As speedway’s Premier League season heads towards a thrilling finale, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels have a busy week of action, one that could determine whether or not they lift the Premier League Championship.

Whilst Edinburgh remain favourites for the title, the Rebels still have a chance of snatching the title away from under the Monarchs noses, but it will require them, as things currently stand, to win at least two out of their remaining 5 away matches.

Believe it or not, Somerset will be contesting four of those away matches in the next 6 days, starting with the visit to Reading tomorrow [Monday] night in what will be the last ever Premier League match to take place at the Smallmead Stadium, as the Racers take a year’s sabbatical from the sport whilst they wait for their new track to be built.

The two sides have met on no less than three occasions at Smallmead already this year, Reading coming out on top in the early season challenge match, before the Rebels took victory at Reading in their Premier Trophy encounter.  Although Reading gained revenge for that defeat by beating Somerset in the second leg of the Knock Out Cup quarter final, their margin of victory was not enough to stop the Rebels progressing through on aggregate.

Reading have, of late, however, shown some vulnerability on their home track which could give the Rebels hope of gaining something from this match, especially as their main title contenders, Edinburgh, won at Smallmead earlier in the year.

After the relatively short trip to Reading, Somerset move on the following night to the Isle of Wight, who, like the Rebels, have been unbeaten at home in the Premier League this year.  Add to that the fact that the Islanders comfortably beat Somerset when the Rebels visited Smallbrook in the Premier Trophy earlier in the year and it is easy to see that the Rebels will have to be at their very best if they are to come away from Smallbrook with an away victory and three precious Premier League points.

The team then have a day’s rest on Wednesday, before heading up the M1 on Thursday and another important Premier League encounter, this time against Sheffield.  The Tigers have not had the best of seasons by their normally high standards, and what was once deemed to be ‘fortress Owlerton’ in previous years has been breached twice in the League this year, so the Rebels will be aiming to add to that tally come Thursday night.

Finally, as far as this week’s away matches are concerned, Somerset travel to Hertfordshire on Saturday to face Rye House for their Premier League match that was postponed last Saturday due to the bad weather that engulfed the country.

Somerset will be without both Stephan Katt and Matthias Kröger for this match as they will be competing in Germany in the final round of the World Long Track Championship.  The Rebels are, however, entitled to use guest replacements to cover for their German duo, Glasgow’s Robert Ksiezak will replace Katt, whilst the guest for Kröger has yet to be confirmed.

The Rebels will look back on their recent Knock Out Cup tie at Rye House for inspiration as they posted the best performance by a visiting team to Hoddesdon so far this year, and will, no doubt, be hoping to go that bit better in Saturday’s league encounter to inflict the first home defeat of the season on the current Premier League Champions.

Whilst the Rebels are not in action themselves at the Oak Tree Arena this coming Friday (12^th), the club will be staging the third, and possible deciding Test Match of a three match series at under 23 level between England and Australia.  The first two Test Matches are being held at Wolverhampton tomorrow [Monday 8^th] and Swindon on Thursday [11^th].

Further details of the meeting and teams will be released during the week leading up to the match itself, suffice to say that two of the current Somerset side will be taking part in Friday’s meeting, Jordan Frampton lining up at number 2 for England with Jason Doyle being part of the Australian septet.

Somerset Rebels Diary w/c 8^th September

 Monday 8^th September – away at Reading (Premier League) 7.30pm

Tuesday 9^th September – away at Isle of Wight (Premier League) 7.30pm

Thursday 11^th September – away at Sheffield (Premier League) 7.45pm

Friday 12^th September – England under 23 v Australia under 23 at Oak Tree Arena 7.30pm

Saturday 13^th September – away at Rye House (Premier League) 7.00pm*

*this meeting follows Rye House v Mildenhall which commences at 6pm, therefore start time of the Rye House v Somerset match is an approximation

For those fans who wish to avoid the queues, advance tickets for the 3^rd, and quite possibly decisive, under 23 Test Match between England and Australia to be held at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena on Friday 12^th September, will be on sale during the Rebels match against Mildenhall this Friday. 

Admission for this prestigious meeting will be; Adults £15.00, Concessions £11.00, Children £4.00, under 5’s free.  There is also a Family Ticket (two adults, 2 children) at £34.00.  Somerset fans are reminded that season tickets are not valid for this meeting.

Rebels Facing Busy Week

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels will be looking to put a disappointing weekend, which saw them lose at both Edinburgh and Berwick, behind them with three further matches this week, the results of which could see them continue to put pressure on Edinburgh at the top of the Premier League table.

First up for the team is the trip to Birmingham where both teams will be hoping that it will be third time lucky as far as staging the meeting is concerned as the previous two attempts have fallen foul of the weather.

Birmingham have suffered by way of some horrendous injuries to their riders throughout the season, but it is to their credit that they have battled their way through to the final of the Premier Trophy, though a heavy defeat in the first leg at Edinburgh has probably left them with far too much to do in the second leg if they are to snatch the title away from the Monarchs.

Next up for the Rebels will the visit to the Oak Tree Arena of the Mildenhall Fen Tigers on Friday [5^th] for what amounts to Somerset’s final home league match of the season.  Mildenhall have had a torrid time of it this season, having lost all 26 of their Premier League matches this year, and have only won one meeting all season, that, somewhat surprisingly, was at home to King’s Lynn in the Premier Trophy.

The Fen Tigers have recently acquired new owners, ironically enough the King’s Lynn promotion of Keith and Jonathan Chapman, who have already rung the changes as far as the team re concerned, bringing in Paul Lee to replace the injured Marek Mroz and recalling ex-Rebel Henning Loof to the side.

Finally for this week, the Rebels travel to Rye House on Saturday [6^th] in the Premier League, just two weeks on from their aggregate victory over the Rockets that took Somerset through to the KO Cup Final, losing by just 7 points at Hoddesdon, the best performance by a visiting team this season.

Somerset will be missing both Stephan Katt and Matthias Kröger who will be on World Longtrack duty, but are eligible to use two guest riders in their place, the names of whom will be revealed later in the week once confirmation from the two riders concerned has been received.

The new September rider averages see Stephan Katt move into the main body of the team with Kröger replacing him at reserve, other than that there are no changes to the Somerset riding order.

The club are awaiting news on the fitness of their captain, Simon Walker, who has under-gone a period of intensive physiotherapy in order to try and relieve the back problems that have seen him ride just once since he sustained the injury at the end of June and a decision as to whether he will return to the side for Friday’s home meeting against Mildenhall will be taken on the day of the match itself.

Somerset Rebels –v- Mildenhall Fen Tigers [Premier League; Friday 5^th September]

Somerset Rebels 1) Jason Doyle (9.83); 2) Simon Walker or Rider Replacement (6.69); 3) Emil Kramer (8.51); 4) Stephan Katt (6.57); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.46); 6) Matthias Kröger [r] (5.91); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.57) – Team managers; Steve Bishop & Garry May

Mildenhall Fen Tigers (provisional) 1) Sebastian Truminski (6.07); 2) Barrie Evans (4.40); 3) Paul Lee (6.36); 4) TBC; 5) Jan Graversen (4.20); 6) Henning Loof [r] (3.00); 7) Casper Wortmann [r] (3.00) – Team manager; Richard Knight

Following Friday’s Somerset v Mildenhall Premier League match at the Oak Tree Arena, the Somerset Giants will be staging an individual meeting featuring eight of the Giants’ squad members who will meet over 6 heats, the highest points scorer being the winner.

The Giants have provided some classic entertainment and racing for the fans at Somerset this year, and the development of the riders, under the guidance of Ray Dickson and Kevin Brown has been evident to all.

Somerset Giants Individual Meeting riding order; 1) Stephan Maunder, 2) Steven May, 3) Kyle Newman, 4) Rikki Mullins, 5) Andy Braithwaite, 6) Mitch Mullins, 7) Paul Derreck, 8) Tom Young.

