Wolverhampton Wolves crash to big defeat
Six-man Wolverhampton succumbed to Somerset’s big hitters Jason Doyle and Jack Holder in a 59-31 Premiership thrashing.
World champion Doyle and his Aussie compatriot stayed unbeaten from five and four rides respectively as the Parrys International Wolves, without injured number one Rory Schlein, sank without a trace.
Sam Masters and Jacob Thorssell gradually recovered from shaky starts but chequered flags were at a premium, even when the visitors made the gate.
Doyle stormed to the front from gate four with Kyle Howarth filing in behind to split the Rebels despite stern pressure from Aaron Summers in the opener.
Ashley Morris flew out the traps in the reserve race and held off Todd Kurtz to lead a shared second and the third was also a 3-3 from the gate with team riding from Masters and Jonas B Andersen pinning Nico Covatti at the back.
Wolves were six down after four after Holder blasted from back to front to lead home Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen with Thorssell running a second straight last.
It got no better as home guest Adam Ellis fought back from being pinned in third by Howarth to lead Covatti in another maximum and then Doyle reined in Thorssell to make the gap 12 points after six.
Andersen compounded Wolverhampton’s fortunes by almost side swiping Masters to allow through Kurtz to follow home Holder in the seventh.
Howarth went from third to first but got passed by Busk Jakobsen as Somerset extended their lead again in the eighth. Howarth was sent out as a tactical substitute in heat nine, but it was Thorssell who led from tapes to flag while his colleague got swallowed up at the back.
Doyle was at it again to reel in Masters on lap two to maintain his unbeaten record with Holder and Busk Jakobsen passing Masters and Morris respectively in another brace of Rebels heat advantages.
The home number one made no mistake from the gate in heat 13 with Holder proving too hot for Howarth to handle, snatching second on turn four of lap three with a clever chop up the inside.
Wolves grabbed their solitary heat advantage when Ellis seemed to have a problem out of the gate and finished last, although Kurtz pushed winner Masters every step of the way at the front.
Thorssell stormed past Doyle around turn two of the second lap but could not hold out in a big battle for the final three points of the night.
Somerset 59: Jason Doyle 15, Jack Holder 11+1, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 9+2, Adam Ellis 7+1, Todd Kurtz 7+1, Nico Covatti 6+1, Aaron Summers 4.
Wolves 31: Sam Masters 9+1, Jacob Thorssell 7, Kyle Howarth 6, Ashley Morris 6, Jonas B Andersen 2, James Sarjeant 1, Rory Schlein r/r.
