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RAIDERS ON THE STORM
Saturday August 20, 2016
Faultless five ride maximums from both Rob Branford and Ben Morley fuelled a spectacular BMR Raiders comeback, as their side responded to a mid-match eight point deficit to secure their second win of the season by a 49-41 score-line against Coventry.
The start of the meeting was delayed by some thirty minutes because of several riders caught up in major traffic problems on the M25, and once underway it looked as though it would be the Raiders who would be marooned as they trailed 28-20 at Heat 8.
Then the comeback started. Luke Priest’s victory in Heat 9 was countered by a fall at the back by Sam Woods, but the Raiders secured their first heat advantage of the day in the next heat as Branford took the chequered flag and Matt Saul took advantage of Storm guest Jack Parkinson-Blackburn’s engine failure when holding second place to force a 4-2.
Another home 4-2 followed in Heat 12, as Priest and Macauley Leek finished either side of Jamie Halder, and then Branford and Morley levelled the score at 39-39 with a 5-1 over Ellis Perks and Mitchell Davey in the next bracket.
A second stoppage failure for Parkinson-Blackburn, this time due to a puncture and while leading the penultimate race with just half a lap to go, handed Woods and Connor Locke the 5-1 that handed the advantage to Rye with only the nominated race to follow.
Branford and Morley duly made sure of the Raiders’ overall victory as their team closed out with their third straight maximum to also deny the Storm even a consolation match point.
Rye House Team Manager Peter Schroeck was positively beaming afterwards. “To come from eight points down to win by eight points; I’m really pleased for the guys, especially on the back of what we also achieved on Sunday. Coventry are a pretty strong side too, and although they had a little bit of bad luck, so have we in the past.
“We always seem to go into matches as the underdog, and it’s nice to see the young kids bringing something to the party as well today – and what a difference that makes. It wasn’t just Branny (Rob Branford), Ben (Morley) and Luke (Priest).
“At this level every single point is important, and I can’t pick one of them out, really. They all did well.â€
It would have been easy for the Raiders’ heads to fall when they dropped behind 28-20, but they kept their morale and kept fighting. Says Schroeck of that attitude: “We kept it going in the pits, to make them believe in themselves. Eight points is nothing in Speedway. If you are eighteen or twenty points behind, THEN you have problems and it is very hard to keep them going, but with eight I knew we had a shout, and I knew what comes in Heats 13 and 15 normally through Rob (Branford) and Ben (Morley). I thought that if we could fight our way back, and pick up one or two points here and there to get into the right position by the end of Heat 12 we could still get the job done.â€
George Hunter had a post-meeting spin, confirming that his track return is imminent. Updates Schroeck: “We’ll have to have a look at the rules and see how we can best squeeze him back in. He IS an asset to the Team, and we don’t want to waste any more time than we already have.â€
BMR Raiders:
Rob Branford 14+1 (5 rides, max), Ben Morley 14+1 (5 rides, max), Luke Priest 8 (4), Sam Woods 6+1 (4), Matt Saul 3, Connor Locke 2+1 (4), Macauley Leek 2 (4)
Coventry:
Jamie Halder 11+1 (6 rides), Ellis Perks (guest) 9 (5), Callum Walker 5+3 (5), Conor Dwyer 5+2 (4), Mitchell Davey 5+1 (4), Jack Parkinson Blackburn (guest) 5 (5), Ryan Terry-Daley 1 (1)
Footnote: the Storm’s Ryan Terry-Daley was forced to withdraw after just one ride with the after-effects of a back injury suffered in a fall in an earlier meeting at Birmingham.
Match points: Rye House 3 Coventry 0
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