Rebels To Usurp The Monarchs?

Having booked their place in the Premier League Knock Out Final for the third time in as many years with their stunning aggregate semi-final victory over Rye House, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels turn their attentions back to their quest for the Premier League Championship and the visit on Wednesday [27^th] of the Edinburgh Monarchs to the Oak Tree Arena, in what amounts to a real ‘top of the table’ clash.

Edinburgh have been hot on Somerset’s heels at the top of the Premier League table all season and so Wednesday’s match could have a real bearing on the final destiny of the league title come the end of the season. 

Edinburgh come to Somerset with an excellent away record, but they will be facing a Rebels team that have yet to have their colours lowered at the Oak Tree Arena in the Premier League this year, so everything points to this meeting as being one not to be missed.

Like Somerset, Edinburgh have built their team this season based on strength in depth with a very solid look about their team right through from 1-7, a moved which has paid dividends for both teams this year.  Unfortunately both teams have injury problems to contend with for Wednesday’s match, Somerset continue to be without Simon Walker, who’s well documented back injury has kept him from the side since the end of June, the Rebels using rider replacement facility in his place.  Edinburgh will be without their number 1, William Lawson, who has not yet fully recovered from a broken collarbone, and Reading’s Mark Lemon will guest in place of Lawson.

Edinburgh will, however, have two riders making their Oak Tree Arena debuts, namely the promising Swede, Tomas H Jonasson, who was third in the recent Swedish national championships, and the exciting American, Ryan Fisher.

Wednesday’s match at Somerset is followed two days later with the sides meeting again, this time at Edinburgh’s Scotwaste Arena, the Rebels then moving on to Berwick the following night [Saturday] to take on the Bandits, although they will be going into that match without the services of Stephan Katt at reserve as he will be competing in the European Grass Track Championship in Holland the same day. 

As the British speedway authorities do not allow any replacement facility for this particular Championship, Katt’s place at reserve for the Rebels can only be taken by a Conference League rider, and in this instance Somerset are calling upon the services of Adam McKinna, who, ironically enough, started the season out as part of the Berwick team.

Somerset Rebels –v- Edinburgh Monarchs
Premier League
Wednesday 27^th August

Somerset Rebels 1) Jason Doyle (9.63); 2) Rider Replacement [for Simon Walker] (6.69); 3) Emil Kramer [c] (9.10); 4) Matthias Kroger (6.67); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71); 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80)

Edinburgh Monarchs 1) Mark Lemon [g] (8.63); 2) Derek Sneddon [c] (6.88); 3) Tomas H Jonasson (7.04); 4) Matthew Wethers (6.88); 5) Ryan Fisher (6.81); 6) Andrew Tully [r] (6.75); 7) Aaron Summers [r] (5.11)

Walker Injury Setback

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels have been rocked by the news that their captain, Simon Walker, faces even longer on the sidelines due the back injury that he sustained as a legacy of his heat 12 fall in the team’s Cup match at Reading at the end of June.

Walker’s visit to hospital for a further progress report ended with him being told that the injury is such that he may well require an operation to rectify matters;

“No, the outcome of my visit was not good,” said Walker, “they took even more fluid off the back, but I have a problem with a muscle in the lower back, so I now have to go for an MRI scan to see whether or not I need an operation.”

“I can tell you that I was really gutted to get that news, he continued, “and it was a real setback to my plans.  I am hoping that a course of intensive work with my physio might ease things enough for me to be able to get back racing, and then hopefully have any operation once the season has finished.”

“Of course I have to balance coming back racing to that of suffering further, longer term, damage, plus the needs of the team, the last thing I want to do is to let my heart rule my head and end up with the team suffering because of it.”

“It is so difficult to be sitting on the sidelines whilst the team are doing so well.  Although it was great to be down in the pits for the recent match against the Isle of Wight, it is just so frustrating not to be going out there doing my bit as we come to the ‘business end’ of the season.”

In the meantime, Somerset will continue with utilising the rider replacement facility for Walker during his absence, one bright note here for the team is that upon the application of the new rider averages for September, Walker should move to third in the Rebel standings, which will mean that Emil Kramer will now become eligible to take one of Walker’s rides, which could prove vital given the plethora of away matches the team face during the month as they continue their push for the Premier League Championship title.

Rebels ‘Up For The Cup’

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels take a break from Premier League action next weekend as they face old adversaries, Rye House, in the semi-finals of the Premier League Knock Out Cup. 
Originally the 1^st leg was due to be staged at Rye House, but the weather put paid to those plans with the result that the Friday’s [22^nd] match at the Oak Tree Arena constitutes the 1^st leg, with the 2^nd leg at Rye House taking place on Bank Holiday Monday. Rye House come to Somerset still smarting from their comprehensive defeat at the Oak Tree Arena in May’s Premier League encounter between the two sides, the Rebels taking victory 66-27, Tai Woffinden scoring 17 of the Rockets points on the night. Despite this, plus the fact that Rye House have had one victory on their travels in Premier League so far this year, and that coming at bottom of the table Mildenhall, Somerset will not be letting complacency to set in as they look to make the final of the Knock Out Cup for a third year in a row, and will, naturally enough, be looking to take as big a lead as possible to Hertfordshire with them for the 2^nd leg, especially given that Rye House have yet to have their colours lowered on their tight Hoddesdon raceway.
 “This has all the makings of a classic cup tie,” said Somerset captain Simon Walker, “Both teams have been fairly dominant on their own track, so a lot will depend on how much of a lead we can build up for the second leg.”  “It should be a cracker of a meeting and I urge all the Somerset fans out there to get along to the Oak Tree Arena for this one and really get behind the team.” The obvious danger to the Rebels will be Rye’s teenage sensation, Tai Woffinden, but as was proved in the drubbing handed out to the Rockets back in May, one rider does not make a team, and the visitors will be looking for much better support for Woffinden from the likes of in Chris Neath, Stefan Ekberg and Tommy Allen, though the latter was missing from that Premier League match due to injury. 

Somerset’s only fitness doubt is the ongoing situation regarding Simon Walker who is still suffering the back and vertebrae injuries that have plagued him since the end of June. 
The Rebel captain is due to have an operation on his back tomorrow [Monday], but both he and the team will have to wait to see the outcome of this before it is known whether he can take his place in the Somerset line up. 
Bank Holiday Monday’s 2^nd leg with the Rockets forms the second half of a double header meeting at Rye House, first up at 2pm will be Stoke in a Premier League match, the match with Somerset taking to the track upon the conclusion of that meeting, with an advertised start time of 4pm.

Somerset Rebels –v- Rye House Rockets [Premier League KO Cup – Friday 22nd August]

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.73), 2) Simon Walker or rider replacement (6.69), 3) Emil Kramer (9.10), 4) Matthias Kröger (6.67), 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71), 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40), 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80).

Rye House Rockets [provisional]; 1) Stefan Ekberg (7.07); 2) Robert Mear (5.55); 3) Tai Woffinden (9.71); 4) Tommy Allen (6.81); 5) Chris Neath [c] (6.76); 6) Daniel Halsey [r] (3.41); 7) Luke Bowen [r] (4.38)

Somerset To Stage Speedway Test Match

Somerset speedway has been given honour to stage the 3^rd and final test match of a three match series between England and Australia at under 23 level.

The Series, all 3 Meetings of which will be run in the same week, will take the form of the standard 15 Heat 7 Rider Team format.

Venues and dates are as follows:

1st Test: Wolverhampton - Monday 8th September 2008

2nd Test: Swindon - Thursday 11th September 2008

3rd Test: Somerset - Friday 12th September 2008

A short list of Riders, likely to be used in the England U23 Squad, will include Lewis Bridger, Tai Woffinden, Josh Auty, Ben Barker, Edward Kennett, Daniel King, James Wright, Jason King, Joe Haines, Rob Mear and Somerset’s Jordan Frampton.

