A first double figure win at home in nearly three months has taken Kent safely through to the final of the Division One Cup. Despite winning their away leg of the last four tie at West Ham, their recent rocky form at the Iron Ring meant that progression for Mitch Godden’s side was far from a foregone conclusion when the two met again this week. This though was a much better showing, they quickly gaining confidence after building on their single point advantage with 5-1’s in heats one and six, won in turn by Espen Askelien (11) and Zarand Paris (14). By the end of the night the two had racked up seven race wins between them, the Dockers lead quartet—who all average over eight—unable to contain the dominant pair, who were beaten just three times by an opponent in their combined ten outings to the track. Askelien’s winning 4-2 in heat 13 wrapped up Kent’s aggregate success, a first semi-final exchanged for a first final appearance in this tier of the competition. Kent now have the chance to become the fourth club—after Desford, Wirral and Peak Dean—to win all three versions of the competition, to do that they need to beat holders Brighton, who made their return to the final after beating Swanage with ease at the last four stage. The hard work for the Sharks was done in the first leg, a 56-34 home win making this weeks trip to Days Park a comfortable one, while a 5-1 from the visiting reserves in heat two calmed any nerves there may have been. Brighton had scored the points they required by the end of heat 11, eventually Nick Ward’s side progressing by 14 on aggregate.

Despite losing the first leg at home, Peak Dean were in contention until the penultimate heat of their semi-final Division Two Cup tie with Wirral. Eventually this weeks hosts prevailed, the minor places in heat 14 securing the Warriors their spot in the final, with a 5-1 won by Milan Hochmeister (11) making the real difference the race before. Glyn Hughes side went on to win the clash 46-43 to progress by seven, they have now won all six of their meetings in the competition this season, a far cry from their current league form where they have gone eight without a victory, a run which has seen them slip from third to seventh! A 41-49 home defeat to Long Ley this week is part of that dreadful sequence, the Lions twice recovering from eight down to take the points, with three 5-1’s and two 4-2’s in the final third of the clash brining about a 16 point turnaround in the scores. That sort of collapse means that their final opponents Newcastle will be favourites to lift the trophy when they meet over two legs next month, the Rebels beating Wordsley home and away in coming through their last four tie by 40 on aggregate! Neil Magee’s side also strengthened their bid for promotion with home and away wins in their latest league fixtures, the latter a 43-47 success at under-pressure Dover, where a last heat Sladen Bruhn (12+1) winning 4-2 saw them secure their third away win of the campaign. Newcastle have lost just three of their last 16 in the league and currently lie second in the table, just two points off leaders Peak Dean.

A late run of heat advantages helped Calne see off Benfleet to reach the final of the Division Three Cup for the first time. The Eagles—who’d been eliminated at the group stage of the competition in each of their four previous seasons in the competition—trailed by four on aggregate going into the final four heats of the home second leg, but turned things around, starting with a 4-2 won by reserve Daniel Yates (9) in heat 12. A 5-1 followed in heat 13 and then another 4-2 in the next before Alexander Holden (14) sealed their passage with his fourth victory of the night in the last. Barry Cadd’s side will face Bracklesham in the decider.

A third career GP win for Peak Dean’s Krzysztof Olszewski (13) this week in Hungary. The 30 year old topped the standings in Gyor by a point from World Champion Ruda Pala (12), who takes over at the head of the standings from Hobart Buus (9) in this years series.

Cradley’s mid-season £300,000 signing from Newcastle, Tapio Kallio, won a three rider-race off to land the WU19 title at Peak Dean. The 18 year old—who finished ninth in last years final—took the silverware after beating BU19 champion Rhys Owens and Dobry Kaminski in the deciding race.

Swanage have extended their advantage at the top of division one to five points with the help of a 41-49 victory at Milton Keynes. A last heat 5-1 from Daniel Mucha (15+1) and Joseph Fisher (13+1) secured them the win in a meeting they had trailed in by six. Meanwhile a 40-50 win at Cradley maintains Nottingham’s position in the division two promotion places, the Comets responded by beating bottom side Dudley Wood (40-50) on the road.