LAKESIDE Hammers have agreed to delay their visit up to Coventry for the second leg of the Craven Shield Final for a week.

They were originally scheduled to be at the Brandon Stadium Coventry this Friday (October 17) but this will now take place on Friday, October 24.

This follows the cancellation of the final Grand Prix of the season last Saturday in Germany and the hastily arranged new date that sees the final round now taking place in Bydgoszcz Poland this coming Saturday.

In these exceptional circumstances the Hammers promotion have agreed to delay the away leg of the Craven Shield Final in view of the fact that three riders will have to miss the Coventry meeting as they have to attend the practice on the Friday for the re-arranged GP.

The Hammers would be without Andreas Jonsson and Coventry would be missing both Hans Andersen and Chris Harris.

The Hammers Co-Promoter and Team Manager Jon Cook explained the decision to agree to the change in date of the Hammers important away leg of this prestigious event stating: “I believe the circumstances following last Saturday’s cancellation of the GP in Germany and the new date next Saturday in Poland means that it would not be in the best interest of the Sport to stage the second leg of this important Final at Coventry when key riders from both sides would be absent.

"I am sure that Coventry would have agreed to a change if we were going to be staging the home leg at our Arena-Essex Raceway on the Friday. I can confirm, however, that the first leg will go ahead as planned this Thursday, at our Raceway.”

The action gets underway at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Thursday at 7.45pm when the Hammers take on the Coventry Bees in the opening leg of the Craven Shield Final.

For those supporters who are able to arrive at the Raceway early there will be a junior Academy style four a side match over six heats involving young riders who have ridden prior to the main meetings over the course of this season. These junior heats will start at 6.30pm.