The Rebels quest to retain the Premier League Knock Out Cup took another step nearer to becoming a reality, with their 16-point victory over the Rye House ‘Silver Ski’ Rockets. The Rebels may have taken a reasonable lead from this Quarter-Final 1^st Leg encounter, but no one should be under any illusions about the difficulty of the task they still face. The Rockets on their home shale will be a totally different proposition to the one that finally succumbed to a powerful second half performance from the Rebels.

The home side were without the services of Jay Herne, who had been recalled to the Bournemouth line up at Scunthorpe, following an injury to the Buccaneers rider Kyle Newman. Herne had originally been released to ride for the Rebels, but the late injury to Newman had caused the Bournemouth management to reconsider, and insist that Herne fulfilled his obligation to his national League side. Brendan Johnson was again drafted in to replace Herne, as he had done last weekend at Newcastle.

The Rockets had problems of their own, with the continued absence of Robert Mear, although the blow was softened by the inclusion of Ty Proctor as their guest, and the quick return of injury victims Linus Sundstrom and Luke Bowen to the line up.

For the first nine heats there was never more than 2-points between the teams with, first the Rebels taking a narrow lead, then the Rockets returned the complement by levelling the scores, before the Rebels nipped back into the lead only for the Rockets to quickly level the match again.

In Heat 1 the Rebels were quickly off the mark with a 4-2 advantage. Tommy Allen led Emil Kramer from the gates. Allen led around the opening turns before he was challenged on the home straight by the Rebels top man. Kramer challenged again on the second bend of Lap 2, and as Allen tried to run him wide, he cleverly cut back up the inside, and completed the move on the third turn, before pulling away to take the win. After holding off the early challenge of Ty Proctor, Simon Walker came with a terrific run, over the final two laps, that only just failed to produce an opening 5-1 for the Rebels.

Neither side could establish any kind of superiority over the next four heats, which were all shared. Tom Brown made a nice inside move on the second bend of Heat 2, after he was just pipped to the first turn by Luke Bowen, following a level break. Justin Sedgmen was close up, and on the scene until Andrew Silver passed him inside the final bend of the lap. As Tom Brown took the race, Sedgmen came hard back at Silver on the last lap, but couldn’t find his way back into third.

In Heat 3 the field again broke level, but by the time they reached the bend Cory Gathercole had moved to the front. Once there he gave the rest of the field no chance, pulling away to win with some ease from the Rockets pair of Chris Neath and Tommy Allen. Although Brendan Johnson made a slow start to finish last, once at pace he did not lose too much ground against his more experienced opponents.

The Rockets took their first heat win in Heat 4, when Linus Sundstrom produced a pretty forceful ride in the opening turns to snuff out the challenge of Rebels skipper Steve Johnston. Justin Sedgmen just led from the tapes, but his lead was short lived as Sundstrom and Johnston came storming round the outside of the second turn. As the pair went by, Johnston made his bid on the outside of Sundstrom, only to have his run blocked, in a hard but fair move, by the 18-year-old Swede. He moved Johnston so wide that the Rebels skipper could have shaken hands with the crowd down the back straight. Once at the front Sundstrom never gave the Rebels pair a sniff at getting back to the front, despite all of Johnston’s best efforts. Andrew Silver never figured in the hunt, and was a long way behind at the back.

Cory Gathercole added his second victory of the night in Heat 5 as he stormed to the front, wide off the second bend, after contesting the opening exchanges with the fast starting Tommy Allen. Ty Proctor made a poor gate, and could only take second spot after passing Allen at the start of the third lap.

Linus Sundstrom was another to make it two wins from two as he took Heat 6. Starting quickly he led at the first turn, with both Rebels close up. It was Emil Kramer who emerged as the challenger on the first bend, only to be squeezed up by Sundstrom, before making a neat cut back off the second bend that just failed to pay dividends. Kramer kept Sundstrom honest for all four laps, but could never get in a blow before the winning line. Simon Walker was racing in a comfortable third place, until he appeared to lose power, and his third place became fourth as he was passed by Luke Bowen, and eventually retired on the last lap. The resulting 2-4 advantage to the Rockets brought the scores level at 18-points each.

