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Post by Administrator on Aug 9, 2010 16:11:16 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAY PRESS RELEASE Monday 9th August 2010
HURRY'S HEARTBREAK
Lakeside Hammers rider Paul Hurry’s season is over following a Grasstrack crash in France over the weekend in which he suffered fractures to both his legs. The long serving rider is determined to carry on his racing career in 2011 despite this latest setback in a career dogged by injury. The Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager Jon Cook commented on hearing the news from France: "This is a terrible blow to Paul and we wish him well in making a full and speedy recovery in time for next season. "It’s a huge shame that he should suffer another bad injury coming after a bright start to the season wrecked by a hand injury caused when Poole’s Jason Doyle crashed in front of him in the Pirates League fixture back in May at our Raceway. "Paul's form hadn't recovered from that crash but he still had my support and was in the team for this week’s home League meeting with Swindon, although we both knew he needed a good meeting." The Hammers will, in the short term, use their No.8 Chris Neath, who rides for the Rye House Rockets in the Premier League, to replace Hurry but with the Rockets in action this Friday it’s likely that Club asset Lubos Tomicek will make his first appearance for the Club since 2008.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 11, 2010 19:18:16 GMT
HAMMERS DETERMINED TO BATTLE THROUGH INJURY BLOWS
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, will go into their crucial Sky Sports Elite League clash with Play Off chasing rivals the Swindon Robins this Friday night, 13th August, without their new signing Peter Ljung who has been ruled out of his home debut with a wrist injury sustained at Ipswich last Thursday. Ljung, who missed meetings in Poland and Sweden on Sunday and Tuesday respectively, expects to be fit to resume with his new club next week but on Friday against the Robins the Hammers will operate ‘Rider Replacement’ in his absence. In addition, following Paul Hurry's season coming to an abrupt end after breaking both legs in a Grasstrack crash in France on Saturday, the Hammers will call upon up and coming young Australian Sam Masters, who rides in the Premier League for the Somerset Rebels, in his place as the Club’s official No.8, Chris Neath, is unavailable due to prior racing commitments for Rye House at Newport the same evening. The Hammers will also bring in Club asset Lubos Tomicek as an on the night number eight. Jon Cook, the Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager, commented: "It’s going to be a tough match on Friday against Swindon and without Peter (Ljung), who is fifth in our averages, we have to use the ’Rider Replacement’ facility to cover his rides. We, therefore, feel it best to have Lubos (Tomicek) with us as well as additional back up, "It’s been two season since he was last involved with the Club and we are both keen to get him back as part of our set up. Meanwhile we are all excited at the prospect of seeing young Sam (Masters) in action at Elite level." Commenting on a full time replacement for Paul Hurry Cook confirmed that the Club were currently in negotiations with a target rider and expect to have a change in place in time for next week’s action where they face Eastbourne away in the Knockout Cup on Thursday 19th August and then Wolverhampton at home the following evening. This Friday’s League match against Swindon is likely to see the final appearance of former Hammers rider Leigh Adams from Australia at the Arena-Essex Raceway as he will be retiring from UK racing at the end of the season. Adams tops the Robins averages and captains their side. Joining him in the Swindon line-up will be fellow Australian Justin Sedgmen, Danes Mads Korneliussen and Morten Risager, Swede Thomas H Jonasson, Pole Grzegorz Zengota and Simon Stead who was a member of the recent Team GB side in the World Cup. The League match gets underway at the usual start time of 8pm but for those fans that are able to arrive early at the Raceway there will be a six heat, four a side, veterans match starting at 6.45pm. The riders will be wearing the famous colours of two former local clubs, the Hackney Hawks and the Romford Bombers. The ’Kids for a Quid’ scheme will apply again for Friday’s meeting whereby children aged between 6 and 16 inclusive will be able to see all the action for just £1. Children under 6 will be allowed free admittance.
