Elite League: Leicester 79 – Sheffield 98

One thing is for certain, if Sheffield can field their full strength team for the remainder of the season they are going to be a serious bet for the title. Leicester on the other hand could not field their best eight today and paid the price with a heavy defeat. The match was reasonably tight until heat seven, the superb Radek Handke outgated Nowacki and the world champion fell whilst attempting a pass, the resulting maximum to the Stars leaving them eight points to the good. The Monarchs did show more fight after the interval but no one could stop maximum man Handke. The flying Pole had good back up throughout, particularly from the Birks/Hoyland, Angell/Smith pairings. The home side could only manage four heat advantages all afternoon, Nowacki took two wins and reserve Hemsley only dropped one point from the reserve berth but otherwise there wasn’t a great deal of positives for the home supporters to shout about.

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Leicester 79 (Lukas Nowacki 14+2, Kev Burns 11, Phil Howells 11, Jason Ashford 11, Adam Peck 11, David Hemsley 10+1, Dan Pike 8, Nick Whitehead 3)

Sheffield 98 (Radek Handke 18+2, Matt Smith 18, Jono Birks 16, Ryan Hoyland 13+1, Andy Angell 13+3, Pawel Idziorek 11, Aiden Owen 5, Dan Chambers 5)

The combination match went Leicester’s way but the Stars battled hard. Mick Skinner notched an untroubled maximum and Carl Jarvis took three rides on his way back to recovery but it was Liam Davies who impressed with his mature riding. Hats off to Vicky Brown who came out for the nominated heat with three last places against her name. Maiking a mockery of this she made a superb start and withstood all the pressure to take the win by half a wheel.

Leicester 73 (Mick Skinner 16, Ash Doughty 13, Carl Jarvis 10+1, Norm Venson 10+3, Liam Davies 10, Joe Kemp 8+1, Colin Pole 4, Jenna Whitehead 2)

Sheffield 57 (Aiden Owen 11, Zach Smurthwaite 10+1, Liam Webster 9, Richard Hudson 8+1, Vicky Brown 7, Lewis German 7, Adam Watson 5)

Sheffield v Leicester

Sheffield v Leicester
Location: Bochum Parkway, Sheffield
Event: 21 August 2011

With both teams missing vital members of their squads and the outcome of the result going along way to deciding the final outcome of the 2011 Premier League, both sides needed to maximise every opportunity.

Leicester started well with a 7-3 from Nowacki and Peck however Sheffield hit back with a well taken 6-4 courtesy of Angell and Hoyland to keep the scores close in the opening exchanges. Leicester began to forge ahead and a couple of exclusions to the home side’s Nathan Groves didn’t help the Sheffield team. Radek Handke started well for the Stars and was well pleased with his efforts in lowering the colours of World Champion Lukas Nowacki. However Leicester were packing the minor places and piling up the points proving what strength in depth they have, Sheffield were lacking that and beginning to struggle.

By the interval the Monarchs had built up an eight point advantage and Sheffield needed to quickly get back into the match if they were going to cause a serious threat, unfortunately two shared heats and a one point advantage from the first three races after the break were never going to be enough. Sheffield just didn’t capitalise on their opportunities, two examples being exclusions to the visitors only yielding two extra points.

Leicester carried on their merry way and by heat 14 the result was never really in doubt, having said that there was plenty of very good racing to keep the good sized crowd entertained, a nasty fall by Sheffield’s Mark Winwood, saw him have to withdraw from the meeting with a suspected broken wrist. A consolation 7-2 to the Stars in the final heat after Nowacki was excluded kept the scoreline close.

Plenty of effort from all concerned but Leicester had that edge today, a well deserved win keeps the Monarchs in the title race with Sheffield still hoping for a top three finish.

Result

Sheffield 83: Radek Handke 17+1, Andy Angell 17, Ryan Hoyland 14, Jamie Brown 12, Lee Grange 11+1, Nathan Groves 4+1, Chris Turner 4, Mark Winwood 4.

Leicester 90: Phil Howells 15+1, Lukas Nowacki 15, Marcus Wadhams 14, Adam Peck 13+2, Craig Marchant 11, Adam Stephenson 10, Jason Ashford 6+2, Kevin Burns 6+1.

Combination League Result

Sheffield 55: Kyle Holland 11, Aiden Owen 10+1, Sandra Tomborska 10, Vicki Brown 8+1, Lewis German 8+1, Laura Watson 6, Liam Webster 2.

Leicester 72: Matt Hartshorn 13+3, Lucy Whitehead 13, Nicky Whitehead 12+3, Lauren Davis 12, Michelle Whitehead 12, Joe kemp 9+2, Charlie Cooper 1.