Weekend round-up & Top 20 Averages

TROPHY TAKING SHAPE

Weekend round-up

• Friday 25th May - Somerset 52 Buxton 38 (Trophy)
• Sunday 27th May - Boston 52 Somerset 38 (Trophy)
•                                 - Mildenhall 65 Buxton 25 (Trophy)
•                                 - Newport 48 Sheffield 40 (League)

The Conference League Trophy began to take shape last weekend with three fixtures taking place and now four of the five teams have competed half of their group matches.

First up was Somerset on Friday where the Rebels rattled up a 52-38 victory over struggling Buxton and took the bonus as well. Veteran Malcolm Holloway continued his good form this season with an 18 point maximum and was ably backed by the impressive Jamie Holmes who scored 14. The Hitmen supplied two good performers in Neil Painter with 15 and Craig Branney with 11+1, but there was little back up elsewhere.

Sunday and the Rebels took their Trophy campaign to a revived Boston and this time the men from Highbridge went down 52-38. Without new signing Will Beveridge, the Barracuda-Braves welcomed back Luke Clifton who top scored with 15+1 with the dependable Peter Boast assisting with 11+2. Somerset were led by Aussie Lee Herne who hit a superb 16 but saw little solid support from Steve Bishop and the rest.

The same day Mildenhall put their defeat to Boston behind them with their biggest competitive victory of their 7 year CL history, a 62-25 win over Buxton, perhaps a record for the CL? Anyone? Maximums came from the faultless Steve Camden (12) and Paul Lydes-Uings (15), with Phil Knowles (14+2) and Darren Pearson (12+3) also racking up big scores. Sadly not one single visitor stood out, not even Stoke's PL rider Neil Painter.

Sunday again and the only league fixture of the weekend saw table topper champions Sheffield go down 48-40 at Newport. Without Andrew Moore and Lee Complin, when the Prowlers then lost Matt Cambridge and Lee Hodgson in crashes, the latter suffering a suspected broken collar-bone, they inevitably succumbed to a narrow defeat.

The Mavericks, without Shane Colvin, were again led by Riders champion Scott Pegler with 15, Rob Finlow impressing with 12+1 and Martin Williams grabbing 12. A stunning 17 point haul from youngster Rory Schlein and 15 points from Jamie Birkenshaw made up all bar 8 of the visitors total.

Both League and Trophy tables have been updated with the current standings along with all club's riders' current averages. Below is a current "CL Riders Top 20 Averages" table to show the best performers in the league so far this year. This will be a regular monthly feature.

This weekend's fixtures:

• Fri 1st June - Newport v Mildenhall (League) 7.00 pm
• Sun 3rd June - Buxton v Mildenhall (Trophy) 3.30 pm
•                            Peterborough v Rye House (League) 6.30 pm

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CL RIDERS TOP 20 AVERAGES

AVERAGES INCLUDE LEAGUE, KO CUP & TROPHY MATCHES ONLY  -  Up to, and including 31st May 2001