Lakeside Hammers 52, Eastbourne Eagles 41
HAMMERS have half a foot in the final of the Knock-out Cup after taking an 11 point lead in the first leg of the semi-final at the Arena Essex Raceway this evening.

Lakeside produced an excellent display despite the wind and rain, and hold a great advantage going into the second leg on August 30.

Hammers were in front from start to finish despite a mini revival in the middle from the Eagles and went on to secure a comfortable victory.

The home side went in to the meeting without Andreas Jonsson after his crash in Poland last weekend and Lakeside used Ipswich’s Rory Schlein as a guest, with new number eight Kauko Nieminen also included in the line up.

Eastbourne had to do without Lee Richardson and his loss was a huge blow for the Sussex-based side.

Hammers set off as they meant to go on, recording two heat advantages in heats 1 and 3 to open up an 11-7 lead.

It was looking like a stroll in the park for the Hammers as they continued to dominate with a further two heat advantages to strengthen their position, with an eght point lead with five heats gone at 19-11.

But things took a turn for the worse as the rain started to pour and the visitors got a maximum 5-1 in heat seven through Edward Kennett and Cameron Woodward, but only after Ricky Kling fell at the first corner to reduce the margin to just four at 23-19.

However, the Hammers were having none of it and hit back resoundingly in the following heat through Leigh Lanham and Lubos Tomicek, again helped by a fall by Eastbourne’s number 2 Lewis Bridger.

Eastbourne took three heat wins, but still could not reduce the deficit with the Hammers staying strong and consistent in second and third places in each heat.

That was until the Hammers came out in heat 12. Shields and Tomicek worked wonders and managed to hold off the challenge of Woodward to go into a 42-30 lead with three heats to go.

But the visitors used Scott Nicholls as a tactical rider in heat 13 in the slight hope they could still get the win on the night, and at the worst, keep the deficit to as small as possible.

And although he took the heat win, Schlein and Nieminen packed in for second and third respectively to only reduce the Eagles’ arrears to nine points at 45-36, which secured the win for the Hammers.

In the penultimate heat the Hammers strengthened their lead once again when Ricky Kling took the victory with Swedish counterpart Jonas Davidsson providing the all important third place.

The final heat ended with a shared heat to give the Millers’ a vital 11 point lead to go to Arlington with at the end of the month.

Lakeside Hammers 52: Rory Schlein 11, Leigh Lanham 5+3, Adam Shields 12+1, Jonas Davidsson 4+1, Ricky Kling 6+1, Lubos Tomicek 7+2, Kauko Nieminen 7+1.

Eastbourne Eagles 41: Scott Nicholls 19, Lewis Bridger 2, Cameron Woodward 5+1, Edward Kennett 11, Simon Gustafsson 4, James Brundle 0.

Heat-by-heat
1: Schlein, Nicholls, Lanham, Bridger (4-2) (4-2) 57.3
2: Gustafsson, Kling, Tomicek, Brundle (3-3) (7-5) 58.2
3: Shields, Bridger, Davidsson, Woodward (4-2) (11-7) 57.8
4: Nieminen, Kennett, Tomicek, Brundle (4-2) (15-9) 58.3
5: Shields, Nicholls, Davidsson, Bridger (4-2) (19-11) 57.7
6: Kennett, Schlein, Lanham, Gustafsson (3-3) (22-14) 61.2
7: Kennett, Woodward, Nieminen, Kling (ret) (1-5) (23-19) 61.2
8: Tomicek, Lanham, Gustafsson, Bridger (fell rem) (5-1) (28-20) 60.7
9: Kennett, Shields, Davidsson, Brundle (3-3) (31-23) 58.9
10: Nicholls, Schlein, Lanham, Woodward(excluded, unfair riding) (3-3) (34-26) 59.2
11: Nicholls, Nieminen, Kling, Bridger (3-3) (37-29) 58.9
12: Shields, Tomicek, Woodward, Gustafsson (5-1) (42-30) 59.2
13: Nicholls (tactical ride), Schlein, Nieminen, Kennett (3-6) (45-36) 59.2
14: Kling, Woodward, Davidsson, Gustafsson (fell exc) (4-2) (49-38) 59.3
15: Nicholls, Schlein, Shields, Kennett (fell exc) (3-3) (52-41) 58.6