Wolverhampton Wolves gain advantage in Grand Final
Wolverhampton put themselves in pole position to retain the league title with a terrific Grand Final first leg performance in Wiltshire.
Despite being without injured Swedish duo Fredrik Lindgren and Jacob Thorssell, the Parrys International Wolves took a four-point victory thanks to a fast-gating display, especially in the first half of the meeting, writes Dave Rowe.
And now they will head back to Monmore for tomorrow’s decider with a great chance of becoming the first winners of the SGB Premiership era.
Swindon gained the first advantage when guest Liam Carr bundled past Mark Riss in forceful fashion on the fourth turn of Heat 2, but Wolves levelled immediately with stand-in skipper Rory Schlein taking the next ahead of a frantic battle between Tobiasz Musielak and Kyle Howarth.
And when home man Nick Morris tumbled out on the first bend of Heat 4, Sam Masters and Nathan Greaves – who had already been in front when the race was stopped – took full advantage in the re-run to give Wolves an early four-point lead.
The visitors had a let-off in Heat 5 when Musielak ground to a halt when looking set for a race advantage – but the next two races saw them secure stunning back-to-back maximums.
First, Riss flew from the outside gate to team up with Masters for a huge 5-1 over World Champion-elect Jason Doyle, and then with confidence clearly flowing through the Wolves camp, Schlein and guest Chris Harris kept Nick Morris at bay in Heat 7 to put the Monmore men twelve points to the good.
Howarth steamed past Bradley Wilson-Dean on the fourth bend of Heat 8 to maintain the advantage, and Masters produced a brutally strong first turn in the next which saw him ease Musielak aside for another Wolves race win.
The home side edged a 4-2 from Heat 10 with Schlein squeezed out at the back, but they were making little serious progress as Harris and Howarth packed in behind Morris in the next.
It could have got even better in Heat 12 as Wolves held a 5-1 only for Riss to crash on the second lap – but Schlein produced a true captain’s ride in the re-run to go around Bradley Wilson-Dean and then inside Musielak for a brilliant win.
Swindon did fashion a 5-1 response through Doyle and Morris in Heat 13, but a key third place from Nathan Greaves in the next ensured a first-leg advantage – with four points the final margin as the impressive Masters split the Robins’ top two in the last race of the night.
