Hammers round off regular season with victory

They gained quick revenge for Thursday night's defeat at Alwalton against the Panthers and now all eyes turn towards the play-off semi-final.

The Lakesiders were led from the front by Andreas Jonsson, who swept to a majestic eighteen point maximum. The Swedish superstar was never troubled, winning all of his heats from the gate.

The home side were without usual absentees Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson, whilst Lubos Tomicek failed to overcome his fitness issues and was replaced by Birmingham's Tomasz Piszcz, himself riding as number eight Kauko Nieminen was unavailable.

Piszcz got off to a lively start, slotting into second place in the reserves race as Panthers' Claus Vissing, who returned a ten point haul, plotted his way around the Raceway.

Popular guest Edward Kennett, a top performer at the Raceway this season, took what was the first of four consecutive race wins in heat three and quickly following it up with another in the next.

Chris Harris, deputising for Ryan Sullivan, produced a stunning effort in heat five to pass Leigh Lanham and weave his way past Wednesday's top performer Tomasz Jedrzejak on the final lap. Harris' effort brought the scores level and it needed a quick response from Jonsson to keep the Hammers ahead.

The race of the night was undoutedly heat seven, with former Hammers favourite Henning Bager picking off Piszcz on the final lap for third place. Kennett, though, topped that with his own final bend dash to snatch victory from Kenneth Bjerre on the line to huge cheers from the large home crowd.

Jonsson's fourth outing yielded another victory but Jedrzejak was passed by Daniel King just as the Hammers had looked set for a 5-1. They didn't have to wait long, though, as Jonsson and Lanham, without doubt the pairing of the year for the home side, were triumphant in heat ten.

AJ looked set to repeat the feat with Kennett in heat thirteen but the young English star overcooked the fourth bend and tumbled out.

Everything appeared to rest on the penultimate race but, despite Bager passing both Jedrzejak and Ricky Kling, the shared race was good enough to ensure that the Hammers finished off their league campaign with the points.

The completion of Jonsson's maximum signalled the start of preparations for one of the biggest meetings in Hammers history - all roads lead to the Arena-Essex Raceway on Monday, September 29 as the play-off battles commence.

Hammers: 1. Andreas Jonsson 18; 2. Leigh Lanham 7+1; 3. Rider Replacement; 4. Tomasz Jedrzejak 7; 5. Edward Kennett 13; 6. Ricky Kling 2+2; 7. Tomasz Piszcz 2.

Panthers: 1. Chris Harris 7+2; 2. Rider Replacement; 3. Kenneth Bjerre 13; 4. Henning Bager 5+2; 5. Daniel King 8; 6. Karol Zabik 0; 7. Claus Vissing 8+2.

Heat-by-heat:
1: Jonsson, Harris, Lanham, King (4-2) (4-2) 58.0
2: Vissing, Piszcz, Kling, Zabik (3-3) (7-5) 60.5
3: Kennett, Bjerre, Jedrzejak, Bager (4-2) (11-7) 58.6
4: Kennett, King, Vissing, Kling (3-3) (14-10) 59.3
5: Bjerre, Harris, Jedrzejak, Lanham (1-5) (15-15) 58.8
6: Jonsson, King, Lanham, Zabik (4-2) (19-17) 58.6
7: Kennett, Bjerre, Bager, Piszcz (3-3) (22-20) 58.9
8: Lanham, Vissing, Bager, Piszcz (fell) (3-3) (25-23) 59.2
9: Jonsson, King, Jedrzejak, Zabik (4-2) (29-25) 59.2
10: Jonsson, Lanham, Bjerre, Bager (5-1) (34-26) 58.6
11: Kennett, Harris, Vissing, Kling (3-3) (37-29) 58.9
12: Bjerre, Jedrzejak, Vissing, Piszcz (2-4) (39-33) 58.6
13: Jonsson, King, Harris, Kennett (fell rem) (3-3) (42-36) 58.8
14: Bager, Jedrzejak, Kling, Vissing (3-3) (45-39) 59.7
15: Jonsson, Bjerre, Kennett, Harris (4-2) (49-41) 59.2

Elite League, up to and inc Friday, Sept 19

1 Poole 31 14 0 2 8 0 7 1562 1269 52 2 Lakeside 32 15 0 1 7 1 8 1551 1375 52 3 Swindon 31 12 2 2 5 0 10 1455 1382 41 4 Ipswich 29 10 0 4 5 2 8 1346 1304 37 5 Eastbourne 30 10 0 4 4 0 12 1353 1398 32 6 Belle Vue 31 12 0 3 0 2 14 1373 1451 26 7 Peterborough 30 10 1 3 1 0 15 1263 1461 24 8 Coventry 28 9 2 4 1 0 12 1234 1322 21 9 Wolverhampton 29 8 0 8 0 0 14 1277 1462 16