MATCH REPORT: European Club Championship day 3

Report by Mike Hack, Photos courtesy of the Polish Federation President Marcin Niedzielski

MS Slask Swietochlowice, of Poland, are the new European Cycle Speedway Club Champions! They took their victory after beating Torun, Horspath and Gniezno in the Grand Final at the TSZ Torun track in Poland.
The match was closely contested, particularly early on. After three rounds of races, Swietochlowice, Gniezno and Torun were all level on 32 points each, with Horspath on 24. However, Swietochlowice had their round of the favoured grid 1 start positions to come, and they took full advantage, to open up a 7 points lead over Torun after heat 16. Gniezno were 1 point behind Torun, with Horspath a further 2 points back. The match concluded with the four nominated riders races. Dawid Bas won heat 17 and Kamil Bielica’s second place in heat 18 was sufficient to put Swietochlowice into an unassailable ten points lead and clinch the 2021 European Club Championship, with two races to spare. There was a battle royale for the runner-up spot, and the remaining three teams entered the last race, with just a single point separating them. Horspath held a point advantage over Gniezno and Torun. Marcin Kolata raced away to win for Swietochlowice and Jakub Kosciecha’s second place secured overall runner-up position for Torun, as Ben Mould ran a last place for Horspath. In the run-off for 3rd place, Ben Mould won, after Gniezno’s Arkadiusz Szymanski was excluded. Swietochlowice’s Dawid Bas top scored with 19 points, losing only to Arkadiusz Szymanski in heat 10.

European Club Championship Grand Final (Match K) result:

Swietochlowice 60 Torun 47 Horspath 46 Gniezno 46.

Swietochlowice: Dawid Bas 19, Marcin Kolata 15, Kamil Bielica 14, Marcel Krzykowski 10, Dawid Zajac 2.
Torun: Jakub Kosciecha 14, Pawel Cegielski 12, Remi Burchardt 10, Marcin Paradzinski 10. Jakub Sawinski 1.
Horspath: Ben Mould 14, Mark Carmichael 12, Zac Payne 11, Will Jeffery 9.
Gniezno: Pawel Kozlowski 16, Arkadisuz Szymanski 15, Mikolaj Menz 7, Michal Nowak 7, Bartosz Laniecki 1.

Referee – Mark Winwood (Wales).

Leszno won the ‘B’ Final, to secure 5th place in the overall Championships. They finished a comfortable nine points clear of Zoledowo, with Wroclaw third, a further seven points adrift. Birmingham didn’t contest the ‘B’ Final. The Leszno pair of Mikolaj Michalski and Patryk Kriger top scored in the match, with 15 points apiece.

European Club Championship ‘B’Final (Match J) result: Leszno 54 Zoledowo 45 Wroclaw 38 Birmingham n/s.

Gniezno and Torun were the two qualifiers from the 1st semi-final, finishing well clear of Birmingham and Wroclaw. Birmingham’s hopes ended when Paul Heard was unable to take his last two rides. Arkadiusz Szymanski, of Gniezno, top scored with 14 points.

Semi-Final 1 (Match H) result: Gniezno 50 Torun 49 Birmingham 31 Wroclaw 25.

The 2nd semi-final was a closely fought affair, with all four teams in contention up to the closing stages, before Swietochlowice and Horspath booked their places in the Grand Final.. Leszno’s Patryk Kriger, deployed as a tactical reserve, top scored in the match, with 15 points.

Semi-Final 2 (Match I) result: Swietochlowice 43 Horspath 40 Zoledowo 36 Leszno 35.

To view all the weekend’s race results, go to the ICSF’s European Club Championships folder on Google Drive:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1f48r26L_OdMUS4HU2BFF4zvtrp2a-j5h