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Post by mrsgustix on Aug 13, 2010 10:47:18 GMT
That's very sad news about Paul Hurry's accident. I am sure other members will join me in wishing him a full recovery and eventual return to speedway racing, albeit in 2011 seems likely to be the date if he races again. I hope he does return to racing one day.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 18, 2010 14:53:32 GMT
1) HAMMERS TAKE ON THE REIGNING CHAMPIONS
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, face the 2009 Sky Sports Elite League champions, the Wolverhampton Wolves at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Friday, 20th August. Wolverhampton are currently in second place in the League behind the runaway leaders Poole with the Hammers in fourth place just two points ahead of fifth place side the Belle Vue Aces. With the top four qualifying for the end of season Play Offs Friday’s match against the Wolves is of the utmost importance to the Essex based Club if they are to progress to these play Offs. At this stage the Hammers have two matches in hand over Belle Vue with the Aces having ridden two more matches at home than the Hammers. Just one point ahead of the Hammers in third place in the table are the Peterborough Panthers, who have ridden the same number of meetings at home but have four away matches still to race compared to the Hammers two away fixtures. The Hammers expect to have their new signing Peter Ljung back in their side and will make his home debut following his wrist injury sustained in a crash at Ipswich. They will also bring in their official No.8 Chris Neath at reserve to replace the injured Paul Hurry. The remainder of the Hammers line-up will the usual five riders namely Jonas Davidsson, Kauko Nieminen, Lee Richardson, Stuart Robson and Adam Shields. As far as the Wolverhampton side is concerned they will be withoutthe services of their Swedish Grand Prix star, Fredrik Lindgren, as he is due to compete in the Grand Prix Challenge Final in Vojens, Denmark the following day. They will be entitled to replace him with a guest and they have chosen former Wolverhampton legend, Peter Karlsson. Their Pole, Adam Skornicki, is also expected to miss the match following a recent knee injury although he is expected to return to their side next week. The Midlands club will utilise the ’Rider Replacement’ facility to cover his rides. In addition their ‘Doubling Up’ pair of Matthew Wethers and Joe Haines will not be available as they have prior engagements with their respective Premier League sides, Edinburgh and Redcar. Furthermore, their official No.8, Richard Lawson, is currently sidelined with a suspected shoulder injury. At this stage the Wolves Management have still to announce their chosen guest, who will ride at reserve alongside Ludvig Lindgren, the brother of their No.1 Fredrik. Great Britain international and Grand Prix rider, Tai Woffinden, captains the side and will be joined by Nicolai Klindt from Denmark and Australian Ty Proctor.
Friday’s vital match against Wolverhampton will see the usual start time of 8pm. The ‘Kids for a Quid’ scheme will be in operation whereby children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive will pay just £1 to watch top quality Speedway.
2) THURSDAY’S CUP MATCH AT EASTBOURNE HAS BEEN CALLED OFF News has just been received from the Eastbourne Eagles Management advising the Hammers Promotion that the Elite League Knockout Cup first leg scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday) at Eastbourne’s Arlington Stadium has been called off. It will now be staged on Thursday 23rd September with the 2 nd leg now rescheduled for the following evening, Friday 24th September, at the Arena-Essex Raceway. This will allow the Hammers to still stage the 2nd leg and the fans from both clubs will be able to watch the two legs on consecutive nights. The Lakeside Hammers are the reigning Elite League Knockout Cup holders and will be determined to see off the Eagles on their way to, hopefully, retaining the Cup.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 20, 2010 15:29:30 GMT
Friday 20th August 2010 LJUNG MISSES TONIGHT’S MEETING THROUGH INJURY
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, will go into tonight’s important League match against the reigning Sky Sports Elite League champions, Wolverhampton, without their new signing Peter Ljung. Ljung was expected to make his home debut for the Club this evening but the wrist injury he sustained in a crash at Ipswich two weeks ago is proving to be more serious than at first suspected. He did return to the track on Tuesday this week in his native Sweden and scored six points from his four rides but was unable to take his place in a nominated fifth ride due to the wrist giving him further problems. It now transpires that he has cracked a bone in the wrist and, therefore, needs to rest it a little longer. It is hoped, however, that he will be able to return to the Hammers side in time for their away match at Swindon next Thursday, 26th August and the home match against Ipswich the following evening. In the absence of Ljung the Hammers will have to utilise the ’Rider Replacement’ facility to cover his rides in this evening’s match. That will mean that Kauko Nieminen will be able to take an additional ride with the remaining three rides covered by the reserves Stuart Robson and Chris Neath although Jon Cook, the Hammers Team Manager, has also booked in Czech Republic rider Lubos Tomicek as their No.8 for the evening. The Czech rider could take any of Ljung’s rides if required to do so and, therefore, gives Cook further options available to him. The Essex based Club were initially looking to put on some additional racing this evening prior to the main League match involving the Junior Hammers riders but due to some of these being sidelined through injury that will have to be delayed until later in the season. This will, however, give some of the senior riders the opportunity to get in some practice earlier in the day although it is anticipated that at least one youngster will be putting in some demonstration laps prior to the start of the tonight’s meeting. This evening’s vital match against Wolverhampton will start at the usual time of 8pm. The ‘Kids for a Quid’ scheme will be in operation whereby children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive will pay just £1 to watch top quality Speedway .
