Draw Makes KO Cup Progression Unlikely
Posted 10/09/06

In a meeting that saw no fewer than 12 shared heats, King's Lynn held Glasgow to a draw at Ashfield this afternoon - or should that be Glasgow held King's Lynn? Either way, it now looks almost impossible for the Tigers to reach the Knock Out Cup final with Champions Elect King's Lynn now also hot favourites for the Knock Out Cup.

Things started well for the Tigers with Danny Bird, back from suspension, gating in the opening heat and pulling clear. David McAllan had missed the gate but passed inside Troy Batchelor on the third bend of the opening lap and was unlucky not to repeat the maneouvre on Kevin Doolan one lap later, Doolan just shutting him out. Unfortunately, whilst still challenging, David's bike threw a chain at the end of lap 3, gifting King's Lynn a 3-3 and leaving David feeling very sore in a delicate area!

The first running of heat two saw Chris Mills take a horrendous knock, heading straight into the first bend fence when his throttle jammed open. He was down for a considerable time and everyone was relieved when a groggy Mills was finally allowed to get to his feet and walk unsteadily back to the pits. The re-run saw both Glasgow reserves outgate John Oliver but Oliver cut inside Cockle on the second bend, the only pass in what finished a well spread out heat.

Heat three was from the gate with Kauko Nieminen taking the win, Lee Dicken challenging Harding at the back but despite a final bend drive failing to catch him. Referee Ackroyd then made a strange decision in heat four after the race had to be stopped when James Cockle fell on the final bend of the third lap. The race itself had been a good one up front between Parker and Topinka, Shane having completely missed the gate. It took a lap for Shane to catch Topinka and then both riders treated us to some good close racing, Shane getting the upper hand coming inside Tomas on the opening bend of lap three, Topinka immediately cutting back to go inside Parker the next bend, the two riding side by side until Parker got the benefit of the drive on the outside line coming off bend four and pulling into what looked an unassailable lead. However with Cockle's fall at the end of the third lap, the red lights came on as Parker came into the third bend of the final lap and rather than award the race as expected, the referee ordered a re-run. After such good racing in the first running, the re-run was a bit of an anti climax with Parker beating Topinka from the gate.

Kevin Doolan and Troy Batchelor recorded what was to be the only 5-1 of the meeting when they beat Kauko Nieminen and Lee Dicken from the gate in heat 5. Danny Bird got Glasgow back on track in heat 6 with a win from the gate but he was made to work very hard for it by Topinka who pushed him all the way.

Daniel Nermark came a cropper at the start of heat 7, hitting the fence in what was decreed first bend bunching although from some angles it looked as if he received a helping nudge from Robert Ksiezak. Shane won the re-run from the gate but Robert unusually missed the start and was rooted at the back.

Robert came back out to make amends in heat 8 in place of an obviously struggling David McAllan. He won the heat from the gate but was pressed all the way by Troy Batchelor and rode a very intelligent race to hold him off, Batchelor trying everything he could to get through. Tom Topinka then won heat 9 comfortably from the gate with Lee Dicken getting the better of the busy John Oliver at the back. Bird similarly won heat 10 by a considerable distance and with Nermark rearing badly at the start, David McAllan was able to take full advantage and claim third spot to bring the Tigers back level before Shane Parker took the win from the gate in heat 11 with Ksiezak at the back.

Remarkably, Chris Mills came to the tapes in heat 12, his first appearance since his horrendous crash in heat 2. His partner Trevor Harding was to win from the gate with the suspicion of a rolling start. The referee felt otherwise however and Harding won by an impressive margin from Robert Ksiezak and Lee Dicken with the brave Chris Mills off the pace at the back. He was subsequently withdrawn from the meeting.

Teams coming to Ashfield know that it will usually take something special to get a result in heat 13 and Topinka certainly produced that something special when he swept round the outside of Danny Bird on the opening bends of the race and then pulled clear. For a while it looked as if Kings Lynn may even record a heat advantage when Doolan passed Parker for third place on the third bend of the opening lap. The two had a good tussle at the back with Shane finally getting the upper hand after passing Doolan on the third lap to ensure the heat was shared.

Daniel Nermark made a superb gate in heat 14 and although Ksiezak challenged for three laps, Nermark was able to pull clear to ensure the heat win although once again the heat was shared with Nieminen following Ksiezak home and we were set up for a last heat decider.

Glasgow got the advantage of the inside gates for this one after winning the toss. Shane was obviously smarting from the heat 13 defeat and made sure that it was not repeated when he made a good gate and led from start to finish with Doolan giving chase but unable to catch him. Danny, however, despite gating second was quickly overtaken by both Doolan and Topinka and although he challenged for the opening couple of laps, he finished the race tailed off at the back and the meeting was drawn.

The meeting lacked the excitement of the last encounter for some reason but still produced some good racing and once more the class of the King's Lynn side showed. With Glasgow winning ten of the heats but still only managing a draw it was clear that King's Lynn's strength in depth was a telling factor on the day. For Glasgow, Shane and Robert once more excelled, Danny started well though he tailed off towards the end of the meeting. Kauko did not ride particularly well but still scored important points. James Cockle once more struggled and came out at the end of the meeting for a few laps.

Glasgow now have a mountain to climb if they are to have any chance of reaching the Knock Out Cup final and in reality it would be a major shock if they were to do so especially given King's Lynn's current form. Full credit to King's Lynn for making it so hard for the Tigers today and once again showing why they are top of the league.