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Although the league table may suggest otherwise the Newcastle Diamonds are in pretty good form of late. They look to have their strongest team for some years, so it was probably a bad time for the Somerset ‘Dickies’ Rebels to lose two of their top end to the next round of Grand Prix qualifiers, and so it proved.
With Cory Gathercole and Christian Hefenbrock in Italy for their qualifier, Somerset drafted in former Rebel, Jordan Frampton to replace Gathercole, with Hefenbrock’s absence being covered by rider replacement. The Rebels also gave a debut to a new rider, with Jake Anderson replacing the out of form Mark Baseby in one of the reserve spots. For the second week running the Rebels suffered a major setback in the opening heat, as Kenni Larsen, and Derek Sneddon flew from the gate to lead at the first turn. Despite the challenge of Ritchie Hawkins in the middle section of the race the Diamonds duo raced to an easy full house to put the Rebels under pressure from the outset.
Dakota North has guested for the Rebels at the Oak Tree Arena a couple of times this season, and put his prior knowledge to good use in Heat 2. He ran to the bend alongside the quick starting Jake Anderson, before grabbing the lead running to Bend 2. James Holder followed him through on a wide line, putting in a determined challenge for all four laps, but to no avail.
Heat 3 should have been a chance for the Rebels to close the gap, as Rene Bach was excluded for delaying the start, after jumping the gun on the original running, and again in the restart. With Bach on 15 meters, the Rebels should have made hay, but instead Sam Masters returned to the pits, and then missed the 2 minutes, and was excluded himself.
After a brief conference the Rebels took the option of sending out James Holder, rather than put Masters on 15 meters alongside Bach. In the race, Ritchie Hawkins led early, but was passed by former Rebel, Jason King in the second turn. James Holder was next to go passed Hawkins, as he made the move at the end of the second lap. Bach completed Hawkins misery on the third lap, as he breezed by on the way to a Diamonds 2-4 advantage, Hawkins later explained that he was having trouble holding onto the bike, following a non speedway arm injury about a week ago.
Two shared heats followed with yet another former Rebel, Mark Lemon, taking Heat 4 with a wide outside run on the first turn. Shane Parker was soon on his case, and tried every conceivable line, switching inside and out, but could not work an opening that would take him passed Lemon. Jake Anderson took the minor place to share the points.
Kenni Larsen added a second victory in Heat 5, making it the fifth win on the trot from the white helmet colour, for Newcastle. Following a level break, Larsen battled with Sam Masters over the opening turns, before just grabbing the lead onto the back straight. Masters didn’t go for the easy second place, harrying Larsen for the whole race. They were virtually side by side for all four laps, with Larsen only just prevailing at the line.
The Rebels took their first heat win when Shane Parker took Heat 6, after making a sweeping run around the outside line to power passed Mark Lemon on the way to Bend 2. Jordan Frampton blasted through the inside of the second bend to grab third spot, and the cut inside Lemon on the third bend. Lemon fought back, getting up the inside of Frampton, as they approached the second bend on the next lap. He ran Frampton to the fence, with a very hard piece of riding. The pair went at it, hammer and tongs until Lemon got the upper hand, to restrict the Rebels advantage to 4-2. Frampton, himself not averse to a bit of hard riding when required, appeared incensed with Lemons tactics, and pointed out the error of his ways on the slow down lap.
Having cut the deficit the Rebels were soon back where they started, as they gave up a 2-4 in the very next heat. Shane Parker made a very quick start, but was soon joined by Rene Bach, who swept passed the Rebels skipper on the back straight. Parker didn’t give up the cause as he powered up the inside of Bach on the third turn to grab back the lead. That is the way the race played out over the whole four laps, with Bach and Parker passing and re-passing each other, seemingly at will, with the final honours going to Bach. Jake Anderson took third place, after an equally enthralling battle with Jason King.
The Rebels reversed the result immediately taking Heat 8 4-2. Jordan Frampton took the rider replacement ride and the win from Derek Sneddon. Trapping fast he led all the way, leaving Sneddon and James Holder to battle for second spot, with Sneddon getting the nod.
Heat 9 was shared, as the Newcastle white helmet struck again. This time the wearer was Mark Lemon, who had to overcome a lift after the start to lead into the first turn. Sam Masters worked his way onto the back wheel of Lemon, and threw in a challenge on the second bend of lap 2, but was repelled by the more experienced man. Masters would not give in, and was all over Lemon for the remainder of the race, switching line, from outside to in, and back again, in an effort to find an opening, but Lemon’s been around long enough to know how not to give his young rival a sniff of a chance, holding on cleverly to the flag.
