Somerset
Preview
Posted 11/05/05
Somerset are the hosts of Glasgow's first
away league meeting of the season as the Tigers make the long journey
down to Highbridge.
Somerset have already ridden two
league meetings - one home and one away - and lost both and like Glasgow
have not had a very successful PT campaign. There has been a fair
amount of criticism leveled at the Rebels team by their fans with
machine maintenance being mentioned as much as individual performance.
Last Friday, apparently on a slick
track with little grip, the Rebels lost at home to Workington after
being 8 points up by the end of heat 3. They seemed strong in the
early heats with Workington failing to record a victory until heat
9 but collapsed in the second half of the meeting. They will no doubt
be keen to make amends this Friday but equally Glasgow will be looking
to win a few heats before heat 9!
The Rebels have a very strong no
1 in Magnus Zetterstrom who elected to step down to the PL this season.
He has been very consistant and posted mostly double figure scores
round the Oak Tree Arena. Glenn Cunningham knows Somerset well, having
ridden there since 2002, but has just been failing to make the mark
so far this season by a point or two. He did however record the fastest
time round the track so far this season in heat 4 last week.
Paul Fry however has been very much
on form at home and will be an important man for the Rebels especially
given Glasgow's weak middle order. Machine problems do seem to have
got in his way a little of late however. It will not be known until
Friday if Jamie Smith will be in the Somerset line up, it may well
be r/r. He suffered cracked ribs at the end of April.
Ritchie Hawkins has recently been
given a shared elite reserve berth by Peterborough despite being inconsistent.
He withdrew from Somerset's last meeting with a back injury but is
expected to ride. On the whole Jason King has been impressive at home
at reserve and has doubled his home average. However Lee Smart, in
his first full season, has struggled.
Somerset fans feel this is a banker
for a home win whilst Glasgow will be targeting it as a potential
away victory. On current form George and Shane should both worry the
Rebels although if the track is slick this will not suit Shane as
much. Trent went well at Somerset last year with Stoke whilst Glasgow
debutante Claus Kristensen is said to like the track and posted reasonable
scores there last year. Both Matthew and Jamie will want to forget
their past appearances however. Matthew has been gating better and
should have a better time of it this season but Jamie may struggle,
especially again if it is slick. It will be James Cockle's first visit
to the track but it is the type of track that should suit him.
Providing the track is prepared to
last years normal high standard, this could be a very entertaining
meeting.
Admission Details: -
| Adults |
£10 |
| Concessions |
£7 |
| Under 16's |
£3 |
| Under 5's |
Free |
| Programme |
£1.50 |
