Speedway: A brave Brady boy gives it Wight go

May 21 2007 By Barry Wallace, The Evening Chronicle

A brave ride by pain-wracked Ross Brady in the penultimate race of last night's pulsating Premier League match helped Newcastle Diamonds squeeze home 49-45 against a strong Isle of Wight outfit at Newcastle Stadium.

Brady suffered a pulled muscle in his back at Mildenhall on Saturday and could only take one of his four rides as the Warburtons-backed Diamonds went down 53-40.

The Scot spent yesterday morning undergoing treatment at the hands of Heart of Midlothian's physiotherapist, and declared himself fit for action against the Islanders.

However, the rather bumpy state of the Byker track almost proved Brady's undoing as he trailed home last in his first race and failed to complete four laps in his next.

Brady sat out his third ride when he was replaced by in-form reserve Sean Stoddart, but came out with Stoddart for heat 14, in which the Islanders needed maximum points if they were to salvage anything from a superb contest.

The Diamonds made a good start and led for more than a lap before Stoddart unluckily threw a chain - but Brady continued steadily and went on to win in the slowest time of the match.

All the other Diamonds had their moments too.

Skipper Christian Henry reeled off three wins and was the only home man to defeat the night's star Chris Holder, crucially when the Islanders' Aussie was taking a tactical ride in heat 13 and racing for double points.

Josef Franc joined Henry at the top of the score chart on 11 points, and Stoddart's excellent efforts were rewarded with a 10 (paid 12) tally.

Like Brady, Jonas Raun showed commendable bravery when, after hurtling into the fence during heat 11, he picked himself up and finished second to Holder in the re-run.

Though Newcastle's Carl Wilkinson was plagued with problems on his No 1 bike, he played a big part in the victory by loaning Ashley Johnson his No 2 machine for the night, and the Hartlepool-based reserve notched four match-winning points.

Team manager George English said: "This was always going to be a tough match and, with Ross struggling and Ashley without a bike, he lads had to dig deep to get the result we wanted."

NEWCASTLE: Christian Henry 11, Josef Franc 11, Sean Stoddart 10, Jonas Raun 8, Ashley Johnson 4, Ross Brady 3, Carl Wilkinson 2.

ISLE OF WIGHT: Chris Holder 16, Jason Bunyan 9, Cory Gathercole 8, Krzysztof Stojanowski 5, Glen Phillips 5, Andrew Bargh 2, Gary Flint 0.

SATURDAY - MILDENHALL: Kyle Legault 11, Shaun Tacey 9, Tom Madsen 8, Mario Jirout 7, James Cockle 7, Jason King 6, Mark Thompson 5.

NEWCASTLE: Henry 14, Franc 12, Wilkinson 5, Stoddart 5, Raun 4, Brady 0, Johnson 0.