At just four points adrift the Rebels chances took a massive blow in Heat 10, as they succumbed to a maximum advantage for the Diamonds. At the tapes it looked a different story as Sam Masters flew from the gate top lead up. Behind him, Rene Bach had taken a big lift, and got completely out of shape on the run to the bend. As Bach and the other two, Jordan Frampton, and Jason King, arrived at the turn, Bach was all over the place, and skittled the other two into the fence, and all three ended up on the floor. Although they were all up relatively quickly, Jason King had suffered a thumb injury, being replaced in the re-run by Dakota North, and had to eventually withdraw from the meeting. Amazingly, referee Paul Carrington saw nothing wrong with Bach’s riding, putting all four back to the tapes.
In the re-start the inevitable happened, and the Diamonds pair, led by the errant Bach, flew from the tapes to take the honours. Sam Masters had a short battle with North, swapping places a couple of times before the Diamonds reserve prevailed, holding off the charging Masters well. Jordan Frampton made an awful start and never got into the race.
In the next two heats the Rebels hit back strongly, taking Heat 11 4-2, before hammering in a maximum of their own in Heat 12. Shane Parker trapped alongside Kenni Larsen, only to see the Diamonds number one lead at the first turn. Parker worked a move, with a neat inside pass on the third turn to deprive Larsen of the lead. Larsen came back at Parker, and shot up the inner of the first turn of lap 2 to steal back first place. Parker has been at the top of the tree for a long time, and he showed his class with another smart cut inside in exactly the same spot has he had on the previous lap. Once at the front this time it was game over, as he put distance between himself and the young Diamond. James Holder held off Derek Sneddon to take third and give the Rebels the advantage.
With Jason King out of the picture, Newcastle were forced to track Anders Andersen in his place in Heat 12. The Rebels pair of Masters and Holder did not have it all their own way, with Dakota North flying from the tapes to lead. For a long time it was looking like a Diamonds advantage, with North leading Masters, and Andersen in front of Holder. Masters was the first to make a breakthrough as he made a neat inside move to grab the lead from North on the first turn of the second lap. Holder left it late, getting up the inner of Andersen as they ran onto the final lap. A good piece of fortune gave the Rebels the full house, when North fell on the third turn of the final lap, leaving the Rebels duo with all the points.
With the deficit now down to only 2-points the Rebels were back in the game, but they couldn’t take advantage of their momentum, as they only shared Heat 13. Kenni Larsen and Shane Parker renewed their earlier battle, shooting from the gate together. Once again Larsen led at the first turn, but this time Parker also had to fight off the attentions of Mark Lemon. Lemon went by on the second bend, but Parker was back in second by the end of the lap. He then set about Larsen, and the pair, for the second time in the evening, engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle, swapping place at will until Parker got the upper hand to take the victory. With Lemon taking an easy third spot the points were shared.
Avoiding a deficit in Heat 14 was the order of the day for a Rebels victory, but it was not to be, with Rene Bach and Dakota North flying off the line to lead. James Holder cruised by North on the final turns of the lap, only to see him come charging back by on the run back to the first turn. That was the signal for another race long battle, with the pair swapping places for all 4 laps. In the end it was Holder who got in the final pass, restricting the Diamonds to just a 2-point advantage, and giving the Rebels a chance to tie the match.
Any chance of points went west as, once more, the Diamonds beat the Rebels to the drop at the tapes. This time it was Lemon and Larsen that provide the quick start, leading Shane Parker to the bend. Parker came with a good run to catch Larsen on the home straight, sailing by as they headed for the second bend. Masters was next on Larsen’s case, and he went by on the final bend of lap 2, only to see Larsen strike back immediately. That was the way it stayed to the flag, with the Diamonds completing a 6-point victory, to take 3-league points. The Diamonds are a powerful outfit, and their top three all returned double figures, with Mark Lemon at the top of the pile. They were ably backed up by Dakota North, who put his previous Somerset experience to good use.
From the Rebels point of view it was a disappointing night, having got themselves back into the match, only to see it go away again in the last couple of heats. Shane Parker top scored in a real ‘Captains Innings’ battling performance. James Holder put in a sterling shift, which deservedly earned him the ‘Rider of the Night’ award presented by representatives of the armed forces, who attended as part of the BSPA’s Armed Forces day celebrations. In truth the match was lost in the early stages, and in the fact that the Rebels could not match the Diamonds sharpness out of the gate. Rider replacement worked well, garnering 8-points, but Jordan Frampton will be as disappointed as anyone with his nights work, especially in view of his last guest appearance for the Rebels at Kings Lynn.
Barring accidents the Rebels next match will see them at full strength, and they will surely re-group and come out fighting, but for now there will be a lull in the league action at Highbridge, as next week the Premier League Pairs take centre stage at the Oak Tree Arena, followed the next day by the happening that is the British Speedway Grand Prix, at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. If the quality of racing in the ‘Pairs’ is anything like that witnessed tonight, the crowd will be in for a real treat.
Report courtesy Dave Thompson |
Rebels
