Racers go down at Newport

Reading's impressive recent form came to an end when they went down to a 50-43 Premier League defeat at Newport on Sunday afternoon.

It was a disappointing result for the Euphony Racers, but they appeared to be undone by the difficult track conditions, but the Racers more-so missed the scoring power of the unavailable Matej Zagar. The home side adapted
better to a track which saw a number of falls and retirements, which were brought on by the showers earlier in the day and just before the start of the meeting.

Reading got off to a perfect start with Danny Bird and Andrew Appleton taking a 5-1 off Mads Korneliussen and Pavel Ondrasik in the opening heat, with Appleton fighting his way through the field to join his team-mate at the front. However the Wasps hit straight back with a 5-1 in the reserves race in heat 2.

The home pairing of Kristian Lund and Tony Atkin then repeated the feat with a 5-1 over Chris Schramm in heat 3, with Phil Morris once again taking a tumble on the Queensway Meadow track. Craig Watson and Karl Mason then
increased the Wasps lead to 15-9, courtesy of a 4-2 in heat 4 over Racers guest Mark Lemon and Chris Mills.

Bird and Appleton then reduced the arrears with a 5-1 in heat 5, but Lemon conceded a 4-2 to Korneliussen and Ondrasik in heat 6, which maintained the home side's lead of 20-16.

Morris recovered from his first race fall to win heat 7 ahead of Watson and Carl Wilkinson for a shared heat, and Appleton kept his impressive form going when he and partner Mills took a 4-2 off Ondrasik and Karl Mason in
heat 8, bringing the scores back to 25-23.

With conditions not improving and proving to be a bit of a lottery, Lund and Atkin increased the Newport lead with a 5-1 in heat 9 over Westacott, after Lemon retired, and then the Welsh club opened up an eight point lead with a
4-2 in heat 10.

Bird went out as a tactical ride in heat 11 but could only manage a second place behind Watson, but with Appleton coming home in third place ahead of Wilkinson, the 5-3 did narrow the gap for the Euphony Racers back to 37-31.
However the fight-back was short-lived, as Newport regained their eight-point advantage when Wilkinson and Lund took a 4-2 off Schramm in heat 12.

Reading Team Manager Ivan Shears tried another tactical move in heat 13 by electing for Lemon to go for double points, but it proved to be a disastrous heat for the Racers. Watson and Korneliussen took maximum points leaving
Lemon trailing in third place, and Bird who had been in red-hot form all afternoon slid off whilst in second place. The Newport 5-2 clinched the match for the Wasps.

Morris and Mills redressed the balance with a 5-1 in heat 14, and Bird salvaged some pride with an excellent win over Watson and Korneliussen in the final heat - making the final score 50-43. Unfortunately the 3-3 in the final heat meant Newport also took the all important bonus point as well.

Bird led the way for the Euphony Racers with a superb 13 from 5 rides, and Appleton gave great support with 8 (paid 11) from his 5 starts, with his only disappointment being a retirement at the start of heat 15.

Watson led the way for the home side with a solid 13 from 5 rides, and the Australian had good backing from Korneliussen 10 (paid 12) and Lund and Wilkinson both picking up 7 points apiece.

Reading now return to Berkshire tomorrow night when they host the Isle of Wight at Smallmead Stadium (7.30pm), and then travel over the water for the return match 24-hours later.