Plymouth Gladiators v Birmingham Brummies

Report

BIRMINGHAM stunned Plymouth with a 47-42 victory at the Coliseum in their Cab Direct Championship opener.

It was the Brummies’ first win of the season, home or away, with skipper Justin Sedgmen racing to an outstanding 14 points from five rides.

Former Plymouth man Alfie Bowtell (9+1) and Nick Morris (8+2) gave good support whilst the Gladiators were hampered by the injury absence of Kyle Howarth, with Richie Worrall (14+2), Ben Barker (13) and Dan Gilkes (9) dominating their scoring.

Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “We had a chat as a team on track walk and with it being the first league meeting, we said that our season started here – and boy did they respond.

“We got off to such a good start and that gave us some confidence from the off.

“We may have lost Stefan (Nielsen) in his first ride but the team pulled together brilliantly and they fully deserved that win.”

Plymouth manager Garry May said: “It was a close meeting but we only got four points from Kyle’s rides, and that’s probably the difference.

“Some of my riders didn’t perform tonight and we’ll have to see what happens there as well, but good luck to Birmingham, they’ve got good riders and we’ve got to win up there to get the points back.”

CAB DIRECT CHANPIONSHIP
PLYMOUTH 42: Richie Worrall 14+2, Ben Barker 13, Dan Gilkes 9, Lee Complin 3, Paul Starke 2+2, Ben Trigger 1, Kyle Howarth r/r
BIRMINGHAM 47: Justin Sedgmen 14, Alfie Bowtell 9+1, Nick Morris 8+2, Paco Castagna 8, Joe Thompson 5, James Pearson 3+2, Stefan Nielsen 0

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Photo credit: DAN WESTLAKE