Brummies 45 King's Lynn 45

May 7 2007 By Mike Berry, Birmingham Mail

EMILIANO Sanchez conjured up one of his best rides of the season as Birmingham boldly rose to the challenge of reaching the last four of the Premier Trophy at Perry Barr last night.

The Argentinian did things the hard way in winning heat 11 as Brummies pulled out all the stops to drag back an eight-point deficit to draw 45-45 and claim a semi-final spot.

Big-hitters King's Lynn had opened up a healthy 25-17 lead after heat seven, but a 5-1 and back-to-back 4-2s in the next three races pulled Brummies level.

Sanchez then found himself trailing both the unbeaten Tomas Topinka and Chris Mills in heat 11, only to drive around both on different laps.

Mills nibbled back to reclaim the lead, but the imperious Sanchez refused to be beaten and muscled back to the front for a rousing victory that all but brought the house down.

He then teamed up with Ulrich Ostergaard, an unfortu-nate faller in heat one, to grab a 5-1 in heat 13 that gave Brummies the lead, only for King's Lynn to reply in kind in the penultimate race and leave the meeting squared up at 42-42.

It meant Birmingham needed at least a 3-3 in heat 15, and that's what they got, but only after Ostergaard's faulty saddle lost him a 5-1 with skipper Jason Lyons.

Lyons, who had changed bikes after a sluggish start, stormed past Daniel Nermark to claim his third straight win.

Brummies boss Graham Drury said: "We may have qualified but we are still not firing on all cylinders. When we do, I'm sure we will be capable of some terrific results."