In a tight, close fought, and tense match the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels bowed out of the Young Shield against a battling Stoke ‘Easy Rider’ Potters side. The Rebels had come into the match with a 9-point deficit, following a superb under strength performance at Loomer Road the previous Saturday, giving them a chance for this home leg.

The Potters previous visits to the Oak Tree Arena had produced mixed results, with their last visit seeing them defeated by a 14-point margin, but their 6-point defeat in the early season Premier Trophy encounter showed they should not be taken lightly. Since their last visit the Potters had strengthened their septet, with Robert Ksiezak, and Craig Branney replacing the departing Phil Morris, and Gareth Isherwood.

The opening four heats of this renewal were all shared, with Jason Bunyan taking the opening heat after coming from behind a fast starting Simon Walker, with a neat inside move on the opening bend of Lap 2. Steve Johnston took an easy third place to share the points.

Justin Sedgmen took the win in Heat 2, after Craig Branney had led him to the back straight following a level break. Sedgmen was the meat in the sandwich on the opening turn, but he forced his way to the front as he powered between Branney and Tom P Madsen taking Branney as they ran to the third turn. Nick Simmons got in a strong challenge to Madsen on the final lap, but could not force his way passed.

Emil Kramer missed the Loomer Road leg after aggravating an old back injury in the recent Mark Lemon Testimonial meeting. He had returned to Sweden for treatment, but was back to take the win in his opening ride. With a fast start off the inside gate he was away and gone, winning with some ease. Jari Mäkinen recovered from a slow start to give Lee Complin a hard time for the final three laps of the race, but despite trying all lines could not find a way by.

The Potters made it two heat wins from four races when Tom P Madsen took Heat 4 from Cory Gathercole. Madsen gated and just led on a slick track that suited him down to the ground, and with the outside offering Gathercole no assistance, Madsen rode a fine race to hold off the rampaging Aussie. Gathercole explored every line, but found it impossible to find a way passed the Dane.

The Rebels finally broke the deadlock in Heat 5 as Emil Kramer added his second win of the night. A quick start alongside Jason Bunyan and Jari Mäkinen saw Kramer just shade the opening turn. Once the Swede got to the front Bunyan emerged as the challenger. With Kramer taking the outside route, Bunyan charged around the inside, but could not get back on terms, although he was never far from Kramer’s back wheel. Late in the race he switched wide, but again could not pull back the deficit. Jari Mäkinen pulled clear of Jesper Kristiansen to take a good third place.

In the following heat the Rebels repeated the dose, with Steve Johnston taking the win. Robert Ksiezak just led off the opening turn, and attempted to clamp Johno to the kerb, but the experienced Rebels skipper forced his way through the inside to lead off the next. As Johnston took the win, Simon Walker was all over Ksiezak’s back wheel for the whole race, switching in and out to find an opening that never came.

The Rebels extended their lead to 8-points as they took their only 5-1 advantage of the night in Heat 7. Klaus Jakobsen made the start to lead on the opening bend, clamping Gathercole to the kerb. However he was soon under pressure from the exciting Victorian, and by the second bend Gathercole was through the inside to lead. Justin Sedgmen overcame a slow start, and a rough ride around the opening turn to grab third place up the inside of Lee Complin on the third bend, and repeat the move on the second bend of Lap 2 to grab second from Jakobsen and give the Rebels a full house.

Simon Walker took his customary Heat 8 win with a storming run around the outside to thwart a Potter 5-1. Jesper Kristiansen and Tom P Madsen broke quickly, and blocked the run of Justin Sedgmen on the first turn; meanwhile Walker was blasting around the wide line. He first passed Madsen on the back straight, before collaring Kristiansen on the opening bend of the second lap. Behind him Sedgmen had overcome Madsen on the second bend of the first lap, and held third place until the final lap, when his inexperience allowed Madsen back up his inside on the third turn.

The Potters had been stung by three quick Heat advantages, but had stemmed the flow in Heat 8, and held the Rebels for the next four heats, taking them to Heat 12 without any further loss. Robert Ksiezak appeared to get an absolute flyer in Heat 9, but surprisingly the race was allowed to continue. Emil Kramer was soon in pursuit, after passing team mate Jari Mäkinen inside the second bend, but despite his efforts and using all the lines he could not find a way to eclipse Ksiezak.

