STOKE A.R. Richards Ltd. Potters went down to a 39-51 defeat against Birmingham in their opening home match of the season at Loomer road in the National Trophy on Saturday night.
The Potters relied heavily on Ben Wilson and skipper Tony Atkin who both chalked up double figure scores and Danny Phillips who was paid for double figures as the Brummies had the all round strength in depth as they chalked up their sixth successive victory to remain unbeaten this season as they booked their place in the final of the National Trophy competition.
The first five heats saw the Potters level as Ben Wilson took the chequered flag in heat 1 to take victory from Zac Wajtknecht with Danyon Hume third for a drawn heat as Birmingham youngsters Jack Parkinson Blackburn and Jack smith combined for a maximum heat win in heat 2 over Joe Lawlor and Kevin Whelan. The Potters levelled the scores in heat 3 as veteran Tony Atkin and Danny Phillips took the flag ahead of Tom Bacon after Luke Priest had fallen, but the Brummies struck again as Tom Perry and Parkinson Blackburn got the better of Chris Widman. Again the lead didn’t last loing as Atkin and Phillips combined for their second maximum of the evening over Wajtknecht to level the scores.
Birmingham then struck with two maximum 5-1 heat advantages to lead 20-28 after 8 heats before the Potters gained a 4-2 from Atkin and Phillips after Brummies skipper Perry got the better of Phillips. The Brummies extended their lead to 12 points by heat 12 with Wajtknecht and Hume gaining a 5-1 and Bacon and Smith taking a 4-2 to seal victory for the Brummies as Wilson and Phillips took consolation victories in heats 13 and 14.
Potters skipper Tony Atkin commented “It was good to get a home meeting in as we are one of the last teams to do so and we all needed that. It was a bit hard for the reserves against a team that’s unbeaten and have basically supersonic reserves and it’s a shame really. I feel they are spoiling the National League at the moment as certain teams can get all the good riders and other teams can’t and it’s making it an uneven competition. Last year I was at Buxton and we were second from bottom, but everywhere we went we entertained. Speedway is about entertainment at the end of the day and it seems a shame certain clubs are struggling to find reserves.
“Tonight we needed a home meeting and we wanted a home meeting under our belts and we need racing time on the track. I feel there are a couple of places that need to be sorted out as we don’t want to lose week in week out and I’m sure that the management will be looking at that. Out of the top five Ben (Wilson) had a good meeting, Danny (Phillips) was great and I had a good night, we need to get Chris (Widman) going we know he can ride and he’s just having a rough time at the moment but he’s one of those riders who will just turn a corner and if he can get going which I know he can and I have every faith in him we’ll be a better team.
“We were underdogs tonight and came up against a really strong team, but we are not in speedway to lose meetings and at the end of it all we have to try and win. I’m actually pleased with certain aspects of the team we know where the weak parts are and we just need a few meetings, we desperately needed those meetings against buxton home and away and if we’d had a good couple of meetings against them things would have looked different but we’ve only had three meetings two against Birmingham and one at King’s Lynn. In the next few weeks we will have head six meetings five of which are away from home and we really do need to get some home meetings under our belts to get some confidence into the team.”
STOKE 39: Ben Wilson 13, Tony Atkin 12+1, Danny Phillips 8+2, Chris Widman 3, Shaun Tedham 2+1, Joe Lawlor 1, Kevin Whelan 0. BIRMINGHAM 51: Tom Perry 12+1, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 10+1, Tom Bacon 9, Zach Wajtknecht 7+1, Danyon Hume 6+2, Luke Priest 4+3, Jack Smith 3+1.