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Post by Administrator on Aug 23, 2010 20:18:46 GMT
Tuesday 23rd August 2010
HAMMERS LOOK TO THE FUTURE WITH NEW SIGNING
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, signed a new rider in front of the fans prior to last Friday’s Elite League match against Wolverhampton. Marc Owen celebrated his sixteenth birthday by signing a full contract for the Essex based Club. He has been a regular at the Arena-Essex Raceway practising prior to meetings and it is a real coup for the Hammers to have gained his signature as he is one of the most promising British youngsters around at the present time. He has already been racing in the National League as a fifteen year old this year for Rye House but his signing for the Hammers shows that they are looking to the future. At present he will continue gaining experience with Rye House but ultimately it is expected in the years to come that he will be wearing the famous Crossed Hammers on his racesuit. A delighted Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager, Jon Cook, commented on this new signing by saying: “Marc is one hundred percent British and a big rising star of the National League destined for an exciting future in the Sport. "He has been earning rave reviews at Rye House this season and has caught the eye of our own senior riders when practising before the meetings here. We have beaten a host of other clubs to his signature on his 16th birthday and I am delighted as over the last few months Marc and his Mum and Dad have become good friends of mine. "This is a very big feather in the Club’s cap and I believe Marc will start to feature in the main team towards the middle of next season as well as spending the education years of his career at Rye .”
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Post by Administrator on Aug 24, 2010 8:18:56 GMT
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Post by Administrator on Aug 24, 2010 15:31:45 GMT
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Post by Administrator on Aug 26, 2010 8:58:20 GMT
Thursday 26th August 2010 HAMMERS PREPARE FOR LOCAL RIVALS
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, are scheduled to race at Swindon tonight in a Sky Sports Elite League match prior to facing local rivals, the Ipswich Witches, at their Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday. The Hammers new signing Peter Ljung from Sweden is expected to be back in action for the Club following his wrist injury sustained in the recent away match against the Witches. Paul Hurry, however, is sidelined for the rest of the season with two broken legs plus the Club have been informed by the Rye House promotion that Chris Neath, their official No.8, injured his back in his fourth ride crash last Saturday at Rye and is, therefore, not available. The Hammers Management needed to book in guests to come in at reserve for both the visit to Swindon and the home match against the Witches. They have chosen young Australian rider Sam Masters, who competes for Somerset in the Premier League, to come in for the Swindon trip with Canadian Kyle Legault as the choice for the important home match against Ipswich. Legault, who rides in the Premier League for South Wales club, the Newport Wasps, rode at the Arena-Essex Raceway last month for Belle Vue against the Hammers and looked impressive scoring seven points from his six rides. For Friday’s home match against Ipswich the Witches field British Internationals Scott Nicholls and Daniel King , Poles Chris Slabon, (who was brought up in Canada), Robert Miskowiak and Dawid Stachyra, Swede Linus Sundstrom, (who doubles up for the Suffolk club and rides also for Rye House), plus Ales Dryml from the Czech Republic. Looking further ahead, the Elite League Best Pairs Championship takes place at Ipswich on Saturday 4th September at 7.30pm. The Hammers will be represented by Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson. Unfortunately Lee Richardson is unavailable due to a personal off track prior engagement on that day. The action gets underway against the Ipswich Witches in the important Sky Sports Elite League match on Friday at the Arena-Essex Raceway at the slightly later time of 8.15pm. However, for those fans who are able to get to the Raceway earlier there will be the added attraction, starting at 7pm, of six heats of veterans racing in the format of two teams of four riders over six heats in the famous colours of the Hackney Hawks and the Romford Bombers. The annual collection in favour of the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund will take place at this meeting with the monies raised throughout the Country used to help injured and paraplegic Speedway riders
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Post by Administrator on Aug 26, 2010 10:04:03 GMT
UPDATED PRESS RELEASE Thursday 26th August 2010 HAMMERS PREPARE FOR LOCAL RIVALS
