By Isle of Wight Observer
The Isle of Wight ‘Wightlink’ Warriors and Wizards will both be in action at the Smallbrook Stadium in Ryde on Thursday (4 July) with the Warriors seeking quick fire revenge for Monday night’s defeat at Cradley whilst the Wizards look to do the double over the Milton Keynes Knights.
Warriors were edged out by just four points in a close run National League match at Cradley where home rider Max Clegg lived up to his name by delivering a maximum score that included two vital wins at the end of the meeting. He leads the Heathen line up on Thursday and will expect strong support from fellow heat leaders Jack Smith and Danny Halsey.
Home fans will be well aware that the visitors took an eight point win when they were last on the Island in Cup action, however last week’s fine home victory over Kent and the return of Scott Campos will be big boosts to the Warrior camp. With new averages also in operation, Chris Widman and Chad Wirtzfeld will swop places in the riding order with the hope that a move to reserve will trigger an upturn in Widman’s form.
After the main meeting the Wizards will take on Milton Keynes Knights in the Midland and Southern Development League. With the Wizards team having been in action the previous evening, it will be a busy twenty four hours for the riders with little recovery time, however with clear signs of improvement from all the riders a second consecutive home MSDL win is perfectly possible.
Co-promoter Barry Bishop said, “Thursday will see another bumper night of racing with a twenty one race programme and I’m looking for a repeat of last week with more fantastic racing and two wins to celebrate.
I’m delighted to welcome Scott back into our team which has an unusual look tonight and I’m interested to see the impact of those changes. We were close on Monday and must be targeting a win and three points tonight.
We also get another opportunity to see the Wizards in action. The boys are working so hard to be successful and I get a real buzz when they are winners. I hope as many people as possible stay on to give the Wizards great support.”
Expected Teams:
- Warriors: Georgie Wood, Chad Wirtzfeld, Scott Campos, Danno Verge, Ben Morley, Connor King and Chris Widman.
- Heathens: Max Clegg, Tom Spencer, Danny Halsey, Luke Harris, Jack Smith, Sheldon Davies and Harry McGurk.
- Wizards: Jamie Sealey, Morgan Williams, Chris Watts and Ben Ilsley.
- Knights: Luke Muff, Sam Boon, Sheldon Davies and James Spencer.
The on-going age promotion giving free admission to the meeting will be in place and anyone who is 45 is welcome to take up this offer on production of proof of age. Otherwise the usual pricing and admission arrangements apply with gates opening at 5.30 pm ahead of the first race at 7.00 pm.
