By Dominic Brock

AFTER a hard fought season, the Rye House Rockets speedway team have finished their season in 9th position, scoring ten points more than last season’s final tally. Although not a vast improvement, Rye house are on a gradual upward slope back to success. The team also had a good go at getting into the league cup semi-finals which, in the end, they only lost out by due a single point to the Somerset Rebels.

The Rockets showed a good start early on in the season with mixed fortunes in the league cup, but a great show of consistency through their premier league matches, something which the team seemed to get less of as the season went by. April and May saw two big wins over the Ipswich Witches and another against the struggling Redcar Bears. June was a very different month as most matches were called off due to bad weather. The team still managed to pick up several winds, although not as emphatic as some from the previous two months. The lack of rides obviously got to the team as July saw the Rockets sink. The team ended the month winless. This was also the case for August, another month which the team would rather forget. It wasn’t until mid September when the team broke the losing streak, but by then, it was too late to forge any big recovery. The team finished the season off with two match victories over Redcar Bears and the Sheffield Tigers, giving a bit of hope for the fans next year after the Rockets recorded a season which could have been much better if it wasn’t for the summer struggles.

The team’s top rider Edward Kennet brought home most of the team’s race victories throughout the season, as should be expected from a rider of his calibre. Despite this, Kennet’s form was a lot stronger when riding in front of a home crowd than when visiting rival teams, which arguably cost the team some ground in the Premiere league table. The team’s number two Stuart Robson seemed to be the away specialist for the team as he actually averaged more points when riding away from home, a very rare stat to obtain in speedway.

With the team showing constant improvements, it is hoped that next year sees another rise for the club. Mid-table would satisfy many, but anything can happen in speedway and it wouldn’t be wrong to dream of a higher finish if fortunes go their way.