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, were scheduled to race at Swindon tonight in a Sky Sports Elite League match prior to facing local rivals, the Ipswich Witches, at their Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday 27th August. However, the away meeeting at Swindon has now been called off due to the weather. The Hammers new signing Peter Ljung from Sweden is now expected to be back in action for the Club on Friday following his wrist injury sustained in the recent away match against the Witches. Paul Hurry, however, is sidelined for the rest of the season with two broken legs plus the Club have been informed by the Rye House promotion that Chris Neath, their official No.8, injured his back in his fourth ride crash last Saturday at Rye and is, therefore, not available. The Hammers Management needed to book in guests to come in at reserve for both the planned visit to Swindon and the home match against the Witches. They chose young Australian rider Sam Masters, who competes for Somerset in the Premier League, to come in for the now postponed Swindon trip with Canadian Kyle Legault as the choice for the important home match against Ipswich tomorrow. Legault, who rides in the Premier League for South Wales club, the Newport Wasps, rode at the Arena-Essex Raceway last month for Belle Vue against the Hammers and looked impressive scoring seven points from his six rides. For Friday’s home match against Ipswich the Witches field British Internationals Scott Nicholls and Daniel King , Poles Chris Slabon, (who was brought up in Canada), Robert Miskowiak and Dawid Stachyra, Swede Linus Sundstrom, (who doubles up for the Suffolk club and rides also for Rye House), plus Ales Dryml from the Czech Republic. Looking further ahead, the Elite League Best Pairs Championship takes place at Ipswich on Saturday 4th September at 7.30pm. The Hammers will be represented by Adam Shields and Jonas Davidsson. Unfortunately Lee Richardson is unavailable due to a personal off track prior engagement on that day. The action gets underway against the Ipswich Witches in the important Sky Sports Elite League match on Friday at the Arena-Essex Raceway at the slightly later time of 8.15pm. However, for those fans who are able to get to the Raceway earlier there will be the added attraction, starting at 7pm, of six heats of veterans racing in the format of two teams of four riders over six heats in the famous colours of the Hackney Hawks and the Romford Bombers. The annual collection in favour of the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund will take place at this meeting with the monies raised throughout the Country used to help injured and paraplegic Speedway riders.
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Post by Administrator on Sept 3, 2010 7:20:50 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAY PRESS RELEASE Friday 3rd September 2010 VITAL 72 HOURS FOR THE HAMMERS
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, have a vital period of 72 hours in front of them starting tonight (Friday) when they are at home to the Swindon Robins in their penultimate Sky Sports Elite League match of the season. Then, on Monday 6th September, they face the Peterborough Panthers in the final League match of the campaign. The results from these two crucial matches will go a long way in calculating whether the Essex based Club will reach the end of season Play Offs, which ultimately decide the Sky Sports Elite League Championship. They need to finish in the top four in the table to guarantee their place in these Play Offs. Going into tonight’s match against Swindon the Hammers are in third place in the table behind Poole and Wolverhampton, who cannot be caught for the top two places. However, Peterborough, who visit the Arena-Essex Raceway on Monday, are only two points adrift of the Hammers in fourth place. The Coventry Bees could still make a late run up the table to secure one of the two remaining Play Off places before the cut off date so it appears to be a fight between the Hammers, Peterborough and Coventry with the top two out of these three clubs progressing alongside Poole and Wolverhampton although mathematically it is possible that either Belle Vue or Swindon could overtake Peterborough, but not the Hammers, although that would require them to win all of their remaining matches with Peterborough losing all of their matches. A large crowd is expected tonight at the Arena-Essex Raceway with the local fans expected to get fully behind the Hammers team. However, they will all be listening out for the result of the other Elite League match this evening, which sees Peterborough take on Coventry at the East of England Showground. The Hammers go into both of these vital meetings with their official No.8, Chris Neath, covering for the injured Paul Hurry. The remaining six members of the team remain unchanged. Swindon tonight will be led by Australian Leigh Adams who will be making his final appearance at the Arena-Essex Raceway following his announcement that he is going to retire from racing in this