Speedway: Leicester Lions qualify for play-offs
Leicester Lions have clinched a place in the Premier League play-offs.
As they head into their final three away fixtures in as many days, the Lions do so in the knowledge they are now guaranteed a top-six finish.
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Kauko Nieminen
They take on Redcar Bears tonight, Edinburgh Monarchs tomorrow and Workington on Saturday.
Even so, there will be no letting up. Co-promoter Alan Jones said: "It is a tall order to think we can win all three but it is not beyond us to do so.
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"A few weeks ago, Redcar would have been thought of as a soft target and our best chance of pulling off a win. But they have strengthened since then and are hitting better form at home.
"In contrast, Workington have had an appalling sequence of bad luck which has denied them the services of Rusty Harrison, who retired, while Adam Roynon and Eddie Ingalls are out injured.
"Workington scraped through at home on Saturday by two points against Glasgow so perhaps this is our best opportunity of victory in the three fixtures as Edinburgh rarely drop points at home."
The Lions made a positional change with Magnus Karlsson moving back to No.5 in the riding order. It means Jan Graversen goes in at No.2 where he will be paired with captain Kauko Nieminen.
Leicester: 1 Kauko Nieminen, 2 Jan Graversen, 3 Lasse Bjerre, 4 Linus Eklof, 5 Magnus Karlsson, 6 Jari Makinen, 7 Lewis Blackbird.
Redcar: 1 Ulrich Ostergaard, 2 Carl Wilkinson, 3 Kevin Doolan, 4 Aaron Summers, 5 Matej Kus, 6 Max Dilger, 7 Jade Mudgway.
Edinburgh: 1 Ricky Wells (guest), 2 Derek Sneddon, 3 Theo Pijper, 4 Matthew Wethers, 5 Andrew Tully, 6 guest rider, 7 Marcel Helfer.
Workington: 1 Richard Lawson, Michael Palm-Toft (guest), 3 Rene Bach, 4 Tero Aarnio; 5 rider-replacement for Adam Roynon, 6 Ashley Morris, 7 Kyle Howarth.
Comments
by MjCclarke
Friday, September 21 2012, 12:07PM
“Fantastic achievement in only the second season of Leicester's return to the speedway track, Congrtulations to all those who campaigned and invested in bringing the sport back to the city.
However fans don't carried away with speedway's quirky play off rules. Anticipation, excitement? Yes the winners will be champions, but the title does not provide a passport for promotion to the next level, the Elite League. Apparently its all down to the promoters (try that one on Leicester City fans if they win The Championship play offs?) Will Leicester Lions promoters be seeking promotion if the play off championship is won??”