Joonas drama as Hammers grab point

Belle Vue 49 Lakeside 44

THE Hammers collected at least a point after a last-heat maximum in Manchester on Monday night.

On a dry night, Lee Richardson and Adam Shields were the Essex team's heroes as they sped to victory in heat 15, to secure a point from the meeting.

Indeed the Hammers started well winning the opening heat 5-1, having won the toss and chosen the favourable gates 1 & 3.

Heat 2 seemed to be heading for a share of the points after Patrick Hougaard had inexplicably slowed down going into the first bend. Unfortunately the Hammers pairing seemed unaware of this a continued racing at full speed behind race leader Morten Risager. Stuart Robson then took a tumble on the 1st bend of the 3rd lap and despite getting back on his bike quickly Hougaard had got past to give the home side a lucky 4-2.

Adam sped from the gate in the next heat with Davidsson keeping the Aces guest, wonderkid Darcy Ward at the back resulting in the Hammers extending their lead to 4 points. The next 2 heats were shared with Robbo getting the win in ht 4 to give gate 1 all four heat wins.

There was controversy in heat 5 following Joonas Kylmakorpi moving at the start. The Hammers pair led into the 1st bend but the referee brought it back and it was immediately announced that it was an unsatisfactory start with all 4 riders back.

A new 2 minutes went on and it was then noticed that Kylmakorpi's yellow exclusion light was on.

It was decided to put in Robbo as a replacement as starting back from 15 metres at this stage of the match as passing was extremely difficult on the patchy track. Unfortunately Robbo couldn't didn't make the best of starts and with Lee getting the win the heat was shared.

The home side then seemed to take control of the match with 3 5-1's on the trot. Kauko had bike problems in ht 7 and Adam hit a hole on the 4th bend and fell in ht 7 whilst there was further controversy in ht 8 when it appeared that the Hammers pair of JK and Robbo had got to the 1st bend in front only to see the red light come on again.

The referee deemed that Robbo had moved but all 4 were allowed back for a re-start. Unfortunately for the Hammers the home side made the start this time and Kylmakorpi the pulled off the track on the exit to the 2nd bend. That put us 8 points behind at 28-20 to the Aces.

Kauko won heat 9 from the gate but Robbo was stuck at the back. Heat 10 saw us go 10 points behind as Kasprzak got the win in front of Adam with Wright getting 3rd from Davidsson.

Lee then came out as a TR with the b/w helmet colour on. He stormed to the win but Kylmakorpi's frustrations continued with a last place. The 6-3 in our favour brought us to within 7 points. The deficit then reduced to 5 following a 4-2 to the Hammers in ht 12 thanks to a win from Adam with Phil coming from the back to get a vital 3rd place from Hougaard.

Ht 13 saw Lee take the lead but Kauko was at the back but Lee caught the same hole on the 4th bend as Adam had done in ht 7 but he managed to keep on his machine although Kasprzak got under him down the home straight. Then entering the 1st bend Gjedde had the speed to also get past Lee. The resultant 5-1 to the Aces put them 9 points up with just 2 heats remaining.

Ht 14 saw JD get the win in a shared heat so the Hammers pair of Lee and Adam knew they needed a 5-1 in the final heat to claim a League point. The important toss of the coin for gate positions was won by Adam who chose 1 & 3, which were working far better than 2 &4. Lee came off gate 1 with Adam off 3. Kasprzak took gate 2 and Gjedde 4. The Hammers pair made the start and despite Kasprzak putting Adam under some pressure on the final lap hey held on for the required 5-1 to make the final score 49-44 in favour of the Aces.

It was good to get one league point but it could have been more but for the inconsistency of the Hammers middle order.