Birmingham 52 Isle of Wight 38

Sep 18 2008 By Nigel Pearson

GRAHAM Drury gave his riders a firm pat on the back after last night’s impressive win over the Isle of Wight at Perry Barr.

The 14-point win was achieved despite the BRC Roofing Brummies falling six-points behind early on.

They displayed great character to boost their chances of qualifying for the end-of-season Jack Young Shield competition in front of a healthy crowd.

Big guns Tomasz Piszcz, Jason Lyons and Craig Watson delivered the goods with a staggering 40-points between them but it was an impressive all-round Brummies side.

Drury said: “I was delighted with the boys and I told them so. I thought it was a terrific meeting for us to win.

“I’m sure a lot of our fans thought we were in trouble when we were struggling in the first few races, but we never lost our belief and we were determined to win this one.

“It hurt us to lose at home against Rye House last week and this was the perfect way for us to bounce back. It’s looking promising for us to qualify for the Young Shield now.”

Skipper Lyons suffered a setback when he fell in Heat 5 but he was unbeaten in his other outings, and fellow heat-leaders Piszcz and Watson were also in dominant form to pile up the points.

Brummies got back into contention with a 5-1 from Piszcz and lively guest reserve Ben Taylor in Heat 6, and a fourth-to-second blast from James Birkinshaw to link up with Lyons in Heat 9 put them ahead.

The home side gradually extended their lead and the Isle of Wight’s last chance to hit back was when Paul Fry took a tactical ride in Heat 14 - but after taking the lead and looking set for a possible six points, he fell on the third bend and the Brummies were safe.

BIRMINGHAM: Tomasz Piszcz 14+2, Craig Watson 14, Jason Lyons 12, Ben Taylor 5+2, James Birkinshaw 5+1, Jay Herne 2+1, Kyle Legault R/R.

ISLE OF WIGHT: Richard Sweetman 10+2, Krzysztof Stojanowski 10, Jason Bunyan 6, Cory Gathercole 4+1, Glen Phillips 3+1, Andrew Bargh 3, Paul Fry 2+2.