladiators were forced to field only Lewis Kerr in Heat 15, with the rulebook and injuries the sole reason for this.

Unfortunately during the weekend there has been more bad news about the possible early returns of Alfie Bowtell and Dan Gilkes. Alfies injuries have been diagnosed as two fractures of his leg and tendon damage to his cruciate ligament in his knee. Alfie is seeking a consultation with a leading sports injury specialist for further diagnosis this week. 

Dan Gilkes has reported that following further medical meetings in the past week,  the experts have advised that the broken bones in his arm are not yet sufficiently healed or strong enough to increase either the physio and extra strengthening exercises to consider a return to riding, let alone racing, and he must rest and allow nature to continue to heal and strengthen his injuries. 

With Edward Kennett also awaiting further medical checks and updates, the club will be hoping that the 10 day break before the next vital Home Championship League fixture against The Redcar Bears on Tuesday 16th August will allow time for both Michael Palm Toft and Hans Andersen to recuperate and recover, and for the Authorities to pull their proverbial fingers out and confirm the B Test Results for Ben Barker, hopefully to allow him to return to racing as soon as possible.

The Westcolour Gladiators are obliged to race a dead rubber in the Championship Jubilee League at Poole on Wednesday evening, but with Poole already having qualified from the Group, the Westcolour Gladiators will be focussing much of their attention on getting a fit, healthy and competitive team in place for the remaining Home League fixtures against The Bears and then Glasgow Tigers on the 23rd August. 

The Westcolour Gladiators remain in 4th place in the Championship League, 6 points ahead of Redcar in the 6th and final Play Off spot and 7 points ahead of Scunthorpe who would seem to be the main challengers for the 6th and final space with them having 3 matches left to race.

We hope to have further updates on Ben, Michael and Hans later in the week and also any updates regarding plans for the Team at Poole on Wednesday and more importantly for the return to League action on Tuesday 16th August.

 The SWTR Centurions

The SWTR Centurions were without Richard Andrews for the weekend Northern Tour fixtures due to a pre-arranged family commitment and suffered a 51-39 point defeat at Armadale on Saturday afternoon, before a quick trip down to Berwick for the second part of a Double Header where the exertions of the afternoon and the rush to Berwick to face the current League Leaders resulted in a heavy 67 to 23 points defeat to the rampant Bullets side.

There was an excellent 17 point return for Guest Kyle Bickley for the SWTR Centurions at Armadale and very encouraging performances from reserve Rhys Naylor with 10 points, Adam Extance with 8 points and David Abraham with 4 points. 

With the switch from the small and technical Armadale track to the wide open spaces of Berwick, there was a decent return from Guest Sam McGurk who had been pointless at Armadale in the afternoon but who fired in 10 points in a much more confident display, backed by his brother and guest Harry McGurk, with a  return of 7 points.

The next action at The Coliseum is the return fixture at NDL level on Tuesday night against the table topping Bullets with the Centurions quietly confident of mastering the League leaders on their much smaller and technical track.

Tickets are now available ONLINE for this Match and Cash + Card payments can be made on the Night with Tapes Up at 7.00pm and a reminder ALL Under 16’s go FREE.

We’ll have a Preview for this match and hopefully more Westcolour Gladiators news too on Tuesday morning

Scores & Heat Results.

