Comets
Come Calling
Posted 25/03/05
The first bonus point of the season is up
for grabs as the Workington Comets visit Ashfield this Sunday defending
a slender 4 point lead.
Its difficult to tell how things will pan out, especially
as at the time of writing Workington have still to ride their first
away meeting of the season, but the Comets do have the look of a team
built for home advantage in the way Sheffield and Exeter have been
in recent years.
There is no doubting the threat of Carl Stonehewer
at Ashfield - he loves the track and has an excellent record here
but will his team mates be up to the challenge of providing the back
up?
Kauko Nieminen's last visit to Ashfield was a disaster
for him as was Shaun Tacey's so Stonehewer may well find himself having
to rely on Scott Robson for back up at the top end of the team. Robson
and Nieminen will be high on confidence after scoring well in their
meetings to date. Kevin Little knows the track well but is another
of these riders who can blow hot and cold. He has also had one or
two engine problems already this season. Tony Dart will continue at
number 6 and he has won over some Workington fans already with his
determination. Whether he will be able to continue that on the smaller
Ashfield track remains to be seen and he does appear to have a problem
adjusting to unfamiliar tracks. There is little doubt that James Wright
will once again be an important rider for Workington as he is a rider
of almost heat leader standard riding at reserve and Workington will
expect him to score more than the 4+2 he collected on his last visit.
Shane and George will need to be at their best,
as they have been so far this season, being up against Ashfield expert
Stonehewer. Matt Wethers needs to put last week behind him and be
confident of his chances of beating Little. Again the 3 and 4 positions
are worrying for Glasgow. Birkinshaw is still struggling to find the
right line round Ashfield and this is proving costly. As a result,
a lot of additional pressure is being put on Bentley and that isn't
helping Banger although he will be determined to make up for last
weeks poor pay day. There is still no word as to who will take the
number 6 race jacket for Tigers although the assumption is it will
be either Beaton or Cockle, depending on confirmation of the meetings
counting towards Cockle's ban. Glasgow are undoubtedly weakened by
having Beaton at number 6 and although there is unlikely to be any
difference in the result of any races against Wright, it is less likely
that Gary will take points from Tony Dart. In addition, should Glasgow
get the nod to have Cockle return it would probably benefit Trent.
Trent looks to have been trying too hard in the first two meetings
resulting in him making uncharacteristic errors. It is still very
much a 'wait and see' situation.
The meeting itself promises to be a classic with
two well balanced teams and the prospect of three of the league's
top racers coming together in heat 13. Whilst normally a home team
looking to make up a 4 point deficit from the away meeting would be
confident, this meeting looks as if it could go right to the wire.
