The Leicester Breedon Aggregates Lions have made one change to the team that lost to Glasgow on Saturday with the inclusion of Ashley Morris at reserve for their British Premier League fixture at Sheffield on Thursday.
The seventeen year old replaces John Oliver who fell in his opening ride and broke his scaphoid. The injury has ruled the Australian out of speedway for several weeks and the Lions promoter David Hemsley said: “It is unfortunate to lose John who has shown true signs of rediscovering the form that made him an outstanding prospect when he was last seen in British Speedway. I watched Ashley complete a number of practice laps of our track on Friday and was impressed with his attitude and the way he adapted so quickly having never ridden here before. The fixture at Sheffield gives me an opportunity to assess Ashley in a competitive meeting at this level”.
Morris, a former British Under-15 National Champion, began the season at Edinburgh and currently rides for the Dudley Heathens in the National League. The West Midlander has posted a number of high scores in the third tier of British Speedway and is currently looking for an opening at a Premier League club where he can continue his development at a higher level.
The Lions will be looking for an improved performance at Sheffield on Thursday against the Tigers who currently sit third in the league table behind Workington and Glasgow. “Whilst it is too late to make changes to the side for our fixture at Sheffield, I am currently in talks with riders and if the negotiations come to fruition the line-up for our next home meeting against Edinburgh on 2nd July will be strengthened” added Hemsley.
The home team are without Josh Auty and are operating rider replacement for their heat leader. Leicester will be pinning their hopes on Richard Hall to inspire his teammates against his former club. The Lions captain relishes the wide open spaces of the Owlerton track and already this season Richard has excelled in two meetings there. In May he came third in a semi-final of the British Individual Championship and more recently he filled in for Auty last week and scored a paid fourteen points in Sheffield’s win over the Newcastle Diamonds.
On Friday Leicester make their first appearance in a national competition since the return of speedway in April. Ten teams will compete for the title of Premier League Best Pairs Champions at the Somerset track and the clubs have been split into two groups. The Lions have been drawn in Group A with Rye House, Glasgow, Newcastle and Workington and the top two scoring pairs from each group will progress to sudden death semi-finals with the winners meeting in a grand final.
Fans travelling to Cardiff for the British Speedway Grand Prix on Saturday may be interested to know that Richard Sweetman and Iliya Bondarenko are both appearing at Newport the next day (Sunday 26th) in the Welsh Open Championship which starts at 1.00pm.
