Post by miltonkeynescats on Sept 26, 2015 10:39:17 GMT
Heading into week 11, MK Cats boss Sean has made a decision sure to irk the easily angered Morgan of Wednesfield, in that he's made a change to his team. "Yes, I know it will anger some, quite frankly i'm an abomination putting the wishes of the paying public first, what am I thinking? But whisper it quietly, it isn't as big a change as it may appear, and maybe Morgan will be OK with it. Maybe."
Returning to the Cats fold will be 24 year-old Romanian, Dragan Moosz, he started the season in the cats septet, and he was in good form in all competitions averaging almost 3.6, until he came up against the dangerous Dale Hawkins, who left him in hospital with a fractured ankle and out of action until now. It's been a long road to recovery, but now Dragan is ready to make his return and he's hungry to make an impact.
"It's been long time." said Moosz "his stupid riding cost me a lot, but i'm back, and i'm good and ready to race. Thanks to Gianni for filling in for me."
"That's something i'd like to express further, and on behalf of the Cats promotion and fans, i'd like to sincerely thank Gianni Stacchini for his efforts for the Cats, and wish him the very best of luck in the future." said promoter Sean Wood.
But changing our focus now, and looking back instead of forwards, week 10 saw MK get an impressive result away at Stockport, only going down by 2 points in what is probably the best away team performance they are likely to witness this season. An example of what we were up against, Maceik has only been beaten by an opponent once at home in the league this season, at home before this week they had only conceded a single 5-1, they had only conceded seven heat advantages. Their team structure has massive top-end strength, that makes them a match for anyone, and a team that can win at a canter anywhere, but certainly around their own track.
Up against form and abilities like that, the cats knew that when they hit the Shaleblasters, they had to hit hard, and they got off to a dream start, by not just beating Maceij, but gaining a heat advantage in heat 1, when Kornacki, AND Olejnik got the better of the home number 1, bringing home a 5-1 against all the odds, to rapturous applause from the away following in attendance.
The home side hit back quickly when Zawadski was only able to split the home pairing in heat 2, before Leysmeyer made a lightning gate in heat 3 heading Gavenda and Edgar home for a 3-3. Then the drama ramped up again in heat 4 as Bracey roared away from the start, with Zawadski hanging onto his coat-tails and getting the wheels in line exiting bend 2 and speeding around the outside of Fortes to a second 5-1.
The glee on the faces of the travelling Cats only intensified when Kornacki and Olejnik brought home a stellar 4-2, to lead the home side by 8 points after 5 races. The Shaleblasters provided the race winners for the next 5 races, but with heat advantages in only two of them, the cats were still 4 points to the good going into heat 11. The cats made the gate but exiting the second bend on a 3-3 Olejnik fell. A rerun was called and he was excluded as the primary cause of the stoppage, leaving Kornacki as the lone cat, but there was no worry, he rode an assured race and got the win over Fortes and Ellis.
Four races left and the Cats had a 4 point cushion over the home side... until Gavenda raced away from the tapes to the lead of heat 12, while Zawadski kept it tidy around the white line and managed to squeeze man and machine through the smallest of gaps inside Leysmeyer going into the third bend of lap three, to deliver MK's third 5-1 of the evening, and go into the final 3 races with an 8 point advantage.
Unfortunately for the Cats, this is where the top end power of Stockport came into play. It's difficult to beat just 1 of their top 3, when you're against 2 of them, it's impossible, and was all-too-swiftly demonstrated in heat 13 with the home pairing quickly demonstrating their calibre with a 5-1 over Kornacki and Bracey, while Buck wasn't too far away, and he tried every racing move in his repertoire, he couldn't make anything stick on a Fortes who seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
This momentum shift continued in heat 14 with two races in one heat, neither unfortunately going the away teams way, with Zawadski and Edgar bested by Pettersen and Ellis respectively, which left the cats 2 points to the good, with just 4 laps remaining.
Heat 15 saw the same quartet as two races previous. It saw a different finishing order. It saw the same end result though, with a home 5-1 through Fortes and Tercjak in spite of a herculean effort from Kornacki. Final score: 46-44 to Stockport.