The Potters took the heat win in the next heat, with Klaus Jakobsen making the start, and taking advantage of the gripless surface to hold off a charging Simon Walker for the final three laps. Steve Johnston easily took third place after passing Lee Complin late in the race.

The Potters did it again in Heat 11 as Jason Bunyan got the better of a level break with Jesper Kristiansen and Cory Gathercole. Bunyan clamped Gathercole to the kerb, and in the process stopped his most dangerous rival in his tracks, but couldn’t stop him moving into second spot. Justin Sedgmen was soon passed Kristiansen and in third place as they ran onto the back straight. Bunyan’s clever move on the opening turn had given him an advantage he was not to lose, as the Potters shared another heat.

In Heat 12 the Potters replaced Craig Branney with Tom P Madsen, in a move that could have given them a precious heat advantage, as Madsen was clearly at home on the slick track. Madsen delivered as he made a fast start with Jari Mäkinen close up. Nick Simmons came storming through the inside of the second bend to cut off Klaus Jakobsen’s outside run, and that was the race over, for despite trying extremely hard the Rebels pair could not peg back Madsen.

Heat 13 saw the Rebels extend their lead to 10-points with Steve Johnston coming over the top of Jason Bunyan on the opening turn to stop the Milton Keynes racer’s run. Cory Gathercole attempted to make it a full house for the Rebels but his outside swoop was stopped as Robert Ksiezak moved wide to block his run, and hold him off until the final lap. The 2-point advantage was enough to give the Potters a tactical ride, but not enough to give the Rebels any breathing space.

John Woolridge, as expected took the only chance he would have to use the tactical move, but his choice of the wearer of the ‘Black and White’ came as a shock to most watching. With Tom P Madsen sitting on an 8-point total, he seemed the obvious choice with the prevailing track conditions, so it came as a big surprise that Complin was chosen to take the ride, especially as he had returned only 1-point from his three rides, and looked completely out of sorts. Surprise it might have been, but the moved worked as Complin flew from the gates to lead from Emil Kramer at the opening turn. Justin Sedgmen took third place as he moved passed Madsen at the first bend. Kramer chased Complin and was in front as moved wide at the end of the second lap. Sedgmen who had been right on terms at the time could not find his way passed, and as the race ran to the final stages, Madsen repeated his Heat 8 move, once again nipping up the inside of Sedgmen on the third turn to turn a shared heat into a Potters advantage, and reducing the deficit back to 8-points.

So the whole tie had come down to a last heat decider, with the Rebels now needing a heat advantage to progress to the next round, any other result would see the Potters move on to the semi-final stage. Steve Johnston and Emil Kramer were nominated for the Rebels, with Jason Bunyan and Tom P Madsen, whose superb performance had earned him his place in the final heat, taking the track for the Potters. Madsen continued with his great nights work as he flew from the traps to lead Emil Kramer. Kramer took the outside route, and was putting in a huge effort, but as the Dane stuck to the inside line, Kramer’s mammoth efforts were finding no reward. Steve Johnston was also on Madsen’s case as he challenged on the inside, and having no more luck than Kramer. The Rebels despair was completed when Bunyan came with a late inside run to take third, giving the Potters a final heat advantage to take the tie an aggregate margin of just three points.

The Rebels might be out, but not one of the septet let the side down, all giving more than 100% to the cause. The top scorer on the night was Emil Kramer with 11-points. His performance was superb, especially as he is still not fully fit following his aggravated back injury. The Potters showed a determination to go forwards, but they have Tom P Madsen to thank for their success. His 12+3 tally from the reserve berth proved to be the rock on which their success was built, and his last two wins came at vital times, both when the Rebels would have looked to maximise their scoring. He handled the conditions perfectly, giving all the Rebels top three problems at one time or another.

The 6-point victory preserved the Rebels unbeaten home record, but having won every home match was no consolation for going out at this stage of the Young Shield. The Rebels had looked to go all the way, but now their competitive season is over, and the season will now close with a challenge, probably on Friday 16^th October, details of which will be released later. Whilst Steve Johnston was clearly unhappy to be out of the shield, in the after match press conference he was magnanimous in his comments, and congratulated the Potters, wishing them all the best in their quest for silverware.

With just the challenge to come the fans thoughts will now turn to next season, and soon the speculation will start as to how the 2010 Rebels will fare, and who will be in the line up, but that’s for the long winter months, as we still have one more welcome offering of speedway to come, before the end of season presentation evening on October 30^th.