 "The intention, apart from winning, is to try and give some of the younger riders a bit more experience at this level as the Under 21's went out of the World Team Cup this season.” Said British Speedway’s Development Coach Dave Croucher, “It will give them something meaningful to race for as a Team and they will benefit from the guidance and help of 2 or 3 of the more experienced younger Riders who have recently moved into Elite League and have been former U21 Team Members."

"One hopes that this will help for the 2009 Season when we will be expecting to make the Final."

"The list of riders is not definitive and they are all being contacted about their availability as this Press Release goes out. We have Tai Woffinden as Captain again, as we did in the Under 21's, and the intention is to use Josh Auty, Joe Haines, Robert Mear and Jordan Frampton at 1 or 2 of the 3 meetings at reserve. Clearly, availability will dictate a certain amount of our plans and we will know more on this next week."

"I have spoken with Josh and Tai, who are both as keen as mustard, and I know Robert Mear will be thrilled as he missed out so narrowly on a place in the U21 Final after the qualifier at Plymouth was rained off after 14 Heats."

"We keep saying that there is a wealth of talent in the younger riders and I hope that this Test Series will help to demonstrate to Speedway Fans everywhere, that our beliefs are not unfounded, that there IS the talent out there and that we are working hard to encourage it to flourish.

None of these lads will be under any illusion that the opposition won't be tough as the Aussie list of eligible Riders is topped by Chris Holder, and includes Troy Batchelor, Cameron Woodward, Cory Gathercole and Somerset’s Jason Doyle amongst the 15 other names, all of whom would be tough opposition.

Who Boycie will be choosing, I don't know, but you can be certain he will want to win this as much as we do."

Turning to events closer to hand, Somerset face the Isle of Wight at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday [15^th] in what promises to be yet another entertain fixture.  Having been run close by Redcar last Friday, the Rebels will be looking to continue their unbeaten home run in the Premier League, and hope to welcome skipper Simon Walker back to the line up after his lengthy absence from the team due to a back injury.

Matthias Kröger is also expected to be fit for action after suffering a rib injury in a first heat fall against Redcar which saw him withdraw from the meeting after just three rides.

The Isle of Wight have always performed well on their visits to Somerset, and with two ex-Rebels in their line up, namely Paul Fry and Glen Phillips, alongside renown Oak Tree Arena specialists Jason Bunyan and Krzysztof Stojanowski, the Rebels know that they are in for another tough encounter.

Somerset Rebels –v- Isle of Wight Islanders [Premier League – Friday 15^th August]

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.73), 2) Simon Walker (6.69), 3) Emil Kramer [c] (9.10), 4) Matthias Kröger (6.67), 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71), 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40), 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80).

Isle of Wight Islanders; 1) Jason Bunyan [c] (7.14); 2) James Holder (5.40); 3) Glen Phillips (7.24); 4) Paul Fry (6.29); 5) Krzysztof Stojanowski (6.40); 6) Andrew Bargh [r] (3.42); 7) Richard Sweetman [r] (5.00)

Although the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels won through in a hard fought contest last night against Redcar to remain at the head of the Premier League table, the victory was marred by the news that their German star, Matthias Kröger suffered a rib injury as a legacy of a first heat fall and will miss Somerset’s Premier League match at Reading tomorrow [Sunday 10^th].

Despite initially riding on the complete two further rides, Kröger was forced to withdraw from last night’s match after his third ride, and was declared by the medics as being unfit for what should have been Somerset’s two away matches over this weekend.

Weather has intervened as far as tonight’s 1^st leg of the Rebels KO Cup match at Rye House is concerned, the Premier League match at Rye House originally scheduled for Bank Holiday Monday [25^th] will now become the 2^nd leg of this eagerly awaited tie, the 1^st leg being at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena the preceding Friday.  The league match at Rye House will now be re-arranged for September, although a date has yet to be confirmed.

Moving on to Somerset’s Premier League match at Reading on Sunday [10^th], the Rebels have moved quickly and secured the services of Birmingham’s Craig Watson to come into the side as a guest replacement for Kröger, Somerset already utilising the rider replacement facility for the injured Simon Walker. 

Reading Racers –v- Somerset Rebels [Premier League – Sunday 10^th August]

Reading Racers; 1) Mark Lemon [c] (7.56); 2) Tomas Suchanek (5.26); 3) Ulrich Ostergaard (10.02); 4) Chris Mills (5.47); 5) Tom P Madsen (6.49); 6) Nicki Glanz [r] (3.00); 7) Danny Warwick [r] (4.46)

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.73), 2) Rider replacement (6.69), 3) Emil Kramer [c] (9.10), 4) Craig Watson [g] (6.67), 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71), 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40), 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80).

GIANTS TO HOLD THEIR SENIOR CHAMPIONSHIP

As well operating the Somerset Rebels in the Premier League of British Speedway, the club also run a junior team known as the Somerset Giants the aim of which is to bring through young British talent, as .Joint Team Manager Ray Dickson explains;

“The Somerset Giants were evolved when Mike Golding took over the reigns at the Oak Tree Arena in 2007.  Prior to that, during the Pete Toogood era, they known as the Somerset Junior Rebels, so in fact they have been in existence for around 4 seasons and previous to that we had been running second halves for up and coming riders from when Somerset first evolved in 2000.”

“The main objectives are to find riders to progress as assets of the club and to hopefully to ride for the Rebels, you only have to look at the Rebels team in 2007, Simon Walker, Danny Warwick and Jordan Frampton all came through the Somerset second halves training, riding more at the Oak Tree than anywhere else.  There are some who say second halves are a waste of time, but where do we find young British riders to ride for the Rebels?  There are clubs around in the leagues who just seem to concentrate looking for foreign riders but here at Somerset we do keep coming up with riders, as the above proves, to do a job for the club.”
 
“During 2007 there was the Academy League which due to not having clearly defined rules was only helpful to a degree. Unfortunately in 2008 there is no official league but some clubs are making the effort to run second halves junior meetings in which the Somerset Giants take part, after all it is a show which costs supporters money to get in and we look at it as a professional business so put on 21 heats of racing rather than 15 so more heats for the supporters money.”
 
"The Giants have already raced a number of meetings this season, home and away at Poole, home against Reading home and away at Swindon, we have a squad of riders at around 16 riders who cannot ride every week but we do have some of the squad riding at Weymouth and Plymouth in the Conference League, so not everyone is available to us due to their commitments with these clubs.”
 
This coming Friday the  Giants stage their Senior Individual Championship after the Rebels Premier League match with Redcar and will include the top riders from the Giants squad.  Then, on Monday 11th August  the Giants are at Coventry in an Academy Challenge with the return meeting between the two sides at the Oak Tree Arena on the 15th August this following the Rebels match against the Isle of Wight.
 
Line Up for Somerset Giants Individual Championship (8^th August); 1) Jay Pickard, 2) Nicky Mallett, 3) Alex McLeod, 4) Andy Braithwaite, 5) Kyle Newman, 6) Brendan Johnson, 7) David Gough, 8) Matt Bates

Line up at Coventry (11^th August) 1. Kyle Newman 2. Jay Pickard 3. Andy Braithwaite 4. David Gough

Rebels Ready For Another Busy Weekend

Although disappointed to come back from their Northern Tour of Workington and Glasgow without adding to the Premier League tally, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels will be fully focused for the visit of the Redcar Bears to the Oak Tree Arena on Friday [8^th].

Redcar will, no doubt, be looking to avenge the heavy home defeat the Rebels inflicted upon them back in May, the Bears win at Newcastle on Sunday showing that they have the potential to give Somerset a stern test on Friday night.

The Bears boast a spearhead at the top of the team that can rank alongside the best in the Premier League, the 1992 World Champion, Gary Havelock, and Scot James Grieves.  Both bring a great deal of experience to the Redcar side that, this pair apart, is one of youth, but with bags of potential.

