Wolves speedway squeak into semis

????Coventry 48 Wolves 42 (Wolves win 93-91 on aggregate)

Wolves squeaked into the Knockout Cup semi-finals by the width of Fredrik Lindgren's front tyre.

Lindgren passed Krzystof Kasprzak for second place on the last lap of the final race and just held on to the finishing line.

Or did he? Riders usually know who's edged the close ones and Polish star Kasprzak promptly embarked on a lap of honour to celebrate taking the tie to a two-leg replay.

But the home fans' jubilation last night was promptly punctured as referee Dale Entwistle called the verdict in favour of the Wolf and was backed by a freeze frame shot.

However, it was a bitter pill for the home side to take. And there was uproar in the pits when a monitor there displayed video footage which appeared to indicate that Kasprzak had prevailed.

Coventry riders, with Ben Barker to the fore, rushed round looking for someone to protest to while Wolves stoically packed their gear and began to think about the semi-final against old rivals Eastbourne.

The flashpoint soon passed - Barker made a point of shaking hands with his rivals - but it was an extraordinary end to an equally extraordinary meeting.

A see-saw match in which Wolves actually led three times on the night seemed to be turning against them, when Coventry finally wiped out their eight-point deficit from the first leg to leave the scores level on aggregate after 12 of the 15 races.

But, when you need a big performance in a bigger race, then Adam Skornicki is your man. He scorched round the boards from gate four in heat 13 and Kasprzak, try as he might, could not dislodge him.

The manoeuvre left, of all people, Brandon experts Lindgren and Chris Harris fighting it out for third spot and swapping places twice before Lindgren established himself.

It was a repeat of the situation two races earlier when the excellent Ty Proctor, frequently a pivotal figure for Wolves at Brandon, raced clear from Lewis Bridger to leave the illustrious Lindgren and Harris squabbling over the minor spoils.

The Swede's younger brother Ludvig, who had a fine meeting full of zestful racing, then blasted from the gate to lead the penultimate heat with captain Tai Woffinden tucked in for second.

Had it stayed like that the Parrys International Wolves would have been home and hosed with a race to run.

But Woffinden's laudable efforts to team ride Lindgren home foundered when Przemyslaw Pawlicki got past him to leave everything on the last heat.

The Brandon circuit has come in for some criticism this season but this was a classic night's action.Coventry, with one eye on Monday's play-off final second leg at Poole, were left distraught by the news that Edward Kennett is out of that match after breaking an ankle in a seemingly innocuous heat five fall.

Despite his injury the Great Britain rider made strenuous, if unsuccessful, efforts to extricate himself from the air fence and clear the track.

It was an attitude in some counterpoint to that of team-mate Bridger in similar circumstances two races later. He picked himself up, had a long look at the margin by which Woffinden led Harris, and then sat down again. Harris duly won the rerun.

In a feisty derby tie Bridger also strode across to the Wolves pits to deliver a close-up verdict to Fredrik Lindgren on the latter's attempt to pass him in heat 11.

But Lindgren stayed cool - and Wolves edged through.

By Tim Hamblin