Tapes Up: Diamonds Take Narrow Victory Over League Favourites

Thank you George English and the Media team at Newcastle Diamonds.

Sponsored in 2012 by Sapphire Engineering & Darrian Properties

Newcastle Diamonds 48
Ipswich Witches 42
(Premier League)

Top scorers:
Diamonds - Mark Lemon 11 1, Stuart Robson 9
Witches - Rohan Tungate 12 1, Leigh Lanham 12

Ipswich arrived at Newcastle's Brough Park last night for a league match against the Diamond but inconsistency nearly cost the home side the six-point win on a night where nothing was certain.

The Witches are tipped as potential champions in 2012, and on the power shown by several of the Suffolk side they are well on course, with Leigh Lanham expertly winning Heat One ahead of Stuart Robson, and the sensational new young Australian Rohan Tungate taking two more three pointers by Heat Four, with the match tight at 13-11.

Lanham blew Mark Lemon's lead to pieces in Heat Five when he darted round the Diamond on bend two of the opening lap in a shared 3-3 whilst Stuart Robson seemed to suffer a possible fuel-starvation problem in Heat six when his power dropped off leaving his floundering at the back in the race won by Claes Nedermark over Mat Tresarrieu in another split taking the score to 19-17.

Heat Seven served up a sensational race led in the main by Mathew Wethers, but Ludvig Lindgren wound on the power over the final lap to shoot past the leading man to sneak three points on the line with Newcastle guest reserve Micky Dyer holding third in a 4-2 to push the Diamonds four up at 23-19.

Nedermark took the eighth after a superb battle with Kevin Doolan with the passing and re-passing throughout with the result another shared 3-3, with another split coming from Tresarrieu in the Ninth taking the needle match to 29-25.

Robson shot from third to first on the opening lap of Heat 10 in an eventual 4-2 to extend the lead to six, whilst Worrall crashed out of heat 11 when he went too wide on bend two just after Lindgren had blocked Lanham perfectly on bend on to take a fine lead.

In the re-run, Lindgren took the win in another 3-3 and in the 12th young Tungate showed his Australian international team manager Lemon the way home decisively in an Ipswich 2-4 reducing the gap to four, a differential maintained with a great Robson win over Lanham in Heat 13.

After several incidents swapping of positions in the penultimate race 14 Worrall took the win over the two Witches leaving the match poised 44-40 with one to go.

Lemon took the match winning win with ease as Robson soared round Tresarrieu to tuck in to third for a 4-2, but it was touch and go all night.

Team manager George English was happy just to get the win, saying: "We could easily have lost this match tonight as there were simply too many errors and misjudgements, but somehow we pulled through although did lose one league point to the Witches who can never be underestimated which is always a dangerous thing. Thankfully we got the win which is better than nothing, but losing one league point is still disappoing."