New to the UK speedway scene this year, Australian Ty Proctor is certainly making his mark, and has made rapid strides this year, so much so, that he finds himself third in the Redcar averages.  Proctor made an impressive showing at the recent Premier League Pairs Championship held at the Oak Tree Arena and could be a real threat come Friday’s meeting.

Returning to the Redcar side after breaking his leg early on in the season is American Chris Kerr, who is now in his third season with the Bears, making his debut with them back in 2006. Rounding out the top 5 is young British star Josh Auty, the 2004 and 2005 British under 15 Champion.

At reserve Redcar track another young Australian, Arlo Bugeja, who rode for the Bears at the tail-end of 2007 and bring in guest Jay Herne as replacement for the injured Daniel Giffard.

As far as the Rebels are concerned they are hopeful that Emil Kramer will have shaken off the knock he sustained at Glasgow over the weekend, when he appeared to aggravate the leg and hip injury from which forced him from the side recently.

The main concern, however, remains with Simon Walker who is still being troubled by the back and vertebra injury which followed his fall at Reading at the end of June.  Walker has a further appointment with the hospital later this week, and a final decision as to whether he will ride or not will not be made until possibly Friday itself.  Should he prove to be unfit to ride, then Somerset will continue with the rider replacement facility in his absence.

Somerset then travel to Hertfordshire on Saturday and for a date with Rye House in the first leg of their KO Cup semi-final against the Rockets.  Rye House suffered a heavy defeat on their visit to Somerset in the Premier League back in May, but will be a different proposition on their own, tight, Hoddesdon raceway. 

With the tie being decided over two legs, the second leg being at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday 22^nd August, Somerset will be keen to ensure that they keep the scores close come the end of Saturday’s meeting to give them the chance to reach the Cup Final for the third year in a row.

The weekend is then completed on Sunday with Somerset travelling to Reading for the fourth time this year, Sunday’s meeting being in the Premier League, and the Rebels will be looking to emulate their Premier League title rivals, Edinburgh, who recently came away from  Berkshire with an impressive away win under their belts.

Somerset will keep the same line up and riding order for the matches as shown below for Friday's home meeting with Redcar when they travel to Rye House and Reading on the Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels –v- Redcar ‘TLS’ Bears [Friday 8th August]

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.73), 2) Simon Walker/rider replacement (6.69), 3) Emil Kramer [c] (9.10), 4) Matthias Kröger (6.67), 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71), 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40), 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80).

Redcar Bears; 1) Gary Havelock [c] (9.21), 2) Josh Auty (4.52), 3) James Grieves (9.05), 4) Ty Proctor (7.21), 5) Chris Kerr (7.20), 6) Jay Herne [r] (3.00), 7) Arlo Bugeja [r] (3.22)

Double Blow For Rebels

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels have been hit by a double blow ahead of their busy weekend of Premier League action.

The first is the news that Rebels Captain, Simon Walker, has still not sufficiently recovered from his back injury and as a result will miss Somerset’s three matches this weekend, starting with the home match against Reading on Friday night.  With Emil Kramer making a return to the line up, Somerset only have the rider replacement facility available to them as cover for Walker’s absence, all the team members bar Jason Doyle and Emil Kramer being eligible to take Walker’s rides.  As Walker will be missing from Somerset’s away matches at Workington and Glasgow on Saturday and Sunday respectively, rider replacement is, once again, the only option available to the Rebels.

The second setback for the Rebels is that the club have been told by the BSPA that they are not entitled to a guest facility to cover for Stephan Katt at Glasgow on Sunday, when Katt will be contesting his European Grass Track semi-final in Germany.  Although the European Grass Track Championship is an official FIM event, the BSPA only allow a guest facility when a rider is absent for World or National Championship events, Katt’s meeting on Sunday, unfortunately, coming under neither of these headings.

With no facility open to the Rebels, their only option is to use a Conference League rider in place of Katt, Buxton’s Ben Taylor will, therefore, replace him at Glasgow, riding in the number 7 berth now that Katt has moved into one of the reserve berth’s following the application of the August rider average.  For Taylor it will be his second meeting in Somerset colours in as many days as he will be riding at number 2 for the Rebels at Workington on Saturday as replacement for Matthias Kroger who, as reported earlier, will be unavailable due to a previously arranged Continental commitment.

Somerset’s opponents at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday, the Reading Racers, have injury worries of their own, ex-Rebel Jamie Smith being ruled out of the meeting due to a shoulder injury sustained in their home win over Glasgow on Monday night.  News of Smith’s injury though was tempered by the fact that Danny Warwick has been declared fit to return to the Reading line up having made a full recovery from a shoulder injury of his own.

Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels –v- Reading Racers (revised line ups) Friday 1^st August

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.73), 2) Matthias Kröger (6.67), 3) Emil Kramer [c] (9.10), 4) Rider Replacement (6.69), 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71), 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40), 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80).

Reading Racers; 1) Mark Lemon [c] (7.56), 2) Tom P Madsen (6.49), 3) Ulrich Ostergaard (10.02), 4) Tomas Suchanek (5.26), 5) Chris Mills (5.47), 6) Nicki Glanz [r] (3.00), 7) Danny Warwick [r] (3.95)

Another Busy Weekend For Rebels

After a more than successful weekend of action and results for the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels which saw them move back to the top of the Premier League and finish third in the Premier League Four Team Championship, albeit with a depleted quartet, the side face another hectic weekend with three matches in as many days.

A quick look back at last weekend firstly though saw the Rebels start it off with a comfortable home victory over fellow title contenders King’s Lynn by 53 -40 which maintained their push at the top of the league table.

With only four riders available to represent the team at the Premier League Four Team Championship at Workington on Saturday, the Somerset quartet of Jason Doyle, Jordan Frampton, Stephan Katt and Brent Werner flew the Rebel flag high, finishing in third place overall just a point behind the top two, Workington and King’s Lynn, to maintain the club’s recent good showings in this particular competition.  In fact going into the last round of heats Somerset held a slender lead over the other sides, but were just unable to maintain their challenge for the title itself.

Sunday then saw the team move on to Stoke for an important away fixture against the Potters, and in a close tense meeting, in which there was never more than two points between the sides, the match swung the way of the Rebels in heat 13.

In the first attempt to run the heat, Jordan Frampton was somewhat harshly excluded after coming to grief on the third turn, Frampton protesting his innocence to referee Chris Durno, claiming that Stoke guest ran into him, thereby causing the Somerset number 5 to fall.

Things fared no better in the re-run as Stoke’s Andrew Moore hit the back of team-mate Fisher’s bike coming to grief in the process.  With Moore duly excluded, it left a match race between Somerset’s Doyle and Fisher for Stoke, and after 4 laps of pulsating action, it was Doyle that held on for the win.

Rebel fans thought that had secured the away win a heat later when Kröger and guest Craig Watson posted a 5-1 maximum heat win, but more drama was to unfold as Kröger was excluded after the conclusion of the race after it transpired that his exhaust had started to come adrift.

With Kröger’s exclusion it left the Rebels with a 2 point advantage going into the final heat, but number 1, Jason Doyle made no mistake in reeling off his 5^th consecutive win of the night to seal the match and a fourth away win for Somerset, a win that took them back to the top of the Premier League table.

The up coming weekend will see Somerset start off with a home match against Reading, this being the fourth occasion that the Racers will have visited the Oak Tree Arena this season.

The previous encounters have all been close affairs, but Somerset have been buoyed by the news that Emil Kramer has declared himself fit for the match following his recent lay off due to a back and leg ligament injury.

News is still awaited on whether or not Somerset captain Simon Walker has recovered from his injury to join Kramer back into the side, a decision will be made later this week.

Following Friday’s meeting against Reading the Rebels move northwards to face fellow title challengers Workington on Saturday with a trip to Glasgow the following day.

