Location: Sheffield Cycle Speedway, Bochum Parkway, Sheffield
Event: 17 June 2012
Bochum Parkway hosted a hard fought encounter with plenty of exciting racing and thrills and spills to keep the crowd entertained.
Wednesfield started with a 6-4 which was a lead they never surrendered despite the best efforts of the home team. Sheffield managed to keep the scores close with Ryan Hoyland and Matt Smith piling up the points, however the Aces were that one step ahead all the time.
A superb heat 6 saw Wednesfield’s Chris Jewkes ride a great race to keep the hard chasing Andy Angell at bay which saw the British Champion with only two points from his first two rides. However you can’t keep a good champion down and Andy knocked in three straight wins after that. The interval arrived with Sheffield trailing by eight points and little changed until an explosive heat 13 saw two big crashes with first Andy Angell biting the dust then Scott Doughty and Matt Smith coming to grief, with Doughty alleged to be the cause of the stoppage. In the rerun the Stars hammered in a 7-2 with a robust pass by Angell on Wheeler.
With only five points separating the teams we looked set for a grandstand finish however a hard first corner in the next heat saw Aiden Owen come down heavily which resulted in a lengthy delay while he received treatment and eventually was removed to hospital by ambulance.
Lee Smith took a reserve ride which he promptly won but Sheffield could only share the heat. With Wednesfield taking a 6-4 in the next race, the match slipped away from the home team when they could only manage another 5-5. A consolation 7-3 to Sheffield in the final heat rounded off the proceedings.
Although defeated Sheffield can take plenty of positives from the meeting with Ryan Hoyland and Matt Smith in tremendous form, Wednesfield put in a workman like performance and scored solidly from one to eight.
Latest reports indicate Aiden Owen has sustained ligament and tendon damage and could be sidelined for some time.
Result
Sheffield 86: Ryan Hoyland 18+1, Matt Smith 18+1, Andy Angell 14, Chris Turner 11, Lee Smith 10, Jamie Brown 8, Aiden Owen 4, Kyle Holland 3.
Wednesfield 93: Lee Aris 18+1, Ben Mould 16, Chris Jewkes 11+4, Mark Griffiths 10+2, Scott Doughty 10+1, Ricki Johnson 10+1, Luke Draisey 10, Gavin Wheeler 8+1.
Wednesfield Aces play host to Birmingham in a home meeting on July 1st in the British Team Cup. This meeting follows the televised Elite League match on Saturday 30th June.