Having won all of the previous four ties against the club, Houston have now been eliminated by St Ives in successive seasons at the second round stage of the KO Cup. Not only that, but the three times winners of the competition and current league champions lost home and away on both occasions, with a 43-47 defeat at the Nevis Arena sending them out by 20 points, their worst ever aggregate defeat. 16 down from leg one, the odds—already stacked against them—lengthened further with the injury to their number one Harry Sloan, who was ruled out of the side prior to the start of the return leg. His guest replacement—Ashley Smith (12+2)—was beaten in the opener as the Pirates initially increased their lead with a Nelek Piotrowski (10) winning 4-2, the home reserve recovered that loss in heat two, but the first of three Vendict Smolin (11+1)/Igor Dedura (11+2) 5-1’s of the night would follow in the next, a hat-trick a results that would end the Mustangs challenge. After last years win, St Ives went on to lift the trophy for a second time in five years, their defence continues with a quarter-final tie against Warley, the side they beat in SL31 final to land their first KO Cup. The Warriors made their way through to the last eight with a 53-37 home win over Doncaster in one of the other two all-top flight ties, a last heat 5-1 from Peter Soumi (13+1) and Vladilen Bunin (11+1) securing an eight point aggregate success. Blackpool beat Beverley by two in the remaining division one battle, Bernd Fischer (9+1) and reserve Riccardo Papa (7+2) scoring a crucial heat 14 5-1 at home, before Miloslav Ivanoff picked up a decisive two points in the last.

Richard Lewis (15) certainly made the most of his World Championship reprieve, he winning this season’s Overseas Final having gone into the meeting as a reserve. Lewis replaced the unfortunate Harry Sloan, with the world number ten ruled out through injury having qualified through to this stage as British Champion. Lewis won the World Championship in SL33 before making the switch from Fort William to Beverley, the now 36 year old has won both the British Final and British GP since, but this his was his first career Overseas Final triumph. He scored a maximum in the meeting at Timperley to finish three points clear of Aussie’ Angus Rogers, who returns to the GP’s for a second time after a four year absence, the third automatic qualification place from the tie going the way of Rogers’s countryman, Jacob Harvey (12). Defending World Champion John Hawke (10) finished equal fourth, he and fellow SL35 GP riders Luke Hughes (8) and Adam Bennett (7) are amongst those to qualify to the last-chance GP Play Off meeting. With three more current top eight riders earning places in that from this weeks Continental Final—Yuri Duski (9), Miloslav Ivanoff (8) and Milan Grof (8)—it will certainly be a hot contest in Coventry next week. Pelham and Czech rider Adamec Krupa (13) won this years Continental Final in Pila by a point from Rhondda world number four Herman Stanic (12), with third going the way of Jeremenko Kirjakov (11), who rides for East Goscote. Current world number three Vladilen Bunin (4) finished down in 15th, ending his hopes of a sixth GP series appearance in nine seasons.

Midland end the first half of the season outside of the promotion places in division two after slipping from second to fifth. A 40-50 loss to Timperley was their heaviest at home in over two years, the in-form Titans extending their unbeaten league run to five with the double figure rout, which they completed with heat 14 and 15 5-1’s. Remarkably the Pelicans septet had raced to just four heat wins between them up until that stage, Scott Knight and reserve Jarek Krol (8+4) securing their side what is their first away win of the campaign in the penultimate race, Kemenes Cap (12) and Mauro Papa (11+2) adding the icing to the cake in the last. Garry Robinson’s side climb to fourth, they now three points adrift of second and third placed sides, Sandwell and Buxton, who both picked up away points this week. One plus the bonus for the latter for their draw at Peckleton, meanwhile Sandwell took three at Witham, where Standish Maris top scored with 13+1 in a 41-49 visiting side victory.

Paid eight from teenage reserve Wojtek Maciejewski helped Kevin Lilley’s Bolsover side become the second to win at Hawick in the league this season. The Warley asset finished second to George Woods in the first of back-to-back 5-1’s scored by the visitors in heat two of the meeting, the Stallions leading the basement side from that stage onwards, with an eventual 43-47 success completed with the minor places from Pentele Kalman (11) and Kevin Bullock (9+1) in the final race of the meeting. The victory takes Bolsover to within a point of leaders Redhill, who’s four meeting winning run came to an end with a 48-42 defeat at East Goscote.