Unfortunately for Somerset fans, the team will be without German Matthias Kröger for the match at Workington as he has a continental commitment which had been agreed upon before he signed for Somerset back in May.  As his absence is not for an official FIM meeting, the only ‘facility’ open to the Rebels is the inclusion of a Conference League rider in Kröger’s place, and Buxton’s Ben Taylor will be his replacement.

Under the new August averages Kröger has moved back into the main body of the team, and so Taylor will don the number two race jacket against the Comets in his place.

Whilst Kröger will be back to take his place in the Somerset line up for Sunday’s match at Glasgow, his compatriot, Stephan Katt will be absent as he will be contesting the FIM European Grass Track Semi-Final in Germany that day.

In this particular case, as Kat will be missing due to an official FIM meeting Somerset can bring in a guest rider with an average equal to or lower than Katt’s August figure of 6.40.  As it transpires, as Kröger moves out of the reserve berth into the main body of the team, so Katt moves the other way, with the result that the guest replacement, who has yet to be confirmed, will line up alongside Brent Werner at reserve for Somerset.

As an added attraction in the 2^nd half of Somerset’s home match versus Reading there will be three ‘Blast From The Past’ races when the air will be filled with the sound of bikes from the 1950’s taking to the track again, no doubt stirring many a memory of a by-gone age of speedway.

The Somerset team for the three weekend matches being as follows;

Home v Reading 1/8/08

1) Jason Doyle (9.73); 2) Matthias Kröger (6.67); 3) Emil Kramer (9.10); 4) Simon Walker [or rider replacement] (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71); 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80)

Away v Workington 2/8/08 

1) Jason Doyle (9.73); 2) Ben Taylor [g] (6.67); 3) Emil Kramer (9.10); 4) Simon Walker [or rider replacement] (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71); 6) Stephan Katt [r] (6.40); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.80)

Away v Glasgow 3/8/08

1) Jason Doyle (9.73); 2) Matthias Kröger (6.67); 3) Emil Kramer (9.10); 4) Simon Walker [or rider replacement] (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.71); 6) Brent Werner [r] (5.80); 7) Guest TBC [r] (6.40)

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels can confirmed that Chris Neath (Rye House) will guest for the injured Simon Walker in their Premier League match at the Oak Tree Arena tomorrow night [Friday] against King’s Lynn, with Birmingham’s Craig Watson replacing Walker in the Rebels away match at Stoke on Sunday. 

Sheffield Match Re-arranged Somerset’s away match against Sheffield that was postponed last week due to rain has now been re-arranged for Thursday 11^th September. 

Somerset Giants Somerset’s Academy team, the Somerset Giants have a busy time ahead of them as they contest three meetings in as many days. First up the Giants are at Swindon tonight in an Academy challenge match against the Swindon Sprockets, the Giants stepping in at the last minute after Ipswich Juniors pulled out of their match against the Sprockets.  The Giants team for the match being; 1) Alex McLeod; 2) Nicky Mallett; 3) David Gough; 4) Tom Young. The Sprockets then provide the opposition for the Giants at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday in another Academy Challenge match which will take place after the Rebels match with King’s Lynn in the Premier League.  Interest is bound to be high for this meeting as the Sprockets include their two recent signings, the Australian brothers Ryan and Justin Sedgeman. 
Teams; Somerset – 1) Matt Bates; 2) Kyle Newman; 3) Brendan Johnson; 4) Andy Braithwaite: Swindon – 1) Charlie Saunders; 2) Justin Sedgeman; 3) Ryan Sedgeman; 4) Ben Reade 

Finally, the Giants will compete in the Kingswood Trophy Four Team Tournament at Weymouth on Saturday, representative teams from Exeter and Bristol as well as the home side Weymouth being the four teams competing for the Trophy.  The Giants team will comprise; 1) Kyle Newman; 2) Brendan Johnson; 3) David Gough; 4) Andy Braithwaite.

Walker joins Kramer in missing Somerset’s vital Premier League matches at home to King’s Lynn on Friday and away at Stoke on Sunday, as well as the Premier League Four Team Championship at Workington on Saturday. With Walker now also absent from the team, it will mean that the Rebels can continue to utilise the rider replacement facility to cover for Kramer, but will be able to use a guest rider as replacement in place for Walker, who is currently holds a riding average of 6.69 points per match.  Additionally, as a contingency, Jay Herne will be used as the number 8 rider against both King’s Lynn and Stoke, he being eligible to take any of Kramer’s rider replacement rides in case of need. As yet Somerset have yet to announce the guest(s) that will be used in place of Walker, but can confirm that his place at number four in the Rebels quartet for the Four Team Championship at Workington will now  be filled by Brent Werner.

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels have been rocked by the news that Emil Kramer will be missing from the team for at least the next 7 days due to the injury he sustained as a result of his fall in Somerset’s match at King’s Lynn last Wednesday.

Although the fall looked innocuous enough, Kramer aggravated a back injury which he suffered whilst riding in Poland last month, as well as his sciatic nerve.  The 28 year old Swede still took his place in last Friday’s Exmoor Chase at the Oak Tree Arena, but the pain was too much for him and he withdrew from the meeting after just one ride.

Kramer’s absence will mean that Somerset will utilise the rider replacement facility as cover for Friday’s [25^th] home Premier League match against King’s Lynn as well as their away match at Stoke next Sunday [27^th], each of the remaining six members of the team being eligible to take his rides.

Unfortunately for the Rebels, it will also mean that they will have to contest the Premier League Four Team Championship at Workington on Saturday [26^th] without Kramer in their quartet.  Stephan Katt will replace him in the team with Brent Werner moving into the reserve berth for Saturday’s meeting.

“Losing Emil is an obvious blow to the team,” said Somerset Promoter Mike Golding, “but we have been very strong at home this year and I would expect the rest of the team to be more than capable of covering for him in our home match against King’s Lynn on Friday and gain some measure of revenge for our defeat at the Norfolk Arena last Wednesday.”

“It will, however, make our task of recording our fourth away win in the league at Stoke on Sunday all the more difficult as Emil has always performed well in the past at Loomer Road.”  Golding continued, “But as they have shown already this year, this is a Somerset team that knows how to dig deep when the chips are down, and we will be going to Stoke with that away win still in our sights.”

“Emil’s absence will be felt most strongly at the Fours on Saturday night though.”  “I really thought that we would progress from our Group into the Final, and once there we would have had as good a chance as anyone else of lifting the title itself.”  “Without Emil in the quartet it does now makes our qualification through to the Final all the more difficult, but I am still confident that we will give a good account of ourselves and that we can make it through to the Final.”

Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels –v- King’s Lynn ‘Money Centre’ Stars – Friday 25^th July

Provisional Teams

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.59); 2) Stephan Katt (6.40); 3) Rider Replacement (Emil Kramer) (9.22); 4) Simon Walker [c] (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.78); 6) Matthias Kröger [r] (5.39); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.75)

King’s Lynn Stars; 1) Kevin Doolan (9.94); 2) Shaun Tacey (6.75); 3) Tomas Topinka (9.14); 4) Simon Lambert (5.24); 5) Rusty Harrison (6.25); 6) John Oliver [r] (4.48); 7) Kozza Smith [r] (4.31)

Following the Premier League match between Somerset and King’s Lynn, the Somerset Giants take on the Swindon Sprockets in a 4 rider, 6 heat Academy Challenge match.  The Somerset Giants lining up as follows; 1) Matt Bates, 2) Kyle Newman, 3) David Gough, 4) Andy Braithwaite.

Rebels Hit The Road

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels hit the road this week with two away matches in as many days and will be hoping to carry the form that saw them post a record home win over Workington on Friday into those matches.

Although the Rebels currently sit at the top of the Premier League table and have matches in hand on their rivals, victory at either King’s Lynn [Wednesday] or Sheffield [Thursday] would certainly put them in a strong position as they strive for the Premier League Championship title.

