Downpour changes dynamic of tie

RARELY can a sudden downpour have changed the dynamics of a sporting event the way it did in Workington last night

With Newcastle Diamonds in the stadium at Derwent Park, Workington reading themselves to take on the home-town Comets the rain came and washed away the scheduled first leg of the Championship Knock-Out and turned tonight’s second leg in to the first.

“I guess that’s speedway,” said Diamonds co-promoter and Team Manager George English.

“One minute we’re preparing to give our all looking for a tight scoreline to keep the tie alive and bring Workington back to Brough to complete the job, the next we have to change our mindset and prepare instead to set the pace in the tie in tonight’s home leg.”

There were barely 55 minutes to go before the tapes went up last night before the saturated track made the possibility of racing too dangerous for the teams to take any chances and now both teams will have to start the tie with a different mind-set.

The Knock-Out Cup clash is also doubling up as The 2017 Ian Thomas Shield in memory of a great Speedway man that was hugely influential at both teams as a Promoter and team manager.

A man like Ian Thomas would surely have had empathy with both teams amid the irony of the fixture rehearsal as the teams prepare to gather at Brough Park tonight with tapes-up at 6.30pm.

The Diamonds have had the luxury of two meetings together last weekend when they saw off the Berwick Bandits 100 – 80 on aggregate to take the Tyne/Tweed Trophy. The Comets meanwhile have not yet ridden as a team.