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BRANFORD AND PRIEST TAKE BATTLE TO WARRIORS
Thursday August 18, 2016
Just four days after winning the National League Fours Championship, the BMR Raiders came down to earth with a bump at the Isle of Wight, going down to the heaviest defeat of the season – 61-29 – in Ryde against the Warriors.
Rob Branford bagged 11 of the Raiders’ points, dropping just one point in four completed races and taking a fall in his other. Captain Luke Priest was also in the wars courtesy of a heavy post-race tumble after he had won Heat 12 to take his own tally to 9, but the rest of the Team struggled to make an impression on the 385 metre (421 yards) circuit.
Rye House Team Manager Peter Schroeck admitted afterwards that “We were really caught out by the track. I don’t want to use it as an excuse, but it was certainly a factor for us.
“Branny (Rob Branford) had a good meeting, apart from the one race where he went through a hole into the boards. Luke (Priest) gave a good display as well until his own fall, and we pulled him out of his last ride, but the rest of the boys really did struggle to get around in fairness.â€
BMR Raiders:
Rob Branford 11, Luke Priest 9, Ben Morley 6, Macauley Leek 2, Sam Woods 1, Connor Locke 0, Matt Saul R/R
Isle of Wight:
Mark Baseby 12+1, James Cockle 12, Lee Smart 10, Nathan Stoneman 8+3, Chris Widman 7+2, Layne Cupitt 7+1, Kelsey Dugard 5+2
Match Points: Isle of Wight 3 Rye House 0
The Raiders will be hoping for a reversal in fortunes when they return to home shale for a unique Saturday afternoon meeting against Coventry in the Travel Plus National League. The fixture starts at 2pm to accommodate the visiting club’s subsequent involvement in a second fixture later that day.
The National League Fours trophy will be paraded at the start of the meeting, with supporters being offered a photo opportunity with the silverware and riders after the match. Additionally, an extended programme is being produced which will feature a double page picture spread commemorating Sunday’s championship success, while still priced at its regular £1.
The visiting Storm, for their part, will arrive fresh from a 47-43 away success at King’s Lynn, and will have Ellis Perks in place as guest cover for broken collarbone victim Dan Greenwood, with Jack Parkinson-Blackburn in as a second substitute, this time for Liam Carr, who has a Premier League commitment.
Schroeck is looking forward to Saturday. “It’s another day, and we’ll start from scratch again. It’s as simple as that. We’ll re-group beforehand so that we’re ready for this next battle.
“We’ll also have the celebration and emotion of parading the Fours trophy on home shale, and hopefully the fans will be a part of that emotion and really get behind us for the match that follows.â€
BMR Raiders:
Rob Branford, Macauley Leek, Connor Locke, Ben Morley, Luke Priest (captain), Matt Saul, Sam Woods
Coventry:
Mitchell Davey, Conor Dwyer, Jamie Halder, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (guest), Ellis Perks (guest), Ryan Terry-Daley, Callum Walker
Ahead of Saturday’s match, the BMR Rockets are in Premier League action tomorrow night (Friday) when they venture down to Devon to tackle the Plymouth Devils.
The Rockets proved 51-41 victors in their League Cup visit to the St Boniface Arena in April, but will have to contend this time around without both Edward Kennett and Cameron Heeps. No.1 Kennett faces an Elite League commitment, while Heeps will be absent due to his participation as a reserve in the following afternoon’s U-21 World Cup Final in Sweden, in which Australia face the host nation, Poland and Denmark.
Ryan Douglas, who won the individual meeting at last month’s Fours Weekend, will guest for Kennett, while the Rockets will operate Rider-Replacement for Heeps.
The Devils, meanwhile, have named Ben Barker as a guest for their own absent No.1 Jack Holder (also in Sweden), with Rider-Replacement in place for the Elite League required Stefan Nielsen.
Says Schroeck of the fixture, “We’ll be taking a different looking line-up to Plymouth than the one in April, but the aim will be the same. Yes, Eddie (Kennett) had a big score there in the League Cup, but Ryan (Douglas) is really breaking through now in the sport. We’ve got Rob (Branford) in the team now as well, which we didn’t in April, and he will also help to balance out any absences.â€
BMR Rockets:
Ryan Douglas (guest), Cameron Heeps R/R, Kasper Lykke, Leigh Lanham, Stuart Robson. Reserves: Ben Morley, Rob Branford
Plymouth:
Ben Barker (guest), Stefan Nielsen R/R, Steve Boxall, Todd Kurtz, Kyle Newman. Reserves: Sam Simota, Ellis Perks
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