Somerset will go into both matches minus their skipper, Simon Walker, who is still suffering from rib and back injuries sustained as a result of a crash during Somerset’s KO Cup encounter at Reading at the end of last month.

“The loss of Simon is a blow to the team,” said Somerset team manager Steve Bishop, “but I am sure that the rest of the guys will rally round and we will be able to cope without him.”

In past years both King’s Lynn and Sheffield have established their home tracks as something of a ‘fortress’ as far as visiting teams are concerned, but they have both shown some degree of vulnerability this year, King’s Lynn losing their first match at the Norfolk Arena in nearly 100 meetings at the start of the season, and Sheffield losing at home to Workington, and being held to a home draw last week by Redcar.

“Despite losing at home to Birmingham early on in the season, King’s Lynn have shown since then that they are still a tough nut to crack on the home patch,” continued Bishop, “A win there would really give out title aspirations a big boost, especially with the news that Edinburgh picked up an away win at Reading last night, but believe me, it will not be easy I can assure you of that.”  “However, King’s Lynn have not ridden for a week or so due to postponements, so maybe we’re catching them at the right time as they could well be a bit race rusty.”

“Sheffield, however, have looked a bit more vulnerable at home recently and I would like to think that we can go there and nick a win.”  “Owlerton is not unlike the Oak Tree Arena in shape, just on a bigger scale, and so I think it could be well suited to us and the way the guys ride.”

Although there is no team action at the Oak Tree Arena next Friday [18^th], all bar the injured Walker should be taking part in the 2^nd attempt to run the Exmoor Chase Individual Trophy that night.

“The sponsors of the meeting had gone to a lot of time and trouble, not to say expense, in putting together the meeting, only to have it rained off when we originally tried to stage it,” said Somerset Promoter Mike Golding, “and it is only fair that we try to run the meeting again, especially given the free date we had in our fixture list for Friday.”  “We are hoping that as many of the original field will be able to ride in Friday’s re-staging.”

Confirmation of the full line up and riding order for Friday’s re-staging of the Exmoor Chase will be advised shortly.

In late news from the prestigious Marmande Longtrack meeting held South West France last night, Somerset’s  Matthias Kröger won through to the ‘A’ Final where he finished fourth, Stephan Katt finished the evening by winning the ‘C’ Final

Comets Next Up For Rebels At Oak Tree Arena

After making short work of the Sheffield Tigers last Friday to maintain their position at the top of the Premier League, this Friday [11^th] will see a real ‘top of the table’ clash with the Workington Comets providing the opposition.

The Comets currently lie in third place in the table, winning four away matches in the process, although these have been slightly offset by the fact that they have drawn two matches at their home Derwent Park track.

If anyone needs any reminding of how much of a test Friday’s meeting could be for the Rebels they need only to look back to just over a week ago when the Comet’s duo of Daniel Nermark and Kauko Nieminen lifted the Premier League Pairs’ Championship at the Oak Tree Arena, defeating the home pairing of Jason Doyle and Emil Kramer in the final itself.

Backing up Workington’s top two is one of the Premier League’s all time greats, Carl Stonehewer, the League’s all time top point’s scorer.  Although injuries may have blighted Stonehewer’s career in recent years, he is still a force to be reckoned with and has always shown a liking for riding at the Oak Tree Arena, posting many a big score over the years.

Outside of their top three, however, Workington show some degree of inexperience and this could well be their Achilles ’ heel come Friday’s encounter.  At the time of writing it is unsure whether their recent Finnish signing, Tomi Reima will be taking his place in the Comets line up as a family illness has forced him to return home to Finland.

The main body of the team is competed by another of the crop of young British riders currently bursting onto the UK speedway scene, namely the 2006 British under 15 Champion, Joe Haines.  After starting the season out at reserve, Haines has made rapid strides to force himself into the Comets top five.

The reserve berths are filled by John Branney and Charles Wright, both of whom are in their second full seasons of racing in the Premier League, Wright being the younger brother of last season’s Premier League Riders’ Champion, James Wright who is now riding for Swindon in the Elite League.

At the time of writing, Somerset still have a doubt over the fitness of their captain Simon Walker, the Bristolian being forced to miss last Friday’s win over Sheffield suffering from rib injuries following his fall at Reading last Sunday.

Should Walker be declared unfit to take his place in the Somerset line up, the Rebels will utilise the rider replacement facility, Jordan Frampton, Stephan Katt and the two reserves, Matthias Kröger and Brent Werner being eligible to take his rides

Provisional Line Ups

Somerset Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.52); 2) Stephan Katt (6.40); 3) Emil Kramer (9.22); 4) Simon Walker or rider replacement facility (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.78); 6) Matthias Kröger [r] (5.39); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.75); Team managers – Steve Bishop & Garry May

Workington Comets; 1) Daniel Nermark (10.09); 2) Tomi Reima (5.00); 3) Kauko Nieminen [c] (8.69); 4) Joe Haines (5.28); 5) Carl Stonehewer (7.62); 6) John Branney [r] (3.27); 7) Charles Wright [r] (3.70); Team manager – Ian Thomas

Rebels Qualify For Premier League Fours Team Championship

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels have qualified for the Premier League Four Team Championship which is to be held on Saturday 26^th July at Workington’s Derwent Park track.

Somerset have been drawn in Semi-Final Group A along with home favourites Workington, with Sheffield and Edinburgh completing the Group.  The other Semi-Final will be contested by King’s Lynn, Newcastle, Berwick and Reading, the top two in each Group will then contest the Grand Final itself.

Somerset have an excellent recent record in this competition, winning the Championship in 2005 and finishing runners up in each of the last two seasons. Should the Rebels be looking for lucky omens, then they need to look no further than their historic win in 2005 when the Championship was also held at Workington.

Full line up;

Group A (team and individual averages in brackets)

Somerset Rebels (32.28); 1] Jason Doyle (9.59); 2] Emil Kramer (9.22); 3] Jordan Frampton (6.78); 4] Simon Walker (6.69)

Workington Comets (31.68); 1] Daniel Nermark (10.09); 2] Kauko Nieminen (8.69); 3] Carl Stonehewer (7.62); 4] Joe Haines [5.28]

Sheffield Tigers (30.40); 1] Andre Compton (9.32); 2] Ricky Ashworth (7.64); 3] Ben Wilson (7.16); 4] Joel Parsons (6.28)

Edinburgh Monarchs (29.68); 1] William Lawson (8.57); 2] Andrew Tully (7.21); 3] Matthew Wethers (7.00); 4] Ryan Fisher [6.90)

Group B (team and individual averages in brackets)

King’s Lynn Stars (32.08); 1] Kevin Doolan (9.94); 2] Tomas Topinka (9.14); 3] Shaun Tacey (6.75); 4] Rusty Harrison (6.25)

Newcastle Diamonds (30.51); 1] George Stancl (8.74); 2] Josef Franc (8.00); 3] Jason King (6.98); 4] Christian Henry (6.79)

Berwick Bandits (30.02); 1] Adrian Rymel (9.39); 2] Michal Makovsky (7.75); 3] Norbert Magosi (7.07); 4] Tero Aarnio (5.81)

Reading Racers (29.54); 1] Ulrich Ostergaard (10.16); 2] Mark Lemon (7.52); 3] Tom P Madsen (6.69); 4] Chris Mills (5.17)

The ‘big’ weekend started with Somerset finishing as runners up in the prestigious Premier League Pairs Championship, the meeting being held on their home Oak Tree Arena circuit.  Just as pleasing as Jason Doyle and Emil Kramer’s second place finish for the Rebels was the standard of racing seen on the night, almost to a man those present saying it was the best ever speedway meeting they have attended.

