Isle of Wight 60 Birmingham 33

Aug 3 2007

BATTERED Brummies were put to the sword by the Isle of Wight at Smallbrook last night.

The Islanders banked both match and bonus points as they swept to victory against a Birmingham side who were a pale shadow of the potent unit who had dispensed with Newcastle 24 hours earlier.

Skipper Jason Lyons pulled out all the stops to claim six points on a tactical ride in heat seven, but it was brief respite on a night of mostly one-way traffic.

The biggest disappointment for the Mercom Brummies was that Emiliano Sanchez and Henrik Moller failed to register a single point between them.

The Isle of Wight had Jason Bunyan (12+2) and Chris Holder (12+1) in top form, and they were given excellent backing all the way down the order.

The Islanders are always a handful on their big home track and they built up a 26-10 lead with heat advantages in each of the opening six races.

Heat seven was a better one for the Brummies, with Lyons nominated as a tactical ride and taking the chequered flag ahead of Glenn Phillips and Andrew Bargh.

Ben Powell and Manuel Hauzinger followed that up with a 4-2 in heat eight, but the Islanders responded with two 5-1s and the match was quickly put beyond the Brummies.

They did strike back with an Ulrich Ostergaard and Powell 4-2 in heat 11, but that was as close as they got as the Isle of Wightfinished with two 5-1s and a 4-2 to run out convincing winners.