The Rebels restored their slender lead immediately as Steve Johnston took the next heat at the second attempt, after the original start was recalled with Linus Sundstrom taking a big jump at the tapes. In the re-start Sundstrom caught a big lift off the line as Johnston made a flying start. Tom Brown followed Johnston through, passing Chris Neath on the second turn, giving the Rebels a chance of a 5-1. That was before Sundstrom appeared back on the scene pinching Brown’s second place at the end of the lap. Brown didn’t let it go lightly, and chased the Rockets man hard, throwing down a challenge on the home straight of Lap 3. In the end the Swede just had too much for him, and held on to second to the flag fall. After initially challenging for the lead, Chris Neath dropped to the back and ended the race a long way in the rear.

Heat 8 could have had a totally different result, but in the end it was the Rockets who took the advantage levelling the scores for a second time. Justin Sedgmen broke quickly, with Tommy Allen and Simon Walker challenging for the lead, racing almost three abreast in the opening turns. As the field approached the third bend with Sedgmen at the forefront, the young Aussie’s engine expired in a big way, as he virtually came to a complete standstill in the middle of the track. Unfortunately for the Rebels Simon Walker was the biggest sufferer, almost collecting the stricken Sedgmen as he negotiated the bend.

In the resulting melee the Rocket riders had stormed at least 30 yards clear of Walker, who had now recovered his composure, and was trying to close down as fast as he could. As the field entered the final lap, Walker still had a lot to do, but he was closing fast, and on the back straight he caught and passed Andrew Silver. He was travelling with such speed that by the time they reached the last bend the crowd would have been forgiven for thinking that they were witnessing the biggest comeback since Lazarus, but in the end Allen just had too much in hand, but only just!

Neither side could gain advantage in Heat 9, but it was to prove the last resistance from the Rockets sextet. It was the ride that gave Cory Gathercole his ‘hat trick’ of wins on the night, as he lead from the start. Behind him Brendan Johnson made his best start of the match, and took third place with a nice inside run around the second band. Not content with that the Poole based youngster, just 17-years-old eight days ago, stormed up the inside to throw in a challenge to the flying Linus Sundstrom on the fourth bend. In the end Luke Bowen reeled him in, but it took the Rockets experienced reserve three laps before he could find away passed Johnson to grab third spot heading out onto the final lap.

From this point on the Rebels never allowed the visitors back into the meeting, and took the advantage in every remaining heat. First up, in Heat 10, was the Kramer/Walker pairing who broke quickly to lead at the first turn. It was Walker who took up the initial running, but at the end Kramer who took the win, with Walker riding shotgun to the end, as the pair never allowed the Rockets pair into the race. Luke Bowen took third, with Chris Neath a forlorn last.

The Rebels might have had another 5-1 straight way, but in the end Ty Proctor, who was improving as the evening progressed, thwarted them. Tom Brown got a flying start to lead of the line, but by the time they reached the first bend he had been swallowed up by Steve Johnston and the afore mentioned Proctor. Proctor led off the second turn, but Johnston produced a fine outside pass as they ran down the home straight for the first time, squeezing through the narrowest of gaps in the process. Brown was soon in a challenging position but not close enough to get in a blow. Johnston then appeared to try and slow the race for Brown to challenge, but in the event it was Proctor who took advantage of this, and quickly closed down the Rebels skipper, throwing in a strong challenge on the outside of the second bend of the final lap. Johnston reacted quickly, and shut out Proctor, and then pulled out a lead that was good enough to see him home with ease, leaving Brown to take third place from a distant Tommy Allen.

Tom Brown was straight back out in Heat 11, and he made no mistake with a good start in the restarted heat, after Chris Neath jumped the start in the original attempt. He also had to contend with a gate change as the Rockets invoked the tactical gate choice, taking gates 1 and 2, leaving the Rebels the outside pair. Accompanied around the opening turns by the Rockets duo, the Welshman was soon into second spot, passing Chris Neath up the inside of the second bend, and then set sail after Luke Bowen.

He caught Bowen in the same place as he had disposed of Neath on the previous lap, and despatched him in a similar manner to take control as the field ran down the back straight. Justin Sedgmen recovered from a slow start and was closing on Neath, when Bowen seemed to hamper his skipper, giving Sedgmen an easier pass than he could have expected. Worryingly for the Rockets, a disinterested Chris Neath then trailed in last for the third time in a row.