Credit for that must go, in no small part, to the Somerset track staff, led by Ez Curtis who produced a fantastic racing strip despite the heavy rain that fell the night prior to the meeting and again during the lead up to the event itself.

Doyle and Kramer put in an excellent display to ease through their qualifying group to reach the semi-finals of the Championship where they faced the Reading duo of Ulrich Ostergaard and ex-Rebel Mark Lemon.

Whilst Ostergaard won the race with ease, with Kramer taking second place whoever finished third would propel their side through to the Grand Final.  Coming off the final bend side by side, it looked to everyone in the stadium that Lemon had just nicked it for the Racers, an audible gasp of disbelief greeted the news that referee Graham Flint had given the decision the way of Doyle for Somerset.

Unfortunately as far as the home fans were concerned, the Rebel duo had to give second best to Workington’s Nermark and Nieminen in the Final, although the Comets took top spot on the podium, the real winners were the fans who were treated to 24 heats of top quality racing.

Katt and Kröger in World Long Track Action

Whilst most of the speedway world’s attention on Saturday was focused on the British Speedway GP in Cardiff, Somerset’s Stephan Katt and Matthias Kröger were bidding for their own World titles in the form of the World Long Track Championship, the second round of being held at St Macaire in France.

With Katt finishing fourth and Kröger just a place behind in fifth, it leaves both of them well placed for the overall title itself, the Championship now being at its halfway stage.

Rebels Through to KO Cup Semi-Finals

Sunday then saw the Rebels battle through adversity with Emil Kramer jarring his back on the warm up lap, riding the meeting in considerable pain, and Simon Walker taken ill after his first ride, and a very dusty Reading track to book their place in the semi-finals of the KO Cup for the third year in a row.  Somerset went into the meeting 14 points to the good from their home leg of the tie, and although Reading did briefly take the lead in the tie two-thirds of the way through Sunday’s tie, the Rebels battled back to win overall by a seven point margin.

Jason Doyle had a superb meeting, scorching to a six ride paid maximum, this being even more impressive given that his win in heat 14 came after he started off a 15 metre handicap, coming into the race as a tactical substitute for Simon Walker.

Somerset will now face Rye House in the semi-finals, the first leg being at Hoddesdon on 9^th August, the Premier League match originally scheduled for this date being put back to Monday 25^th August with a 4pm start time.  As yet the date for the second leg of the semi-final tie has yet to be confirmed.

Fixture Amendment

Delete

18^th July – Open

9^th August – Rye House (a) (PL)

18^th August – Reading (a) (PL)

Insert

18^th July – Exmoor Chase Individual Championship

9^th August – Rye House (a) (KOC)

10^th August – Reading [a] (PL) 6pm

25^th August – Rye House [a] (PL) 4pm

Sheffield Next Up At OTA

The Rebels return to Premier League action this Friday [4^th] with the visit of the Sheffield Tigers to the Oak Tree Arena.  Although currently in the lower reaches of the Premier League, the Rebels will not be taking the Tigers visit lightly, Sheffield have always proved to be tough opposition and have, in fact, won on five of their seven previous visits to the Oak Tree Arena.

Sheffield have a formable spearhead in the shape of Andre Compton and Ricky Ashworth, the duo who finished 4^th in last Friday’s Pairs Championship at Somerset.

They are more than ably backed up by ex-British under 21 Champion, Ben Wilson and Joel Parsons, both of whom have shown a liking for riding at the Oak Tree Arena.

The July averages will see Lee Smethills moving up from reserve berth into the main body of the Sheffield team, Paul Cooper moving in the other direction to join new signing Kyle Hughes at reserve.

Although both Emil Kramer (bruised pelvis) and Simon Walker (sickness) are potential injury doubts for Friday, it is anticipated that both will make full recoveries and take their place in the Somerset line up.

Like Sheffield, the new averages will see a change to the Somerset riding order with captain Simon Walker replacing Matthias Kröger at number four, Kröger dropping to reserve and will ride in Walker’s previous position of number 6.

Teams:

Somerset Rebels [confirmed]; 1) Jason Doyle (9.59); 2) Stephan Katt (6.40); 3) Emil Kramer (9.22); 4) Simon Walker [c] (6.69); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.78); 6) Matthias Kröger [r] (5.39); 7) Brent Werner [r] (5.75);

Sheffield Tigers (provisional); 1) Ricky Ashworth (7.64); 2) Joel Parsons (6.28); 3) Andre Compton [c] (9.32); 4) Lee Smethills (5.38); 5) Ben Wilson (7.16); 6) Kyle Hughes [r] (3.00); 7) Paul Cooper [r] (5.35)

The Oak Tree Arena, home to the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels speedway team, will play host on Friday [27^th] to the Premier League Best Pairs Championship, one of the three major Championship meetings to be contested in the Premier League this year.

Friday will be the second occasion that the meeting has been held at the Oak Tree Arena, last year’s staging being widely acclaimed as one of the best speedway meetings seen in the UK last season.

Despite horrendous traffic problems in and around the Edithmead junction on the M5, some 3,500 speedway fans were treated to an exhilarating night of racing, and there will be high expectations amongst the this year’s crowd, anticipated to be in the region of 5,000, that it will be more of the same come Friday’s staging of the event.

The Championship brings together the top two riders from 10 of the Premier League teams, split into two groups of 5, the winners of the first group meeting the runners up in group 2 and vice versa, in the semi finals, the winners in each semi final going head to head in the Grand Final for the Championship itself, making it a total of 24 heats of top quality action for the fans to enjoy.

Such is the quality of the field that will be assembled at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday, that the experts are divided as to who might take top spot on the podium at the conclusion of the night’s racing.

The Somerset fans will, no doubt, be hoping that the Rebel duo of Jason Doyle and Emil Kramer will claim the title for the home side for the first time in their history, although the club did finish runners up in 2005 when Magnus Zetterström and Glenn Cunningham represented the club, and fourth the following year when Kramer partnered Zetterström.

Both Doyle and Kramer have been in top form this year, the pair of them increasing their season starting averages in forming a formidable spearhead for the Rebels, but as Doyle explains, all this counts for nothing as far as Friday’s meeting is concerned;

“Every time we go to the tapes on Friday it will be like contesting a last heat decider in heat 15 of a normal league match,” he explained, “and, as a result, every heat will be so intense as no team can afford a bad race.”

With the unique scoring system used for the Pairs event (4 for first, 3 for second, 2 for third, and 0 for last place), team riding is the order of the day with a 2^nd and 3^rd finish for a team scoring more points that if a rider won a heat with his partner finishing last. 

“Obviously I’m hoping that Somerset will end the meeting as the Champions,” said Somerset promoter Mike Golding, “but the fact we have been awarded the right to stage the meeting for a second year in a row is a great honour for Somerset as a club and a clear indication of the quality of racing we have here at the Oak Tree Arena.”

With such a large crowd anticipated for the meting, the turnstiles will open earlier than usual at 5pm, the riders undertaking autograph sessions for the fans in the build up to the start of the meeting itself which will be at 7.30pm.

Premier League Best Pairs Championship;

Group 1 (team and individual rider averages in brackets)

Reading (18.29) – Ulrich Ostergaard (10.73) & Mark Lemon (7.56); Rye House (12.94) – Chris Neath (6.42) & Tommy Allen (6.52); Sheffield (17.09) – Andre Compton (9.24) & Ricky Ashworth (7.85); Birmingham (17.94) – Jason Lyons (9.73) & Craig Watson (8.21); Edinburgh (15.65) – William Lawson (8.52) & Matt Wethers (7.13)

Group 2 (team and individual rider averages in brackets)

Workington (19.68) – Daniel Nermark (10.90) & Kauko Nieminen (8.78); Newcastle (15.67) – Josef Franc (8.37) & Christian Henry (7.30); Somerset (18.73) - Jason Doyle (9.63) & Emil Kramer (9.10); Redcar (15.16) – Gary Havelock (7.71) & Ty Proctor (7.45); Isle of Wight (14.20) – Glen Phillips (7.75) & Jason Bunyan (6.45)

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels take a break from Premier League racing at the Oak Tree Arena this Friday, but the action is still assured to be fast and furious as the first staging of the Exmoor Chase Individual Championship takes centre stage.