Berwick Bandits = 59

1. Chris Harris – 3, 2′, 3, 3, 2′ = 13+2 PAID MAXIMUM

2. Theo Pijper – 2′, 3, 2, 1 = 8+1

3. Jye Etheridge – 3, 0, 0, 2′ = 5+1

4. Leon Flint – 2′, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 14+1 PAID MAXIMUM

5. Ricky Wells – 3, 0, 2, 0 = 5

6. Jordan Jenkins (Guest) – 3, 2′, 3, 1′, F/X, 3, 2′ = 14+3

7. Nathan Stoneman – F/X, (JJ – 2′, JJ – 1′, JJ – 3) = 0 (Withdrawn)

Plymouth Gladiators = 30

1. Lewis Kerr (Guest) – 0, 1, 1′, 2, 3, 1, 1 = 9+2

2. Kasper Andersen (Guest) – 1, 2, 1′, 3, F/X = 7+1

3. R/R for Ben Barker – (LK – 1, KA – 1′, HA – 2, HMG – 0 = 4+1)

4. Michael Palm Toft – R, 2, EF, (BM – 1) = 2 (Withdrawn)

5. Hans Andersen – 0, 1, 1′, 2, 2 = 6+1

6. Ben Morley – 2, 1, (HMG – 0), F/X, (LK – 2), 1, 1 = 5

7. Harry McGurk – 1′, (BM – 1), 0, (BM – F/X), 0, 0 = 1+1

Heat Results

Heat 01: Re-Run: Harris, Pijper, K.Andersen, Kerr 5-1 64.1

Heat 02: Re-Run X2: Jenkins, Morley, McGurk 3-3 (8-4) 65.9 (Stoneman – Fell / s

Heat 03: Etheridge, Flint, Kerr, Toft – Retired 5-1 (13-5) 66.8

Heat 04: Wells, Jenkins, Morley, H.Andersen 5-1 (18-6) 66.8

Heat 05: Flint, K.Andersen, Kerr, Etheridge 3-3 (21-9) 65.4

Heat 06: Pijper, Harris, H.Andersen, McGurk 5-1 (26-10) 67.2

Heat 07: Jenkins, Toft, K.Andersen, Wells 3-3 (29-13) 66.7

Heat 08: Re-Run: K.Andersen, Pijper, Jenkins 3-3 (32-16) 66.2 (Morley – Fell / Excluded)

Heat 09: Flint, Kerr, H.Andersen, Etheridge 3-3 (35-19) 66.0

Heat 10: Harris, H.Andersen, Pijper, Toft – Engine Failure 4-2 (39-21) 66.2

Heat 11: Re-Run X3: Kerr, Wells 2-3 (41-24) 66.3 (Andersen, Jenkins – Fell / Excluded)

Heat 12: Jenkins, Etheridge, Morley, McGurk 3-3 (46-25) 67.4

Heat 13: Harris, H.Andersen, Kerr, Wells 3-3 (49-28) 66.0

Heat 14: Flint, Jenkins, Morley, McGurk 5-1 (54-29) 67.5

Heat 15: Flint, Harris, Kerr 5-1 (59-30) 66.8

Berwick Bullets = 67

1. Kyle Bickley – 3, 2′, 3, 2′ = 10+2 PAID MAXIMUM

2. Ace Pijper – 2′, 3, 2, 2′, 3 = 12+2

3. Mason Watson – 2′, F, 2′, 3, 1 = 8+2

4. Luke Crang – 3, 3, 3, 3 = 12 MAXIMUM

5. Greg Blair – 3, 3, 3, 3 = 12 MAXIMUM

6. Kieran Douglas – 2′, 1, 1, 1 = 5+1

7. Ben Rathbone – 3, 2′, 1′, 2′ = 8+3

Plymouth Centurions = 23

1. Harry McGurk (Guest) – 1, 1′, 3, 2, M/X = 7+1

2. R/R for Ben Trigger – (AE – 0, SMG – 2, HMG – 3, DA – 0 = 5)

3. Richard Andrews – No Rider (N, N, N, RN – 0 = 0)

4. Sam McGurk (Guest) – 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2 = 10

5. Adam Extance – 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0 = 3

6. David Abraham – 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 = 1

7. Rhys Naylor – 1, 1, 0, 0 (DA – 0) = 2

Heat Results

Heat 01: Bickley, Pijper, S.McGurk, Extance 5-1 70.3

Heat 02: Rathbone, Douglas, Naylor, Abraham 5-1 (10-2) 71.5

Heat 03: Crang, Watson, S.McGurk 5-1 (15-3) 71.3

Heat 04: Blair, Rathbone, Naylor, Extance 5-1 (20-4) 70.9

Heat 05: Crang, S.McGurk, H.McGurk, Watson – Fell 3-3 (23-7) 70.5

Heat 06: Pijper, Bickley, Extance, Abraham 5-1 (28-8) 69.4

Heat 07: Blair, S.McGurk, Douglas 4-2 (32-10) 71.9

Heat 08: H.McGurk, Pijper, Rathbone, Naylor 3-3 (35-13) 71.7

Heat 09: Crang, Watson, Extance, Abraham 5-1 (40-14) 71.6

Heat 10: Bickley, Pijper, S.McGurk 5-1 (45-15) 70.6

Heat 12: Watson, Rathbone, Abraham, Naylor 5-1 (54-18) 72.1

Heat 13: Re-Run: Blair, Bickley, Extance 5-1 (59-19)

Heat 14: Crang, S.McGurk, Douglas, Abraham 4-2 (63-21) 71.2

Heat 15: Pijper, S.McGurk, Watson, Extance 4-2 (67-23) 72.1

Courtesy of Speedway Updates

Image Credit: Jon Sproad.