England international Darren Corbett (13) backed up his 18 point maximum in the semi finals of the competition with another stellar performance in this weeks Pairs decider at Purton, the 26 year old beaten just twice in leading Lyme Bay (21) to victory. And the current Overseas Champion needed to be at his very best with partner Mario Mueller (8) inconsistent in his form to say the least, the German finishing last in both heat eight and 13 before claiming a second race win of the meeting in heat 17, where the Buccaneers picked up a crucial 5-1 over Stone Cross, with that maximum taking the SL26 League Champions a point clear of Halesowen at the top of the final standings with a race apiece to run. First up to put down a marker in the final stages were the Heathens, up against Stone Cross in heat 19 and with Andy Daniel (15) so far unbeaten nothing less than a 5-1 would do. For once though Daniel—averaging over 11.50 in the league—didn’t come up with the goods when it mattered, he coming home in fourth after a torrid time trying to get past Dan Hogh following a poor gate, the Dane using all his experience to keep Daniel at bay. Halesowen boss Stuart Mills was thankful that Roland Lisztes managed to pick up the race win, however in reality they needed more to pressure Lyme Bay. No fluffing of the lines from Corbett who eased to victory in the following race, and even a fall at the back for Mueller in the clash against Timperley wouldn’t deny the Buc’s three points and what was their first ever victory in the competition.

Southampton are top of the division one table for the first time since they won the League title in SL24. A 50-40 home victory over Birkenhead taking the Saints to the summit nearly two and a half years on from that success, they having earlier claimed their first away win of the campaign. That was returned at Auckland, 43-47, where a last heat Goran Seslar (13)/Sergey Guerk (14+1) 5-1 secured both league points for the visitors in a meeting in which between them the two had raced to all of their side’s eight heat victories. In contrast six different riders claimed race wins for the Rhinos, still not enough though for the hosts who end the week in the bottom three following the defeat and later loss at Harringay. Harringay went into the latest fixtures without a league win, they now have two to their name, with that four point home success over the Rhinos having been proceeded by a six point victory at Stone Cross. Radek Latal scored maximums in both meetings, his third and fourth for the club since joining as their new number one from Greenhill for £55,000 in pre-season. Stone Cross replaced Harringay at the bottom of the table, not only did they have difficulty in containing Latal when taking on the Racers, but also in taking points at reserve, with their bottom two of Jordan Milne (1) and Jamie Dixon (0) failing to beat an opponent in the defeat. Elsewhere Grangemouth are counting the cost of the non-selection of Alex Warren against Lyme Bay, a full strength Buccaneers winning at the Oilers 41-49 with the visitors number seven Oliver Ross scoring paid eight in the success.

The tactical absence of Mario Koch didn’t prevent Wimbledon making it five wins out of five in the league since their relegation to division two, the Stars 51-39 home victors over Wroughton despite a score-less debut for the club from Ryan Ryan. Back to full strength the Stars also went on to win at Cradley, 44-46, where a last heat 4-2 won by Pazman Sabados (13) took them to victory and maintained their position at the top of the standings. However they’ll have problems staying there with the change in averages forcing one of their top five out of the side next week, Sam Jones (7.00 GSA) the likely casualty. Sawley are still breathing down the leaders necks and without the same average issues, they made it six out of six with wins over Greenhill (52-38) and Eastbourne (43-47), the latter their second in succession in the league at the venue, albeit the two coming some nine years apart! Six heat wins enough for the Grenadiers to take both points in the division two clash, one in which they led in from start to finish, scoring 5-1’s in heats two and eight which both involved reserve Samuel Gould (8+4).

Coleshill have gone top of division three for the first time since the opening week of SL23, the Cougars reaching the summit with a 39-51 victory at Birstall, which equals a club record for an away league win. Their success though comes at a cost, with Andy Harvey’s start of season line-up now nearly two points over the 47 point selection ceiling, which leaves the position in the team of Andreas Magnusson under threat. The issue has arrived due to the high scoring of Craig Albone at reserve, the loanee hitting 11+1 in the win at the Bulls.