When Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels team manager Steve Bishop was riding, the strains of Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’ were heard all across the Oak Tree Arena. No one would have been surprised if that was now replaced with the same lady’s other classic, ‘I Can’t Stand the Rain’, as recent Rebels clashes with the Birmingham ‘BRC Roofing’ Brummies have often been affected by the weather. But not even the remnants of Hurricane ‘Thomas’, which hit Britain this week, and a major motorway closure could stop the most recent of these, and what transpired was a highly exciting and close encounter between two teams intent on keeping up their respective pushes for Premier League glory. With the Rebels looking to re-establish themselves in the fourth place playoff position, and the Brummies needing valuable away points to keep the pressure on table topping Kings Lynn.

Whist the Brummies were back to full strength, with the recent return of the suspended Tomasz Piszcz, and firing on all cylinders with some fantastic recent results, the Rebels were still without injured Simon Walker, and Tom Brown, and had brought in Jari Mäkinen, initially as a short term replacement for Tom Brown, allowing the Rebels to move the improving Justin Sedgmen back to reserve. Mäkinen’s tenure at the Oak Tree did not get off to a good start, as the airline transporting his engines to England, somehow managed to send then back to Finland, leaving him without a motor. Fellow Finn, Joonas Kylmakorpi came to the rescue with an engine for the evening.

It was the Brummies who made a supercharged start to the meeting, hitting the Rebels with two maximums in the first two heats. Tomasz Piszcz and Rusty Harrison blasted from the gates in Heat 1, giving the Rebels no chance of reply, although Steve Johnston chased for all he was worth.

Former Rebels Jay Herne, and Lee Smart also made the best starts, as they took Heat 2 from the gate. Justin Sedgmen put up some resistance, and got in a challenge on Smart as the field approached the end of the second lap. Smart was giving nothing away, and with his partner pulling away he held Sedgmen, giving the visitors the full advantage.

The Rebel put their first win on the board in Heat 3 as Emil Kramer made a great start to overcome Ludvig Lindgren in the early stages. As Kramer pulled away from Lindgren and his partner Richard Sweetman, Rebels new boy Mäkinen struggled at the back on the still wet track, giving the Brummies a share of the points.

Heat 4 saw the Rebels make their first breakthrough, when Cory Gathercole broke level with Jason Lyons and Justin Sedgmen. Gathercole moved Lyons wide on the second turn, but Sedgmen couldn’t take advantage of the gaping hole around the inside. Gathercole pulled out a lead, and took an easy victory from Lyons and Sedgmen. Lee Smart never got off the line as his machine failed as the tapes rose.

Jari Mäkinen’s first night as a Rebels was not improving, as he was excluded for failing to meet the 2-minute allowance in Heat 5, with his place being taken by Nick Simmons. Emil Kramer broke level with Tomasz Piszcz, but was soon joined by Rusty Harrison, who slipped through on the inside. That left the Rebels man relegated to third place, and he soon set about improving matters. Switching to the outside he went passed Harrison on the home straight at the end of the lap, but by this time Piszcz had stolen a march on the Swede. Kramer was never able to get back on terms with the Brummies number one, and had to settle for second place at the line. Harrison took third spot to restore the Brummies 8-point lead.

Heat 6 was shared after Jason Lyons got the better of a very tight battle with Steve Johnston, on the opening lap of the race. The pair broke quickly and were immediately locked together around the opening turns. It was a tough scrap, which Johnston appeared to have won as the pair entered the back straight. Lyons was not about to give it up, and put in a power packed run on the outside of the third turn that took him to the front. Once there he pulled clear of Johnston, to take the win in the fastest time of the night. The Rebels locked up the rest of the points as Justin Sedgmen took an easy third spot.

Over the next two heats the Rebels slammed the Brummies, fighting back with two full house maximums to level the match. Firstly Cory Gathercole and a busy Justin Sedgmen, replacing Nick Simmons who missed the 2-minutes, gave a superb display of team riding in Heat 7. Sedgmen bolted from the outside gate to lead from the tapes. Meanwhile Gathercole was sliding inside Richard Sweetman on the first two turns. Gathercole joined the flying Sedgmen in the lead, and the pair totally dominated the Brummies duo, powering away to the flag, with Sedgmen taking the honours.

