Rebels' best away day so far (From Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News)

Rebels' best away day so far

3:54pm Friday 24th April 2009

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Premier Trophy.

Birmingham Brummies 47, Somerset Rebels 43.

THE Rebels came agonisingly close to breaking their away day duck in this season’s Premier Trophy before eventually going down to a four-point defeat at Birmingham on Wednesday.

But they did pick up a bonus point awarded to teams losing by six or less on their travels.

The early heats were a case of nip and tuck as Somerset drew first blood, their reserve pairing of Jay Herne and Tom Brown scoring a maximum 5-1 race advantage in heat two.

It came at the second time of asking as the race had to be re-run following Birmingham debutant Daniel Halsey’s fall in the original attempt.

Birmingham hit back immediately to level the scores a heat later and as the meeting reached halfway the two sides were locked together at 21-21.

It was then that the home side made what proved to be the decisive break, moving six points ahead after nine of the 15 heats had been completed.

Hopes of Somerset getting back into the match were raised with the exclusion of Birmingham’s Tomasz Piszcz following a third-bend fall.

It left young reserve Ben Taylor as the Brummies’ sole representative in the re-run up against Somerset’s Steve Johnston and Justin Sedgmen.

‘Cometh the hour, cometh the man’ – and for Taylor that was the case as he rode a sublime four laps.

He showed maturity way beyond his years to thwart every move the vastly more experienced Johnston attempted in order to find a way past and into the lead.

Taylor held on, to rapturous applause from the home fans, to win by little more than half a wheel.

From there on in Birmingham always held the upper hand, doing enough to ensure they had the match win sewn up with a race to spare.

But with the Rebels pulling back four points over the course of the final two heats, they left Perry Barr with a point for their endeavours after by far their best performance away from the Oak Tree Arena in the early part of the Premier Trophy season.

Scores: Birmingham – 1 Jason Lyons 6+3(4r); 2 Richard Sweetman 8 (4r); 3 Robert Ksiezak 11 (5r); 4 Ludvig Lindgren 6+2 (4r); 5 Tomasz Piszcz 8 (5r); 6 Ben Taylor 8 (6r); 7 Daniel Halsey 0 (2r).

Somerset – 1 Steve Johnston 14 (5r); 2 Justin Sedgmen 4+1 (4r); 3 Simon Walker 3+1 (4r); 4 Emil Kramer 10 (5r); 5 Cory Gathercole 5 (4r); 6 Tom Brown 2+1 (4r); 7 Jay Herne 5+1 (4r).

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