Fans attending this Thursday’s Wightlink sponsored three team tournament on 5 September will be asked to ‘nail their colours to the mast’ in support of sides named after the vessels that ply the Solent day in day out with outfits representing Victoria of Wight, St. Clare and St. Faith in track action.
As well as the five available Warriors, three Wizards riders have been offered additional track time and integrated into the line-ups that will also be boosted by visiting favourites Joe Lawlor, Jordan Palin, Ryan Terry-Daley and Joe Alcock. The twelve heat format will be rounded off with a top scorers heat in what might be the final race of the season, depending on how the race for the final play-off place evolves.
Following a great result at Stoke last Saturday, Warriors currently hold that last play off place with 21 points with one away fixture remaining at Leicester next Tuesday, however in what is sure to be a nail biting conclusion, Mildenhall and Cradley both have 17 points with three and two matches remaining respectively, whilst Plymouth are not completely out of it having 10 points but with five fixtures to complete. The cut off date for completion of fixtures is 19 September – the same day Plymouth entertain Mildenhall in what could be a season defining meeting for several clubs – Warriors in particular.
Warriors’ co-promoter Barry Bishop gave his thoughts on the present situation, “Tomorrow we will be holding our September Showdown as we acknowledge the invaluable assistance we continue to receive from the Wightlink organisation. We thought it would be a novel idea to name the teams after the ships and I’m delighted to be able to have put together a balanced line-up for what promises to be another night of close competition.
Whether this will be our final meeting of 2019 depends on how the play-off picture unfolds. The three teams chasing us have some tricky fixtures to negotiate and we might even be looking at race points difference in the end nevertheless we will go to Leicester next week full of confidence and our riders are committed to putting up the best show possible. If they all ride to their capabilities and we can bring a point or two back to the Island, that would help us cement a play-off spot and give a marvellous end to a cracking season”.
The teams are currently expected to be:
Victoria of Wight: Ben Morley, Joe Alcock, Chad Wirtzfeld, Morgan Williams.
St. Clare: Jordan Palin, Ryan Terry-Daley, Chris Widman, Chris Watts.
St. Faith: Joe Lawlor, Scott Campos, Connor King, Jamie Sealey.
This week, for ANYONE aged 39, it is free admission as part of the weekly age incentive being run by the club. Proof of age is required at the turnstile to benefit from this promotion. Otherwise, the usual pricing and admission arrangements apply with gates opening at 5.30 pm ahead of the first race at 7.00 pm.