Mike's Jottings:

Mike

It has been only three weeks since the Somerset ‘Dickies’ Rebels last took on the Stoke Potters, when they visited Loomer Road, but the side they faced tonight was vastly different than the one they encountered on that occasion. Since then Malcolm Vasey had reshaped the Potters side, by both design and necessity, after a combination of poor form, and unexpected injuries. Jason Bunyan is still out with a knee injury, with Taylor Poole and Adam Roynon recently following him to the treatment table. Klaus Jakobsen is still AWOL from the line up, and Hynek Stichauer has been left out, although it would appear that as Jakobsen’s 28-day facility comes to an end, Stichauer is set to be re-signed. Into the side comes Claus Vissing, recently dropped by Elite League side Ipswich, and Jan Graversen, a recent victim of Redcar team changes. Tomas Suchanek and Kozza Smith were the guests in place of Poole and Bunyan.

Although they only shared the first heat, the Rebels were always in control of the match, and did not lose a heat advantage until Stoke took their first tactical ride in Heat 11, and only gave up one other advantage, and that being in the final heat.

In Heat 1, Claus Vissing showed why the Potters were quick to sign him after his departure from Foxhall, as he made the best start alongside Jan Graversen, in a fairly level break. As Ritchie Hawkins and Lubos Tomicek accounted for Graversen, passing either side of him on the second turn, Vissing was making his getaway. Hawkins took up the chase, throwing in a big challenge on the final bend of the race, but could not quite get on terms with the Dane. This heat was re-started after the original running was called back after Graversen took a fall on the first turn. Chris Durno put all four back in, which was a little surprising, as Graversen appeared to fall on his own.

James Holder marked his return to the side with a ‘Tapes to Flag’ win in Heat 2, against his old team. Behind him Mark Baseby was recovering from a slow start to gradually close the gap to third place man Lee Smart. As they entered the final lap, Baseby moved onto the back wheel of Smart, and running around the final two bends, he came with a big outside charge to claim a point, and give the Rebels the early lead.

Shane Parker’s fine run of form continued in Heat 3 as he got the better of a quick starting Lee Smart before the opening turn. As Parker took up the running, Sam Masters came with a wet sail, and rode right around the outside of the Potters pair to join Parker at the front. His second spot only lasted until the start of the second lap, where a determined Tomas Suchanek cruised around his outside. Try as he might, Masters seemed unable to hang on to the ever increasing gap, between him and Suchanek. For his part the former Czech U 21 Champion was making inroads into Parker’s lead, but in the end the Rebels skipper had too much in hand.

After almost a week on the sidelines, following his crash at Berwick last Saturday, Cory Gathercole returned to the Rebels line up in Heat 4. He sowed no ill effects from his enforced rest as he blasted around the boards on the first lap to account for the fast starting Potters pair of Ricky Wells and Kozza Smith. Wells emerged as his only challenger, leaving Smith to fight off the close attentions of Mark Baseby. Baseby almost made it pay when Smith locked up at the end of lap three, but in the event Smith error probably cost Baseby as much momentum as it did Smith.

By Heat 5 Sam Masters had, obviously sorted whatever ailed his machine earlier. He broke level with Claus Vissing, but rode a hard bend, forcing Vissing to take the long way if he wanted the lead. Shane Parker took advantage of Masters forceful riding as he cut inside Vissing on the last bends of the lap, to join his team partner at the front. Once together at the front the pair pulled clear to take the Rebels first maximum advantage of the night.

A shared heat followed; as Ritchie Hawkins took Heat 6 with an all the way win. Lubos Tomicek made a good start, but took a hefty bump from Kozza Smith after the latter caught a big lift off the line. The contact shuffled Tomicek to the back, and he never recovered. At the front Smith was now chasing down Hawkins, but the Rebels man rode a great race to keep him at bay.

Cory Gathercole added a second win to his account in Heat 7, just getting the better of Ricky Wells on the first turn after suffering a big lift at the start. Once in front Gathercole never looked back, and won easily from Wells. Behind the pair James Holder made a great inside pass on Tomas Suchanek to take third on the second bend. Suchanek chased until Holder locked up on the third lap, but even then he couldn’t get close enough to take advantage.

Ritchie Hawkins looked back to his best as he made it two wins in three starts to take Heat 8. Once again he made a lightning start, and pulled well clear to take a bloodless victory. The Potters pair of Wells and Graversen, just got the better of Mark Baseby early on, and then team rode him out of the race. Baseby was all over the pair for the whole race, but found his path blocked every yard of the way.

Already 10-points to the good the Rebels then hammered in two full houses on the trot. Firstly through the Masters-Parker pairing, as Sam Masters powered around the wide line, from third place to the lead by the second bend. Shane Parker, who had lead early, settled into second place as the pair took a relatively easy win. Parkers only worry came late on as he ran very wide on the second and last bend of the final lap, giving Kozza Smith just a very brief hope.