Country at the end of this season. Adams is a former Hammers rider having ridden for the Club between 1993 and 1995. Joining him in the Robins team will be fellow Australian Justin Sedgmen, Danes Mads Korneliussen and Morten Risager, British World Cup rider Simon Stead and Poles Grzegorz Zengota and Maciej Janowski with the latter due to make his first appearance around the Arena-Essex Raceway having recently joined the Wiltshire club. On Monday, 6th September, the Peterborough Panthers have named in their side Danish Grand Prix rider Kenneth Bjerre along with his fellow countryman Niels Kristian Iversen, Australians Troy Batchelor and Rory Schlein, Poles Krzysztof Buczkowski and Norbert Kosciuch plus Mathieu Tresarrieu from France. The action gets underway at the Arena-Essex Raceway against Swindon this evening at 8pm with Monday’s match against Peterborough due to start 30 minutes earlier at 7.30pm. Both are vital matches for the Hammers so fans are asked to turn up as early as they can to avoid possible longer than usual queues at the pay booths.
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Post by Administrator on Sept 4, 2010 8:28:01 GMT
Saturday 4th September 2010
HAMMERS DESTINY IN THEIR OWN HANDS The Lakeside Hammers Elite League season looks set to be decided this Monday after a horror show at home on Friday left the team needing a win at home to Peterborough to guarantee a place in this year's Play Offs. The Hammers failed to get into their stride against a depleted, yet highly spirited, Swindon team at the Arena-Essex Raceway, and must now find their form quickly if their pre season intention of Play Off qualification is to remain a reality. "We win and lose as a team and there are no individual recriminations," said Team Manager, Jon Cook. "Everyone had at least one ride when they could have done better, and we intend to come out fighting on Monday and earn our place in the Play Offs by right, without relying on results elsewhere to go our way. "It's an exciting prospect for the League to have positions up for grabs right until the cut off date, but our destiny is still firmly in our own hands and we have the chance to bounce back very quickly in a meeting that promises to be a superb one off." Even after Monday night's battle, the Hammers can still book a place in the Play Offs by winning at Swindon next Thursday, the last day of the cut off for qualification. The Club had offered not to undertake this fixture as it placed them at an advantage of having raced one more away meeting than both Coventry and Peterborough in terms of matches ridden - a fact due to the recent number of rained off meetings. A three point win in either of the Hammers last two home meetings would have made this irrelevant, but, if as a consequence of Friday night's result the authorities wish to revisit this, the Essex based Club will not object, believing that the interests of fair play and sportsmanship should be exhibited in such an extreme situation. "Should such a situation arise, we would not object if the three clubs should be judged across 15 away meetings equally," said Cook.
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Post by Administrator on Sept 4, 2010 10:08:41 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAY AMENDED PRESS RELEASE Saturday 4th September 2010
HAMMERS DESTINY IN THEIR OWN HANDS The Lakeside Hammers Elite League season looks set to be decided this Monday after a horror show at home on Friday left the team needing a win at home to Peterborough to guarantee a place in this year's Play Offs. The Hammers failed to get into their stride against a depleted, yet highly spirited, Swindon team at the Arena-Essex Raceway, and must now find their form quickly if their pre season intention of Play Off qualification is to remain a reality. "We win and lose as a team and there are no individual recriminations," said Team Manager, Jon Cook. "Everyone had at least one ride when they could have done better, and we intend to come out fighting on Monday and earn our place in the Play Offs by right, without relying on results elsewhere to go our way. It's an exciting prospect for the League to have positions up for grabs right until the cut off date, but our destiny is still firmly in our own hands and we have the chance to bounce back very quickly in a meeting that promises to be a superb one off." Even after Monday night's battle, the Hammers can still book a place in the Play Offs by winning at Swindon next Thursday, the last day of the cut off for qualification. The Club had offered not to undertake this fixture as it placed them at an advantage of having raced one more away meeting than both Coventry and Peterborough in terms of matches ridden - a fact due to the recent number of rained off meetings. A three point win in either of the Hammers last two home meetings would have made this irrelevant, but, if as a consequence of Friday night's result the authorities wish to revisit this, the Essex based Club will not object, believing that the interests of fair play and sportsmanship should be exhibited in such an extreme situation. "Should such a situation arise, we would not object if the three clubs should be judged across 15 away meetings equally although the meeting at Swindon will remain on the 9th September even if we are racing only to restore pride lost on Friday." said Cook