While it was a disappointing result given the score after 12 races, we'd have taken a bigger loss pre-meeting, and it gives an example of what we can do if we click away from home. It should serve as a warning, and much like the narrow loss away to Blunsdon earlier in the season, it puts us in a very strong position later in the year in regard to bonus points, so all in all we can't complain, and we head onward to Thornaby.
Returning to the Cats fold will be 24 year-old Romanian, Dragan Moosz, he started the season in the cats septet, and he was in good form in all competitions averaging almost 3.6, until he came up against the dangerous Dale Hawkins, who left him in hospital with a fractured ankle and out of action until now. It's been a long road to recovery, but now Dragan is ready to make his return and he's hungry to make an impact.
"It's been long time." said Moosz "his stupid riding cost me a lot, but i'm back, and i'm good and ready to race. Thanks to Gianni for filling in for me."
"That's something i'd like to express further, and on behalf of the Cats promotion and fans, i'd like to sincerely thank Gianni Stacchini for his efforts for the Cats, and wish him the very best of luck in the future." said promoter Sean Wood.
But changing our focus now, and looking back instead of forwards, week 10 saw MK get an impressive result away at Stockport, only going down by 2 points in what is probably the best away team performance they are likely to witness this season. An example of what we were up against, Maceik has only been beaten by an opponent once at home in the league this season, at home before this week they had only conceded a single 5-1, they had only conceded seven heat advantages. Their team structure has massive top-end strength, that makes them a match for anyone, and a team that can win at a canter anywhere, but certainly around their own track.
Up against form and abilities like that, the cats knew that when they hit the Shaleblasters, they had to hit hard, and they got off to a dream start, by not just beating Maceij, but gaining a heat advantage in heat 1, when Kornacki, AND Olejnik got the better of the home number 1, bringing home a 5-1 against all the odds, to rapturous applause from the away following in attendance.
The home side hit back quickly when Zawadski was only able to split the home pairing in heat 2, before Leysmeyer made a lightning gate in heat 3 heading Gavenda and Edgar home for a 3-3. Then the drama ramped up again in heat 4 as Bracey roared away from the start, with Zawadski hanging onto his coat-tails and getting the wheels in line exiting bend 2 and speeding around the outside of Fortes to a second 5-1.
The glee on the faces of the travelling Cats only intensified when Kornacki and Olejnik brought home a stellar 4-2, to lead the home side by 8 points after 5 races. The Shaleblasters provided the race winners for the next 5 races, but with heat advantages in only two of them, the cats were still 4 points to the good going into heat 11. The cats made the gate but exiting the second bend on a 3-3 Olejnik fell. A rerun was called and he was excluded as the primary cause of the stoppage, leaving Kornacki as the lone cat, but there was no worry, he rode an assured race and got the win over Fortes and Ellis.
Four races left and the Cats had a 4 point cushion over the home side... until Gavenda raced away from the tapes to the lead of heat 12, while Zawadski kept it tidy around the white line and managed to squeeze man and machine through the smallest of gaps inside Leysmeyer going into the third bend of lap three, to deliver MK's third 5-1 of the evening, and go into the final 3 races with an 8 point advantage.
Unfortunately for the Cats, this is where the top end power of Stockport came into play. It's difficult to beat just 1 of their top 3, when you're against 2 of them, it's impossible, and was all-too-swiftly demonstrated in heat 13 with the home pairing quickly demonstrating their calibre with a 5-1 over Kornacki and Bracey, while Buck wasn't too far away, and he tried every racing move in his repertoire, he couldn't make anything stick on a Fortes who seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
This momentum shift continued in heat 14 with two races in one heat, neither unfortunately going the away teams way, with Zawadski and Edgar bested by Pettersen and Ellis respectively, which left the cats 2 points to the good, with just 4 laps remaining.
Heat 15 saw the same quartet as two races previous. It saw a different finishing order. It saw the same end result though, with a home 5-1 through Fortes and Tercjak in spite of a herculean effort from Kornacki. Final score: 46-44 to Stockport.
While it was a disappointing result given the score after 12 races, we'd have taken a bigger loss pre-meeting, and it gives an example of what we can do if we click away from home. It should serve as a warning, and much like the narrow loss away to Blunsdon earlier in the season, it puts us in a very strong position later in the year in regard to bonus points, so all in all we can't complain, and we head onward to Thornaby.