The idea for the meeting was dreamed up during the long, dark, winter nights that speedway fans have to endure, as Eric Davey of meeting sponsors The White Horse Inn in Exford explains;

“The meeting was conceived whilst the three of us, Peter Hendrie (the landlord of the White Horse Inn), John Kent (the village blacksmith) and myself sat in front of a log fire having a few beers at the White Horse which is situated beside the River Exe in Exford.”

“It was thought that a meeting that would give a chance for some of the younger, up and coming, riders a chance in the limelight and earn themselves a bit of money would be appreciated by the fans at the Oak Tree Arena, though obviously we wanted to include a good number of the 2008 Somerset team as well in the line up.”

“We hope that Friday’s first running of the Exmoor Chase will just be the start of something that will get bigger and even better with the passing seasons.”

The meeting will be run over the ‘traditional’ format that served the World Championship well for so many years, namely 16 riders battling it out over 20 heats, the top point’s scorer being crowned the inaugural Exmoor Chase Champion.

 Line Up (in rider order) 1) Tommy Allen (Rye House); 2) Jack Roberts (Birmingham); 3) Ben Barker (Stoke); 4) Jordan Frampton (Somerset); 5) Jason Doyle (Somerset); 6) Kozza Smith (King’s Lynn); 7) Jerran Hart (Newcastle); 8) Brent Werner (Somerset); 9) Joe Haines (Workington); 10) Simon Lambert (King’s Lynn); 11) Tai Woffinden (Rye House); 12) Shaun Harmatiuk (USA); 13) Linus Eklöf (Smederna); 14) Emil Kramer (Somerset); 15) Luke Bowen (Rye House); 16) Simon Walker (Somerset)

Premier League Pairs Championship Draw Made

The draw has been made for the Premier League Pairs Championship that is being held at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena track on Friday 27^th June, the night preceding the British Speedway Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

The draw is as follows;

Group 1 – Reading, Rye House, Sheffield, Birmingham, Edinburgh

Group 2 – Workington, Newcastle, Somerset, Redcar, Isle of Wight

Teams will ride against the other four pairing in their group with the top two from each group contesting the semi-finals, the winners of group 1 meeting the runners up in group 2 and vice versa.  The winners of each semi-final heats going forward to contest the Grand Final.

“The field looks a highly competitive one,” commented Somerset Promoter Mike Golding, “and any one of the ten teams that have qualified through to the Championship will be in with a good chance of lifting the title.”  “Obviously I would like to think that Somerset will emerge victorious, but looking at this line up it is difficult to pick and out and out favourite.”

“May I remind any fans and supporters that are thinking of making it a speedway weekend by taking in the GP at Cardiff the following night that Somerset are running coaches to the Millennium Stadium on the Saturday, details of this and where to stay in the Burnham-on-Sea location can be found on the club’s website at www.somerset-rebels.co.uk.”

Rebels Out To Tame The Tigers

The Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels maintained their position at the top of the Premier League courtesy of their 40 point home victory over Newcastle on Friday, but the pace is hotting up at the top and the Rebels will be looking to consolidate their position when the Glasgow Tigers come to the Oak Tree Arena on Friday [13^th].

Such is the vagaries of the Premier League fixture list that Friday’s match will Somerset’s last for 3 weeks as far as league action is concerned, and they will be hoping to sign off before their enforced break with another home victory.

Glasgow have not had the best of seasons so far this year, injuries playing a major part in the Tigers lowly league position, though the Rebels will be pushing this to the back of their mind as they look to secure another two Premier League points.

Ordinarily Glasgow would be led by the experienced Australian, Shane Parker, but an injury sustained earlier in the season will keep him from the Tigers line up and they will use a guest replacement in Parker’s absence.

In fact, Glasgow have something of an Australian look about them as they track two more Aussies in the top five, namely Trent Leverington and Robert Ksiezak, both of whom have scored well in the past at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena circuit, and two more at reserve, Mitchell Davey and Josh Grajczonek, though the latter, like compatriot Parker, is currently sidelined with injury. 

Whereas Davey and Grajczonek are new this year to British speedway, they do not come much more experienced in Premier League terms than Glasgow's Lee Dicken, who ranks second in the list of Premier League appearances since the league was formed in 1997. 

Finally, to round off the Glasgow septet is another newcomer to British speedway, Anders Andersen, who is yet to actually take to the track for the Tigers, his first attempt being thwarted by the rain.  The unfortunate Dane being ready at the tapes for his opening ride when rain forced the abandonment of Glasgow’s match against Sheffield!

Somerset go into Friday’s match in excellent form, being unbeaten in their last seven meetings, May 5^th being the last time the team tasted defeat, that loss at Scunthorpe being one of only two suffered so far this season by the Rebels in official matches.

Rebel team manager Steve Bishop has no injury worries ahead of Friday’s match and can announced an unchanged line up;

Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels; 1) Jason Doyle (9.63); 2) Stephan Katt (6.71); 3) Emil Kramer (9.10); 4) Matthias Kröger (5.39); 5) Jordan Frampton (6.13); 6) Simon Walker [c] [r] (4.80); 7) Brent Werner [r] (4.87)

Glasgow ‘Buildbase’ Tigers (Provisional); 1)Guest rider –tbc  (8.67); 2) Trent Leverington (6.00); 3) Anders Andersen (7.00); 4) Lee Dicken (4.29); 5) Robert Ksiezak (5.21); 6) Mitchell Davey [r] (3.00); 7) Josh Grajczonek/guest - tbc [r] (3.83)

Rebels Look To ‘Polish Off’ Diamonds

After being temporarily ‘dethroned’ at the top of the Premier League by Workington on Saturday night, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels reclaimed their position at the head of the table less than 24 hours later with a highly impressive victory at bottom of the table Mildenhall.

Somerset’s win, their third away win on the bounce, was vital as they have a lean month as far as league action is concerned in June, the meeting at Mildenhall being one of just 3 Premier League matches the side will contest this month.

Next up on the agenda for Somerset is Friday’s [6^th] visit to the Oak Tree Arena of Newcastle, a side that has already suffered at the hands of the Rebels, being comprehensively beaten in the first round of the KO Cup, and then surrendering a 12 point lead with just five heats remaining as Somerset snatched a one point victory in last month’s Premier League match at Brough Park.

Since then, Newcastle have made a couple a further change to their line up, bringing in ex-Newport reserve Jerran Hart to replace the out of form Jamie Robertson, and will be hoping that George Stancl will be back in their line up after 2 months out with a shoulder injury.

Stancl’s absence has been a major factor in the Tynesider’s poor start to the season, the rider replacement facility the Diamonds utilised as cover for him failing to match the scores one would normally expect of the Czech.

Newcastle can boast a top three that, on their day, are a match for any in the league, namely Josef Franc, Christian Henry as well as Stancl, Franc and Henry being the combination that teamed up this time last year to give the Diamonds 3^rd place in the Premier League Pairs Championship held at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena.

Backing up the trio are ex-Rebel Jason King and the experienced Richard Juul, the Dane making a somewhat surprising return the Newcastle colours in place of Ben Powell.

At reserve the Diamonds track two young up and coming riders, Sean Stoddart, a finalist in the recent British under 21 Championship, and the aforementioned Jerran Hart.

“A win on Friday against Newcastle is vital in order that we can put further pressure on those clubs vying with ourselves at the top of the table,” said Somerset promoter Mike Golding, “especially given that we have so few matches this month.” 

Somerset have no injury worries following their table topping win at Mildenhall yesterday and will track an unchanged line up for Friday’s match.