Leicester 44 Rye House 45
The resurgent Silver Ski Rockets claimed their second straight away victory, and made it a record of six wins in their last seven Premier League matches, by completing a sensational weekend double over Leicester with a 45-44 success in the Lions’ den.
As was the case in Hertfordshire the night before, white hot reserve Pontus Aspgren led the charge, this time with paid 15 from a full quota of seven rides - and but for having to lay his bike down after clipping a wheel in Heat 14 he would have finished with even more. Strong back-up from ever-reliable guest Josh Grajczonek (10+1) and Tyson Nelson (11) proved equally critical.
It was Grajczonek and Jason Bunyan who set the Rockets on their way with a 5-1 over Lasse Bjerre in the opening race, with another maximum – this time from Aspgren and Anders Mellgren over Magnus Karlsson – in Heat 3 lifting the margin to 15-8.
The Lions pulled back to within three points, but with Kauko Nieminen ruled out after just two rides with a shoulder injury, were unable to complete their comeback. Instead, a third 5-1 in Heat 10, courtesy once again of Aspgren and Mellgren, pushed Rye clear again at 33-26, and they wrapped things up with a race to spare before a consolation 5-1 from Karlsson and Kevin Doolan over Grajczonek and Nelson in the finale denied them a possible shot at a fourth match point.
An ecstatic Rye House team manager John Sampford exclaimed afterwards that “It was a great performance, and a great victory. Not many visiting teams will win at Leicester this season.
“Pontus, Josh and Tyson were really the architects of the work, and the other points chipped in from elsewhere gave us what we needed to get the win.”
Rye House
Josh Grajczonek (guest) 10+1 (5 rides)
Jason Bunyan 2+1 (3)
Tyson Nelson 11 (5)
Josh Bates (guest) 2+1 (3)
Anders Mellgren 5+1 (4)
Kasper Lykke 1 (3)
Pontus Aspgren 14+1 (7)
Leicester
Lasse Bjerre 5+1 (4 rides)
Jan Graversen 6 (4)
Kauko Nieminen 1+1 (2)
Kevin Doolan 12+1 (5)
Magnus Karlsson 11+1 (5)
Facundo albin (guest) 3+1 (4)
James Sarjeant 6+1 (6)
Match Points: Leicester 0 Rye House 3
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