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Post by Administrator on Sept 5, 2010 20:49:36 GMT
Sunday 5th September 2010
HAMMER BLOW TO PLAY OFF DECIDER
The Injury bug that has haunted the Lakeside Hammers for the past three seasons has struck again ahead of Monday night’s must win home Sky Sports Elite League match against the Peterborough Panthers. Swedish International Jonas Davidsson's season is over having sustained a broken thumb whilst representing the Essex based Club at the Elite League Pairs at Ipswich on Saturday in a meeting that saw the Hammers pair finish in third place. The rider will now have to wait to see if he needs an operation later in the week and faces at least a month on the sidelines. The Hammers will operate the ‘Rider Replacement’ facility in the absence of their Swedish International on Monday and will be applying to the BSPA for an emergency 28 day injury change to their declared 1-7 in the hope of replacing Davidsson for the season’s remaining meetings. Any of the Hammers riders, except their No.1, Lee Richardson, will be able to take an additional ride on Monday in the meeting against the Panthers, who are currently in fourth place in the League table just three League points behind the Hammers who are in third place. The Hammers will require a win against the Panthers by any margin to ensure their place in the Play Offs, which will ultimately decide the destiny of the 2010 Sky Sports Elite League Championship. This winner take all match will see Peterborough field their Danish Grand Prix rider Kenneth Bjerre and his fellow Danish International Neil Kristian Iversen, Australian Internationals Troy Batchelor and Rory Schlein, Polish riders Krzysztof Buczkowski and Norbert Kosciuch plus Mathieu Tresarrieu from France. This vital Sky Sports Elite League match against the Panthers on Monday, which takes place at the Hammers Arena-Essex Raceway, gets underway at 7.30pm. It is going to be a tense affair with a great deal at stake for both teams and, therefore, supporters from both clubs will be getting fully behind their teams, which will help to create an electric atmosphere at the Raceway
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Post by Administrator on Sept 7, 2010 9:42:13 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 7th September 2010
HAMMERS CONCEDE DEFEAT IN PLAY OFF HURT
The Lakeside Hammers promotional duo of Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook have admitted that this year’s challenge for the Sky Sports Elite League Championship is now over following their team’s comprehensive defeat at home to the Peterborough Panthers. The Hammers put in a lack lustre performance to match that of last Fridays freak draw with strugglers Swindon and the duo will now review the season and start planning for next season’s campaign with plans already in place that are likely to include a recall to the side for popular Finn Joonas Kylmakorpi, who has enjoyed a successful and injury free year out on loan to Eastbourne, and the offer of a full season’s contract to late season signing Peter Ljung. Commenting on last night’s performance Co Promoter and Team Manager Jon Cook said: "It’s bitterly disappointing to go down without a fight and the dreary wet night just about summed up of performances of late. It’s a bitter pill for all at the Club to take and I have to pay tribute to those fans that made the effort to support us in person last night. "They deserved much better and we will make it up to them in 2011 with lessons learnt along the way this season. The riders to a man were gutted and now is no time for recriminations as we have to re-gather our strengths for the Knockout Cup in a couple of weeks time. Our season died along with our fixture list in June and as much as we have tried to get back on track we have failed and that’s one situation that we will never repeat. "We now have to show a bit of character and drag something more out of this season and, hopefully, by the end of this week we can have a new rider on board and get stuck into defending the Knockout Cup we won last year." Co Promoter Stuart Douglas echoed the sentiment of Jon Cook saying: "I am puzzled by the manner of the defeat. Our team, on current form, is not strong enough for the Play Off challenge although we had ridden so well earlier in the season to put us in the picture. "The last two home meeting represent the kind of low we are not used to these days, but I know Jon will do everything possible to re-shape, and re-motivate the riders to give the Hammers fans something to shout about once again.”
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