It has been a frustrating start to the 2008 season for Glyn Taylor and the Redcar Bears. The opening home fixture of the season fell victim to the weather on Thursday, and was promptly re-arranged for Bank Holiday Monday. Unfortunately the Gods had other thoughts, and this was also a victim of the Weather, being postponed on Sunday evening after more snowfall on the track. No re-staging date for this match against Stoke has been announced yet.
In the meantime however, the Bears have had two difficult away meetings to start their season off with. Friday evening saw them visit Stoke in the Premier Trophy. It was always going to be a difficult meeting with the Bears not having had any competitive action, but they can be fairly pleased with a close 49-41 defeat. Stoke were without Dane Klaus Jacobsen in their side, who was away riding in a qualifier for the European U19 championships. This arguably made their side stronger, as it meant that any rider in the team could take his rides and he had scored no points in his only meeting for Stoke. The star of the show was Stokes Lee Complin, who raced his way to 15 points on the night and was the Potters match winner. Plenty of positives could be taken from the Bears performance on the night however. James Grieves started his season as he ended the last, notching 11 + 1, whilst Chris Kerr overcame a fall and a damaged bike to score 7. Ty Proctor showed flashes of his potential in scoring 4 and Arlo Bugeja scored a very respectable 3 + 3 from reserve. Josh Auty surprisingly struggled his way to 2+1, making very little impression and suffering from possible mechanical gremlins. There wont be too many times this season where he finishes bottom of the scorechart for the Bears. Havvy also scored slightly less than expected with 8, although this included a fall where he suffered a suspected broken nose and sustained some neck damage. Overall though not a bad result, and sent the large contingent of Bears fans back to Teesside fairly satisfied with what they had seen.
Sunday evening saw the Bears make the short trip up the A19 to face the Newcastle Diamonds. The Diamonds look a much stronger outfit this year in previous years, and recorded a fairly comfortable 52-38 win over the Bears. Josh Auty again struggled to make any impression on the Diamonds, whilst both Dan Giffard and Arlo Bugeja found the going very tough at reserve. Gary Havelock again struggled by his standards, still suffering from the effects of his fall at Stoke. There were plus points for the Bears however, with James Grieves again in sparkling form. He was very ably supported by the very under the weather Chris Kerr who chipped in with 10 points, and Ty Proctor gained his first win in British Speedway with a very impressive 7+1 for the young Aussie.
Two defeats from two is hardly the ideal start for the Bears, but starting off with two away meetings is very tough and the Bears were not disgraced in either meeting. The signs are looking positive for a good season, and once Auty and Havelock click in to gear the Bears will be a force to be reckoned with. The Bears are next in action this Thursday evening (weather permitting!) against the Newcastle Diamonds, with a 7:30 start at the South Tees Motorsports Park. A full preview of this meeting will appear later in the week.