The only blot on the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels recent northern tour came at Newcastle’s tight Brough Park circuit, when they were defeated 55-37, after taking valuable away points at Scunthorpe and Workington on the previous two nights. In the return leg a the Oak Tree Arena they exacted revenge for that defeat in equally emphatic style, handing out a 54-39 beating to the Newcastle ‘Sapphire Engineering’ Diamonds to take three more Premier League points.

Following the early exchanges there was nothing between the teams at the conclusion of the third heat, but it was the Rebels who had taken the most heat wins. The meeting started with a full house for the home side as Emil Kramer and Simon Walker took the heat with some ease. The quest was helped when Kenni Larsen destroyed the tapes in the original start. With Larsen deciding to take the 15-metre handicap the Rebels pair easily disposed of Trent Leverington on the opening turn, to lead from the outset, with Larsen never getting in a blow.

Emil Kramer took up the running with Walker on the second lap as the pair team rode home. He eased off just before the line allowing Walker through to win by nearly half a length, however much to the amazement of most of the gathered fans the decision, by the trainee referee, went to Kramer. To anyone who had taken the trouble to check who the referee was, this would not have come as a surprise, as the overseeing official on duty was none other than Graham Flint, who had made a similar faux pas in the semi-final of last seasons Premier League Pairs, when he gave Jason Doyle the verdict over Mark Lemon, when the latter had clearly beaten him by over a wheel.

The Diamonds hit straight back in Heat 2 as they sped to a 5-1 of their own despite a fast start by Tom Brown. Adam McKinna had just got the better of Brown on the first bend, when Craig Branney stormed around the outside to pull clear of the battling pair. Justin Sedgmen was slowly away, and on a track dried out, and made very slick by a very strong wind, there was precious little drive at this stage of the proceedings to give him a chance to get on terms with the others. For his part Brown was all over McKinna, but he too couldn’t find the grip to win back his place.

Heat 3 was shared, but it might have been another advantage for the Rebels had it not been for a mighty lock up by Brendan Johnson on the second turn. Johnson deputising again for Jay Herne, who was riding for Bournemouth, made a blinding start to lead on the first turn with teammate Cory Gathercole. As the approached the second bend, it got a bit tight, and Johnson pulled a huge locker that he was lucky to stay upright from. The Diamonds pair of Jason King and Derek Sneddon immediately swamped him, and his chance was gone. To add to his woes, as Gathercole stormed away with the heat, he fell whilst trying to make ground on the final lap.

The Rebels didn’t let the grass grow under their feet as the hammered home a second 5-1 in Heat 4. Justin Sedgmen made up for his earlier tardy start, flying out of the gate to lead from the line. His skipper Steve Johnston followed him to the front and took up station behind the flying Aussie as the pair took the heat. Johnston didn’t have it all his own way in second place, having to fend off a strong challenge from the Diamonds new recruit, Rene Bach. Bach has replaced Steve Boxall in the Diamond septet, but it is not his first taste of the British scene, as he had a short spell with Peterborough earlier this season. To the casual observer it might have looked as though Johnston was protecting his less experienced team mate, but a quick look at the race time would tell another story, as Sedgmen won the heat in 58.27 sec, the fastest time of the night.

Heat 5 was shared when Cory Gathercole added his second straight win of the night. He had to come from behind Trent Leverington, who had just got the better run off the opening turn, to lead out the first lap. Gathercole bided his time, and as the field headed towards the back straight he pounced, cutting inside Leverington on the second bend. It was a hard, but fair move that appeared to catch the Brisbane born rider by surprise. Brendan Johnson again made a fast start, but was passed by Kenni Larsen at the second bend.

The following two heats saw the Rebels further extend their lead, with a 5-1 and 4-2 advantage respectively. Emil Kramer and Simon Walker repeated their opening heat maximum in Heat 6, taking out Rene Bach and Adam McKinna in the process. Bach broke with Kramer and led at the first turn, but Kramer cut back inside, and slipped passed Bach on the third bend. Walker had made a wide sweep around the opening bends, but was unable to make the lead. He took a couple of laps before getting on terms with the now second placed Bach, and swept passed him on the outside of the home straight as they ran out onto lap three. The Rebels pair pulled clear from that point to take a relatively easy maximum.

Former Rebels favourite Jason King broke quickly in Heat 7 to race to the bend with Steve Johnston. It was the current Rebel who emerged first from the turn to lead onto the back straight, pulling away to win unchallenged. Behind the pair Tom Brown was battling with Derek Sneddon for third place, and it was the Rebels ‘Donuts King’ who got the better of the brief struggle in the opening turns. He closed down the gap on King in second, and challenged for the place on the back straight and again on the last turn of Lap 3, but could not find a way passed the Diamonds captain.

Simon Walker added a win to his couple of second place finishes as he stormed from third place to the lead in the first half of the opening lap. Once his fence wide run had carried him to the front, Walker pulled away to take the heat win. After a tight opening few bends Justin Sedgmen got in a challenge on Trent Leverington, but the Diamonds man beat him off to give his team a share of the points.

