Lakeside Hammers 49, Wolverhampton Wolves 41
by COLIN MUNFORD
A LAST heat advantage secured three vital Elite League points for the home side as they looked to cement their play-off spot.
Kauko Nieminen was the vital man as he managed to find a way past Peter Karlsson in the final heat to secure the win against plucky Wolves.
For most of the meeting the Hammers looked in control but with the likes of Karlsson, GP star Tai Woffinden and an in-form Ty Proctor you could never write them off, and at one stage it looked like they were going to pull off the win.
But after a spate of heat advantages the Hammers were able to come out on top, mainly down to Nieminen and the ever impressive Lee Richardson.
Richardson 15 points to lead by example, being backed up by the Finn who proved inspirational.
The meeting started brightly for the home side with Richardson on top in the opening heat and with Nieminen and Jonas Davidsson workingperfectly in the third the Hammers were sailing with a 12-6 lead.
But the lead was not to last long as Nieminen’s exclusion in heat five lead to the visitors’ first maximum of the night through the formidable pairing of guest Karlsson and Proctor, who was again pivotal in reducing their deficit to just two at 25-23.
Nieminen looked back to his best in heat nine as the Hammers started the widen the deficit once more, which was soon followed by another 4-2 with number eight Lubos Tomicek doing well in his only race of the night to hold off the challenge of Ulrich Ostergaard.
But this topsy-turvy encounter took another twist as skipper Adam Shields failed to make the gate for the first time of the night and they paid the ultimate price as Proctor and Karlsson teamed up once again to put the Hammers’ win in jeopardy.
But the duo of the night Nieminen and Richardson guided the Hammers to two consecutive heat advantages which set up for a thrilling final heat.
And Richardson made the gate and pulled into a lengthy lead but the only battle was at the back with Nieminen pulling out a fantastic move on the experienced Karlsson to leave the pair and the Hammers fans ecstatic with the win and the three points.
Lakeside Hammers 49: Lee Richardson 15, Kauko Nieminen 11+1, Jonas Davidsson 7, Adam Shields 8, Chris Neath 2+1, Stuart Robson 5+1, LubosTomicek 1
Wolverhampton Wolves 41: Peter Karlsson 10, Ty Proctor 7+2, Ulrich Ostergaard 5+1, Tai Woffinden 12, Kyle Hughes 1+1, Ludvig Lindgren 6.