Heat 10 brought Ritchie Hawkins his third straight win, and when Lubos Tomicek held off a determined challenge from Tomas Suchanek, the Rebels carded their third maximum advantage. Hawkins was away and gone, but the major battled raged behind him. Tomas Suchanek also started quickly, and was soon in second place, but Tomicek was quickly on his case, and by the third turn had gone passed his fellow Czech. Suchanek soon hit back, and the pair engaged in a race long battle as they swapped places time and time again, racing wheel to wheel to the line, where Tomicek just prevailed. It was a battling performance by the Rebels beleaguered Number One that must surely have boosted his flagging confidence.

Now 18-points behind, Malcolm Vasey sent out his new top man to take the Potters first tactical ride. Claus Vissing made no mistake, leading all the way. It might have been a different story had Cory Gathercole not been squeezed out at the start by Vissing and his team mate Jan Graversen. Off the line Gathercole was stopped in his tracks by the move, as he tried to add Heat 11 to his winning tally. Graversen took up second spot at the first turn, but was soon passed by James Holder and the recovering Gathercole. Gathercole’s misfortune was all that Vissing needed, and he pulled out a gap that Gathercole could not close, despite his best efforts. Although Vissing took double points, the win did little to ease the Potter’s woes.

Heat 12 was soon added to Sam Masters wins account, as he took the re-run, with a big outside run around the boards on the opening turns. The original start was called back, presumably for movement at the tapes. Masters powerful start carried him clear of Tomas Suchanek and Ricky Wells, who eventually took the minor places, with Mark Baseby appearing to be outpaced at the rear.

Heat 13 showed just how much of a confidence boost Lubos Tomicek’s previous ride had been, as he shot from the tapes to lead before the turn. Cory Gathercole came from off the pace to blitz the first turn, and ride around the outside of Kozza Smith to take up second spot. The Rebels pair then team rode the race out, never allowing Smith or Claus Vissing into the race. Gathercole just prevailed at the line, but it didn’t matter as both he Tomicek were never under any pressure, and either could have taken the spoils. A clearly delighted Tomicek joined Gathercole for the lap of honour, as the cheering fans greeted them.

Although Heat 14 was shared, it produced what was probably the best ride of the night under the circumstances. With Ricky Wells on a tactical ride, Shane Parker shepherded James Holder home, and destroyed the tactical move, when he could have pursued his paid maximum instead. Unbeaten by an opponent, Parker broke behind the Potters pairing of Wells and Tomas Suchanek, with Holder for company. Holder was first through as he passed Wells at the end of the second lap, Parker swiftly followed. Although Suchanek had pulled out a handy lead, Parker could have been forgiven if he had gone off in pursuit of his paid maximum. One quick look over his shoulder showed him that Holder was coming back under pressure from Wells. Quick as a flash he slowed to allow Holder to join him, and from that point on his only focus was to protect his race partner, which he did superbly well, despite the fact that the Rebels were well clear at this point in the match. Every time Wells put in a challenge, Parker was there to close the gap and deny Wells any points at all. It was superb display of selfless riding, a real captains ride from the Rebels skipper.

Heat 15 had an unfamiliar look about it as Ritchie Hawkins was deservedly given one of the spots. The other went to Lubos Tomicek, who, according to team manager Steve Bishop, was overjoyed at being given the chance. For the Potters it was inevitable that Claus Vissing would get a spot, and Tomas Suchanek, who had put on one of his better Oak Tree Arena performances, joined him. As the tapes rose it was Suchanek and Tomicek who made the break, with Vissing close up. As the riders entered the first turn, Tomicek appeared to get a huge portion of elbows from Vissing, and had nowhere to go except the fence or down. As he ran out of room Tomicek went down, but the referee apparently did not see the cause of the fall, and he allowed the race to continue. Tomicek was quickly up, but his race was, unluckily, run as he pushed onto the centre green. Back on the track, Ritchie Hawkins was mixing it with the Potters pair, going to the front as the riders headed to the second turn. Vissing came with a big outside run to take back the lead on the opening turn of Lap 2, clamping Hawkins to the kerb in the process. From there he held off the close attentions of the Peterborough born rider to the flag, as the Potters took only their second advantage of the meeting.

The final result was 55-38 to the Rebels, as the Rebels dominated the meeting almost from the outset. Despite their dominance there was some good racing, especially on the few occasion that the Rebels missed the gate. They produced a good all round team performance with all contributing in one form or another. The top end of the team now seems to be producing some cohesive performances, and this is allowing for some leeway in other areas of the team. Lobos Tomicek appeared to race with some newfound confidence, which will hopefully spur him on to better things. At the lower end of the team, James Holder must have been delighted with his performance against his old team, especially after coming in for a fair amount of stick from Potters supporters on some of the internet forums.

The top four in the score chart are set for a busy week end, with top scorer, Ritchie Hawkins (13-points), Sam Masters and Cory Gathercole headed off to France to ride in an individual meeting at Lamothe Landerron. Shane Parker should have been joining them, but he has answered the call from his Polish team, Ostrovia Ostrow.

The Rebels will need to be on the top of their game next week as they entertain the highflying Birmingham Brummies, who will feature former Rebels, Steve Johnston and Justin Sedgmen. The prospects are for a mouth watering battle, with the Rebels coming into some form, including giving a good account of themselves early on, at the home of the Brummies, Perry Barr, last Wednesday.

Report courtesy Dave Thompson