Sedgmen took his third ride on the spin in Heat 8, and he was joined again by Gathercole, who took the rider replacement ride. The upshot was, the same pairing, the same result, only this time Gathercole took the win. He led virtually all the way after gunning passed Smart and Sedgmen before the first turn. As Gathercole had the race sewn up early the second place was in doubt until the dying seconds of the race. Smart just got the better of Sedgmen early on, but the Rebels youngster never let him have a second’s peace. He was all over Smart’s back wheel throwing in challenges up the inside at several points in the first three laps. Then running onto the back straight for the final time he quickly switched to the outside, and completely dummied Smart, powering round the wide line to grab second spot coming off the final bend, stunning stuff as the Rebels levelled the scores.

Kings Lynn apart the Brummies were proving to be the toughest opponents seen at the Oak Tree arena this season, and as if to prove that. they immediately restored a lead, albeit by just two points, in Heat 9. It was that man Lyons again who did the damage. He broke level with the fast starting Emil Kramer, but just got his nose in front at the opening bend. Kramer was soon challenging, as he cut back up the inside on the back straight. He couldn’t quite get to the front as Lyons beat him off. He kept on the gas, making sure any slip by Lyons would be punished. Despite Kramer’s pressure Lyons didn’t err, and as he weathered the Swedish storm he pulled out a lead over the final two laps to take the win. Jay Herne took third from Jari Mäkinen to take the Brummies back to the front.

The Rebels hit back straight away, and for a short time it appeared they would turn a deficit into an advantage in Heat 10. Justin Sedgmen, taking his sixth ride in just ten Heats, flew from the gate to lead at the tapes. Steve Johnston came from third place at the line to pass both Ludvig Lindgren, and Sedgmen as the field entered the back straight, putting the Rebels on a 5-1. Lindgren was soon on the back of Sedgmen, and swept passed as the lap ended. Over the next three laps he slowly closed the gap on Johno, but in the end didn’t have enough in the tank to trouble the Rebels flying skipper. Sedgmen easily took third to give the Rebels a 4-2 and level the scores for a second time.

The Home side added another 4-2 in Heat 11, with Cory Gathercole taking the win. He got the better of the erratic Tomasz Piszcz from the first turn taking him out to the wide line, and giving himself a massive advantage in the process. Nick Simmons, who’s crash on the Isle of Wight, only a week ago raised fears of a broken back, soon closed down Piszcz, harrying him inside and out, and throwing down numerous challenges from the second lap onwards. It was all the Pole could do to keep the Leamington born rider at bay, but that he did, but only just!

With the Rebels now in a slender 2-point lead, they found it difficult to pull away, and the result was in doubt right up to the final heat, with neither set of fans having any idea where the points would go. The next three heats were all shared, but it might have been so different in Heat 12 had it not been for a Jay Herne dropped chain.

A level break, between Herne, his partner Ludvig Lindgren, and Justin Sedgmen promised a close, hard race, and how it delivered. As the three riders entered the first turn, the Brummies pair had Sedgmen on toast, blocking his run completely. Not one to let that trouble him the young Australian set off after the pair, throwing down an outside challenge as they ran onto the home straight, just getting a wheel in front of Herne, at the end of the lap. Lindgren blocked the move allowing Herne the time to move back in front of his fellow countryman. Sedgmen was all over the pair trying to find a chink in their armour.

He worked the lines in and out looking for a chance to steal through. His pressure started to pay off on lap two, as Herne made a mistake that allowed Sedgmen a look up his inside, but he couldn’t take advantage. On the last lap he at last found a run that looked as though he would at least take Herne’s second spot. He powered right around the outside of the pair, and as he drew level with Herne, his sights were now set firmly on Lindgren who he was closing down fast. At the point of no return Herne’s primary chain let go, straightening him up, and firing him straight into the path of Sedgmen. Sedgmen tried desperately to avoid Herne, which he did, but fell in the process, but he took an almighty smack in the back as he crashed into the post protecting the pit entrance. He was down for some time, as many feared that he had just been added to the list of injured Rebel riders. In the end he regained his feet, apparently none the worse for his experience. As the result was still in doubt at the time the referee had no choice but to re-run the race, without Herne.

