‘Phenomenal’ Josh Bates leads Coventry Bees to victory in Swindon - The Coventry Observer

‘Phenomenal’ Josh Bates leads Coventry Bees to victory in Swindon

Coventry Editorial 9th Aug, 2016 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

GARY Havelock praised his magnificent Coventry Bees after thumping play-off chasing Swindon 56-34 at Brandon on Monday night, writes Observer speedway Robin Allen.

The Bees were back to full-strength after number-one Krzysztof Kasprzak missed the defeat at Leicester on Saturday evening because he was competing in the European Championship over the weekend.

And despite a poor start, the home side bounced back and produced their best display of the season with British Under-21 Champion Josh Bates dropping just one point in five ridesa which included taking the big scalp of Australian Grand Prix star Jason Doyle in the final heat of the night.

“I am very proud of the boys,” said Havelock “I have said all along that when we get going we are more than a match for anybody.




“We did not just win, we gave them a proper hiding, and I could not have asked for any more from the team. They were all magnificent, and it’s just a crying shame that we’re probably going to miss out on the play-offs when we can show this sort of form.

“Josh was phenomenal, he had a great night, and to be fair to Bomber (Chris Harris) he took a massive hit and could hardly walk, he was virtually carried onto his bike for Heat 13, but you know what Bomber is like!


“Having Jason back in the team is great because of bubbliness and the way he gets round his teammates wanting them to win, while Kacper is starting to prove that he’s got this place worked out because he scores points at reserve and in the main body of the team.”

The home side made a disastrous start as Jason Garrity touched the tapes in heat one, and then Swindon’s Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate romped to a 5-1 in the rerun.

However the Bees soon took charge of the meeting, with Bates winning heat two and the scores were level in the following race as Danny King went round Josh Grajczonek for the victory whilst skipper Chris Harris moved into third place ahead of Nick Morris.

Kacper Woryna has shown his liking to the Brandon circuit in recent weeks as he surged to the front of heat four with a clever move round the inside of turn two, with James Sarjeant collecting an excellent second place ahead of Justin Sedgmen.

Back-to-back heat advantages put Bees ten points up which caused Robins boss Alun Rossiter to hand the unbeaten Tungate a tactical ride.

But Tungate touched the tapes and was penalised 15 metres, with Woryna and Sarjeant taking advantage in the re-run and Tungate eventually being disqualified for bringing down his own teammate Wright on the exit of turn two.

Another maximum heat advantage in heat nine put the hosts 18 points up, but there was concern in the following race as Harris fell heavily in the first turn before the Robins trump cards Doyle and Tungate collected a 5-1 in the rerun.

The respite was shorted lived though, with back-to-back Bees heat advantages in heats ten and 11 putting the match mathematically safe.

Two shared heats followed, although it nearly turned to disaster when Woryna almost collided with Morris and just avoided hitting his teammate King too.

Bees boss Havelock rewarded Bates and Woryna with a pick for Heat 15 against the Robins’ top pair, and it was Bates who pulled off a stunning win, pouncing on an early error by Doyle coming off bend two to charge clear of the Australian, with Woryna in third place.

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