Wolves speedway slump to defeat

Eastbourne 63 Wolves 29

Wolves' hopes of Knockout Cup glory were all but extinguished by an abysmal showing at Arlington.

It was a desperate display and one wholly unfit to place, before the loyal supporters who had spent their time and money on the journey to Sussex.

Eastbourne's experiment with Sunday racing worked perfectly - for the home fans.

But the travelling contingent were left aghast as their lacklustre side were pulverised from the starting gate.

Wolves were left to ponder the curse of the delayed flight from Poland which held up Fredrik and Ludvig Lindgren along with Adam Skornicki.

All three suffered with the elder Lindgren - admittedly in the throes of a heavy cold which has ensured three virtually sleepless nights - a shadow of the man who may well finish this evening at the head of the Elite League averages.

Ludvig Lindgren opened a nightmare evening with two successive crashes, the first an oddity which saw him hit the fence and pirouette ice skater fashion, somehow remaining on his feet as his bike spun away.

Second time round he made the one decent start produced by a Wolves rider all night to lead heat four only to lock up on the third bend and be collected by the following Tomasz Jedrzejak to earn a second disqualification.

And Skornicki could produce only a meagre five points from his six starts, frequently trailing off.

Nicolai Klindt also dragged up a couple of second places after three blobs and will go under the surgeon's knife this week in a bid to cure his shoulder problem.

The sole Wolves riders to remember this match with any affection will be Ty Proctor and Matt Wethers.

The former muscled his way from fourth to second in heat three to inflict Simon Gustafsson's only defeat and five races later was the sole Wolf to be first to the flag.

It was a cracking ride, too, Proctor going wide to the dirt in pursuit of Tomasz Jedrzejak before driving underneath him off the fourth turn and taking the Eagle's line.

Wethers, too, was happy to mix it and had a splendid pass and repass tussle with Jedrzejak in heat six, before winning a stern tussle with Ricky Kling in the 12th.

A modest Eastbourne side, on the other hand, were made to look like world beaters with Cameron Woodward completing a six-ride maximum and guest Lewis Bridger scoring heavily at reserve.

The Eagles are poised to go through and face Peterborough or Poole in the final, but for Wolves this definitely wasn't Sunday best.

By Tim Hamblin