In the re-run, it was Jari Mäkinen who got the best start for the Rebels, and he rode a superb race to keep the leading Lindgren under pressure for the whole race, and challenged the Swede on every lap, with a more circumspect Sedgmen in third place. It was a great way for the 19-year-old Finn to add his first points in Rebel colours to the score sheet, and add a positive note to what must have been a very frustrating day for the former Finnish U21 Champion.

Tomasz Piszcz got the early break to lead Heat 13, with the Rebels pair of Johnston and Gathercole challenging on both sides of him. He rode a superb race to retain the lead, as he was put under the most extreme pressure by the Rebels top Aussie combination. Piszcz was up to the task as the trio battled up front, leaving Jason Lyons as a virtual spectator as Piszcz held off the rampaging Rebels.

Many thought that Heat 14 would be a turning point in favour of the Rebels, as it brought Emil Kramer and Nick Simmons to the tapes. A fairly level break saw the field enter the turn together, with Richard Sweetman, and Nick Simmons, surprisingly at the head of affairs. Emil Kramer’s outside run appeared to be stopped in its tracks by a very hard move by Lee Smart. It set him at the back of the field, with Sweetman now disappearing into the distance. Kramer made short work of Smart, and set off after the pair in front, but he could never get there, no matter how hard he tried. Nick Simmons was the one who put Sweetman under the hammer, but like his race partner, he could never get fully on terms with the flying Sweetman.

So with the destination of the points still in doubt, the nominated heat arrived. Unsurprisingly the combatants were Johnston and Gathercole for the Rebels, and Piszcz and Lyons for the Brummies. As the old hackneyed saying goes, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’, and as they have shown all season it is a big mistake to write off this Rebels team. After looking dead and buried after just two heats the Rebels had fought back, tooth and nail, against a very determined Brummies side, and put themselves in a position to keep this seasons unbeaten status, at the Oak Tree Arena, intact.

As the tapes rose Jason Lyons broke quickly, with Cory Gathercole on his outside. As they ran to the back straight, Steve Johnston came roaring around the wide outside to leave the other two for dead, and take the lead on the back straight. Gathercole must have taken his lead from his skipper, for as Lyons had done to Johnston in Heat 6, so Gathercole did to Lyons here, moving wide into the dirt, and putting in a power-packed run around the boards on the next two bends, to cruise into second spot behind Johno. Once at the front the Rebels pair made no mistakes, team riding to a maximum heat win to put an emphatic finish to the Brummies chances of taking an away win.

So the Rebels had dug deep, and recorded their fortieth match unbeaten at the Oak Tree, a sequence that stretches back to April of last year. The signing of Jari Mäkinen had come just at the right time, giving the Rebels the opportunity to move Justin Sedgmen back to reserve. A move that brings some firepower back to the bottom end, following the injuries to Tom Brown, and the now recovered Nick Simmons. It was a move that paid off in spades as the Rebels reserves outscored their Brummies counterparts by 13 (paid 16) to 7 (paid 8), with Sedgmen posting a 10+3 return.

Although all the Rebels contributed in some way to the victory, the other performance of note was that of Cory Gathercole. Over the last couple of weeks Gathercole has not been in his early season high scoring form, but here he returned to his very best, recording a 16+1-point performance from his 6 rides, winning the ‘Rider of the Night’ award from match sponsors ‘Holly and Steer Solicitors’ in the process. For the Brummies, Tomasz Piszcz top scored, and despite running a last in the final heat, he still managed to bring home 11-points, to keep the Birmingham side hot on the heels of Kings Lynn in the race for the title. For their part the Rebels moved back into fourth spot to put themselves back into playoff contention.

The Rebels now need to maximise their points scoring in order to remain in the Playoff spots, and they will want to repeat their early season victories, both home, and away over local rivals Newport in order to stay in touch with the run to the playoffs, starting with Sunday’s trip to Queensway Meadows.

On a different note everyone at Somerset was buoyed by the news that Brendan Johnson is to be released from Hospital today (Saturday), when this time last week he was in an induced coma, and on life support following his Isle of Wight crash on Thursday. This is fantastic news, and it’s very encouraging that Brendan’s recovery is progressing so well, although he will still have some way to go before he regains full fitness. However it is certain that it won’t be long before his smiling face will soon be seen around the South West’s speedway circuits.