Wolverhampton Wolves storm to huge win
Rampant Wolverhampton had club officials thumbing the record books after racking up the club’s biggest winning margin for more than a decade with a 62-28 defeat of Somerset Rebels, writes Andy Mitchell.
Super Swedes Jacob Thorssell and Freddie Lindgren registered full maximums from five and four rides respectively as Wolves prevented the Rebels from making inroads from start to finish.
The 34-point chasm surpassed last season’s thumping successes over King’s Lynn and Swindon at Monmore Green with fans having to cast their minds back as far as the 63-29 beating of Ipswich in April 2007 to find a comparable result.
The Parry’s International Wolves were dominant from the outset as Lindgren cruised to the opener and Kyle Howarth pushed Rebels number one Rohan Tungate all the way.
Somerset’s Jan Graversen trapped in heat two but ended up last having allowed Jake Allen through to take the chequered flag in a shared race.
Fellow Dane Patrick Houggard gated as Graversen had but a troublesome second bend saw Thorssell glide through to lead before Rory Schlein eventually passed up the inside on the last lap for a first Wolves maximum.
The gap was extended when Sam Masters won by a distance from compatriot Josh Grajczonek and again through Thorssell’s dominant heat-five display with Schlein agonisingly close to passing Tungate.
Lindgren and Howarth easily snaffled a maximum in heat six to give Wolverhampton a 14-point cushion while wobbles for Masters and Mark Riss were only punished by Hougaard as the spoils were shared in the seventh.
Ex-Cradley charger Paul Starke had finished last in both of his heats but upset the form book by taking the eighth, although that 3-3 proved a mere stay of execution.
Thorssell and Schlein waltzed to a second 5-1 from three outings together with Grajczonek, recently in fine form in the top flight, left eating dust.
Lindgren and Howarth then repeated the trick with Hougaard nowhere near taking advantage of his tactical ride as Wolves more than doubled the points scored by their visitors after 10 races.
Starke produced the pass of the night to win for the second time. Having gated third, he found grip around the outside to effortlessly slip past Riss and then Masters but it was not enough to prevent Wolverhampton sealing victory with four races to spare.
Schlein blocked off Starke’s route to a third straight success and after Allen had got through, Greaves followed suit to ensure he claimed something from all four of his outings.
There was no let up from Lindgren in heat 13, the Swede taking a tapes-to-flag victory with Masters sailing around downtrodden Aussie rivals Tungate and Grajczonek.
Thorssell rounded off matters in style, passing Hougaard in heat 14 before leading home Masters with another consummate ride in a meaningless finale.