With the Diamond’s deficit now standing at 10-points, 29-19, George English sent out his new recruit Rene Bach in the ‘Black and White’ in a quest for double points. It was a ploy that worked as Bach produced a stunning ride to defeat the Rebels man of the moment, Cory Gathercole. There was nothing between the field at the start, with Bach, Gathercole and Brendan Johnson making fast getaways. Gathercole led at the bend from Bach, who got the better of Johnson in the turn. Challenging around the outside of the opening circuit. Bach made a sweet cut back of the second bend of Lap 2, and shot up the inside, completing the move on the next turn. Gathercole stormed back at him, just edging the lead as they ran to the first bend of the next lap, but Bach held all the aces, and used the inside line to his advantage to hold off the Rebels flyer to the end. Third place went to Adam McKinna, who had dispatched Brendan Johnson on the opening lap, reducing the deficit to five points with a 2-7 advantage.

That was it as far as the Diamonds resistance was concerned, with the Rebels not giving up another advantage for the remainder of the meeting. They immediately extended the lead by another two points, with Emil Kramer taking Heat 10. It might have been more had it not been for the determined efforts of Derek Sneddon. Simon Walker had trapped in second place, with a third maximum for the pairing looking on the cards. Sneddon was having none of it, and challenged Walker off the second bend. Although he failed at that attempt he kept it screwed on, and shot up the outside of Si-Co on the home straight. There wasn’t much room, but Sneddon ‘thought thin’, and squeezed through the narrowest of gaps. Jason King then appeared on the scene, and gave Walker a hard time, passing him on the back straight of Lap 2, before Walker repaid the compliment with a wide run at the end of the lap.

The next two heats were shared, with one win going to each side. Steve Johnston took Heat 11, leading off the opening turn from Kenni Larsen, and winning with ease despite Larsen chasing hard. Tom Brown was slower away, and found himself at the rear on the back straight. He did get in a challenge on Trent Leverington at the third bend, but the experienced Aussie held him off.

Jason King rolled back the years as he took the win in Heat 12, to show the home crowd that he had not forgotten the fastest way round the Highbridge circuit. Tom Brown led at the first bend, but had no answer to King’s wide home straight charge at the end of the lap. Brown came back at King a lap later, but King had his measure and took the win two laps later. Justin Sedgmen was quickly away, but couldn’t stop Adam McKinna taking third place on the home straight at the end of lap one and share the points.

The Rebels put the result beyond any doubt when they fired in their fourth maximum of the night in Heat 13. Steve Johnston and Emil Kramer made a fast gate to lead from the off. It was just a question of which one would take the chequered flag first as their team riding snubbed out any threat that the Diamond’s duo of Larsen and Bach might have offered. For the record it was Johnston from Kramer at the line, with Bach taking the minor place for the visitors.

It would be fair to say that Derek Sneddon’s record around the Oak Tree Arena is not the best, and with that in mind he pulled off something of a shock victory in Heat 14, when he took the scalp of Cory Gathercole. Tom Brown led from the tapes, with Gathercole running in third behind second placed Sneddon. Challenging down the outside of bend two, Gathercole cut back inside Sneddon on the third turn, but failed to navigate his way passed the Falkirk man. Sneddon not only shrugged off Gathercole’s challenge, he closed quickly on Brown, and drove hard underneath him running into the second bend of lap two. Gathercole followed through, and chased down the former Edinburgh Monarch. For the remainder of the race he was all over the back of Sneddon like ants at a picnic. Sneddon didn’t crack, and held off the charging Rebel to the line. Tom Brown took third to give the Rebels a share.

The Rebels finished of the nominated heat with a fifth 5-1, but not before Rene Bach had almost spoiled the party. Emil Kramer broke first, but was soon joined by Johno at the opening bend. Bach produced a carbon copy of his earlier inside pass on the third bend, only this time it was both Rebels that found themselves behind the young Dane. Emil Kramer came storming back at the new Geordie Dane with a strong outside run that saw him find the tightest of gaps on the back straight. He blasted through almost scraping the paint of the boards as he went, and pulled out a lead he was not to relinquish. Steve Johnston started to reel in Bach, flying through the inside of the back straight on the final lap. As Johno pulled in front, Bach’s machine gave up the ghost with what appeared to be a dropped chain, leaving Kenni Larsen to take the minor point.

The final tally was 54-39 to the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels, giving them all three points, and taking them to third place in the table, something many pundits thought couldn’t happen.

The Diamonds never really got to grips with the Rebels, but they appear to have found another fine Danish prospect in Rene Bach. After his first two rides he really got stuck in, and his ride to defeat Cory Gathercole was simply superb. Best of the rest was former Rebel and skipper Jason King, who carded a 7-point haul, but the remainder were not really at the races. In the Rebels camp everyone did their job, with the reserves outscoring their counterparts, and the top three all returning double figures. Both Emil Kramer and Steve Johnston had paid maximums, which must bode well for their chances in next weeks PL Pairs. Another pleasing aspect was the form of Simon Walker, who looked faster than he has all season, as he returned 8 paid 10 from his four rides. Emil Kramer’s paid maximum earned him the ‘Rider of the Night’ award from the meeting sponsors, ‘Furniture Direct’.

The League racing will now take a back seat for a couple of weeks as the Oak Tree Arena, on the eve of the British Speedway Grand Prix at Cardiff, will host the aforementioned Premier League Pairs Championship next week. A large crowd is expected, and if the last couple of years are anything to go by they are in for a real treat, as the best ten pairs in the league will gather to do battle for the title.