The Rocket used the tactical gate move again in Heat 13 taking gates 1 and 3, originally occupied by the Rebels pair, but for a second time it failed to pay off. Ty Proctor broke quickly, but was joined immediately by Emil Kramer. Steve Johnston was soon on their heels, and at the end of the lap moved to second spot to challenge the Rockets guest. He powered round the outside and took up the running final bend of the lap. Emil Kramer was not far away, and produced a fine cut back of the second turn of lap two to grab second place from Proctor. Proctor was in no mood to capitulate, and repaid the move on the final bend of the lap. Kramer wasn’t done however, and came storming back to challenge the young Victorian over the last lap, but could not find a way back to second. Surprisingly, after his earlier exploits, Linus Sundstrom never got in the race, and was almost anonymous at the rear.

Cory Gathercole added win number four to his tally in Heat 14, when he led off the first bend after a brief battle with Luke Bowen. Tom Brown came flying up the inside to throw down his marker on the second bend. Bowen blocked him off, and then raced side-by-side with Gathercole for a couple of laps, getting up the inside of him on the third bend of lap 2. Gathercole coolly rode back around the outside of Bowen on the next bend to eventually pull away to win with something in hand, after the thrilling early battle. Brown took an easy third spot in front of Andrew Silver.

Gathercole didn’t have time to rest on his laurels, as he was back out immediately in the nominated heat. Steve Johnston for the Rebels joined him, and the Rockets sent out Linus Sundstrom and Ty Proctor off gates 1 and 3. As the tapes rose Gathercole exploded off the line to lead and was never troubled, but the Rebels fans must have felt deflated as Steve Johnston got his worst start of the night, and was last away. Despite this there wasn’t a lot covering the field, and by the time they reached the final bend of the lap Johnston was challenging on the inside of Ty Proctor.

The pair raced wheel-to-wheel down the home straight before Johno made a stunning move up the inside that took him passed both Rockets together, around the first and second bends. With the cheers of the Rebels fans ringing out the pair then pulled clear to take an unchallenged 5-1, and give the Rebels a 16-point lead to take to Hoddesdon for the return leg the following night. On his return to the pits Gathercole was met by the whole team and pit crew, and was given the bumps to mark his stunning five ride maximum.

In the end the Rebels had proved too powerful in the latter stages, and had given themselves a bit more breathing space than seem likely in the early stages of this tie. However Rebels fans know from passed experiences that the tight confines of the Rye House circuit can play havoc with any sized lead that visiting teams bring to the Hertfordshire track. So no one in the Rebels camp will be counting any chickens until the flag has fallen for Heat 15 of the second leg.

For the Rockets the stand out riders were Linus Sundstrom with an 11-point haul, especially in his early riders were he took two wins, accounting for the Rebels top two riders in the process, and Luke Bowen, who never knew when he was beaten, in the reserve berth taking 9-points for his efforts. For the Rebels there were good performances throughout the team, but two in particular prompted the Rebels management to take the unprecedented step of awarding two ‘Rider of the Night’ awards. The first of these, the match sponsors ‘Rider of the Night’ award was presented by Spencer Bishop of local radio station ‘Quaywest FM’ to Cory Gathercole for his magnificent 15-point full maximum. The rider that prompted the Rebels management to take the unusual step of making a second award, was Tom Brown, who battled away all night from the reserve spot, returning a superb 9-point haul that with a bit more luck in running could have been even more. He took the special Team managers ‘Rider of the Night’ award, amid load cheering from the assembled fans, from Ronnie Russell, and his pleasure was plain to see as he accepted the award with a big beaming smile on his face. What a difference a few weeks have made to Brown, who his starting to show signs of real improvement and is putting together some good performances, when not so long ago he must have thought his tenure with the Rebels would not last too long.

The reason for the larger than normal gathering of fans in the after match presentation, was a promised announcement by the management team, regarding a rider signing for 2010. When it came the announcement was the signing of Steve Johnston as a full Somerset asset, from the BSPA who had previously held his contract. He said that he was delighted to sign for such a progressive club and it is somewhere that he felt at home after being somewhat of a nomad over the last few years. He has signed at least for the next two years and the adding of such an experienced rider to the Somerset asset base can only pay dividends huge for the future of the club.