2020s

Newcastle GEC Diamonds: 44 Birmingham Brummies: 45 SGB Championship

On an emotional night which was almost certain to herald the end of Speedway racing on Tyneside, the Newcastle GEC Diamonds welcomed the Birmingham Brummies in their final home SGB Championship match, the home side desperate to try to avoid the wooden spoon, and with the nostalgia of the occasion filtering through the absolutely massive crowd of fans old and new looked to fill the stadium ready to say goodbye to Brough Park.

Newcastle Co-promoter, Rob Grant and Diamonds’ announcer of 57 years, Barry Wallace led the crowd in a two-minute silence in memory of Grant’s promoting partner and close friend, Dave Tattum who passed away just hours before the speedway was due to take place before heat number one got underway, without Ben Barker who had withdrawn, citing emotional distress at the death of Dave Tattum, and rider-replacement covered his rides.

From the gate, Starke and Connor Mountain roared from the gate to take a solid 5-1 over Chris Harris and Josh Macdonald but Heat Two saw Adam Roynon have a chain snap with a fall and exclusion, while in the re-run Archie Freeman’s throttle jammed open down the back straight and he had to bail out leaving Birmingham with a 0-5 to collect, and with a Brummie 1-5 in the fourth from Flint and Riss over Stark from the gate to take the scores to 9-14.

Newcastle hit back with a 5-1 of their own in the fifth from leader Wright as Clegg whipped up inside Harris for second in a great move cutting the gap to 14-15, while Flint continued his paid unbeaten streak with a great tape to flag win in Heat Seven over Starke and Ashley Morris in third in a 2-4 which left the scores at 19-22. Heat Eight saw a rare fall for Flint on the first bend and left the win for Roynon to take well on his second bike over Macdonald as part of a Newcastle 4-2 catching up to within one point again, 23-24.

The sides then exchanged maximum heat wins, Heat 10 a solid and determined win from the flag for Clegg over his partner Mountain with Flint taking third, and there was once again only one point between the sides, 29-30, and with Harris winning Heat 11 well, in a shared 3-3 Newcastle were still trailing Birmingham 32-33, however a 1-5 from Sarjeant and Flint in Heat 12 over Freeman and Wright who lost his steel shoe mid race while Heat 13 was a shared 3-3, so with two heats left the score was now 36-41.

Following a vital Heat 14 5-1, taking the score to 41-42, Mountain seemed to straighten up going in to bend three at enormous speed and went hard into and under the air-fence, with his exclusion from the re-run, which also resulted in the air fence needing repair.

In the re-run Clegg led hard into the first bend ahead of Riss and held it to the end for a 3-3 ending the match 44-45.

Following Heat 15, and the fireworks, many hundreds of fans took up the invite to walk the track one last time, lining up behind the starting gate, with a green light, tapes up start accompanied by the Diamonds’ theme tune, Diamonds by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan and assorted Diamonds’ meeting music with more than a few tears being shed round the shale circuit.

Club Owner Rob Grant said: “We had hoped to go out with a win on such an important and emotional night, but a critical point was lost after a disastrous Heat Two with Adam breaking a Chain and Archie having a jammed throttle, and it proved that uncontrollable 0-5 was the race that critically lost us the match. We will be really trying do a job at Birmingham on Wednesday. but know it’s going to be a tough ask, but we will give it our all in our last match.

“There were good and bad points all match and we got seven out of 15 heat winners, but the Brummies had a star man guest in Leon Flint at reserve, and along with James Sarjeant their two reserves were match winners with paid 23 points between them to our paid nine, but it was the occasion which won the night with a massive crowd and an atmosphere like we’ve never had for ages especially with the track walk which saw hundreds of folk tread the shale for one last time.”

Individual Riders’ Scores:

Newcastle GEC Diamonds 44

Ben Barker – Rider replacement

Connor Mountain 2*,1*,1,2*,3,Fx = 9+3

James Wright (captain) 2,3,2,0,R = 7

Max Clegg 1*,2*,1,3,3,3 = 13+2

Paul Starke (guest) 3,1,2,2,0 = 8

Archie Freeman (r) Fx,0,N,1,N = 1

Adam Roynon (r) Fx,R,3,1*,N,2* = 6+2

Birmingham Brummies 45

Chris Harris (captain) 1,1,3,1*,1* = 7+2

Josh Macdonald (guest) 0,0,2,0 = 2

James Shanes – Rider replacement

Ashley Morris 0,1,0,N = 1

Erik Riss 3,2*,3,3,2,2 = 15+1

James Sarjeant (guest) (r) 3,R,2*,3,R = 8+1

Leon Flint (guest) (r) 2*,3,3,F,1,2*,1 = 12+2

THANK YOU ALL…. AND GOODNIGHT!

Newcastle Speedway owner and promoter, Rob Grant, was shedding more than a few tears on Sunday, along with hundreds of other Diamonds’ fans who were attending the final farewell of the club, but in honour of the memory of his former co-promoter, Dave Tattum, who tragically passed away at the weekend following an arduous and lengthy battle with illness, the Geordie former racer feels it would be grossly disrespectful to walk away and allow the club to close right now.

An emotional Grant said last night: “Since Sunday’s amazing meeting, which was charged heavy with emotion, I’ve done nothing but sit back and think, and talk with my family about the past and the future, and it seems totally disloyal to Dave’s memory that I walk away at this stage and potentially shut the Diamonds forever under our promotion’s name.

“Dave Tattum spent most of his last months teaching me in depth, with all the information and skills I’d need for running a speedway club, and all that while he was fighting for his health under very difficult circumstances, but as my great friend, he dedicated his time to me and Newcastle Speedway, and that is why I cannot walk away from this great club. I cannot do that with Dave, his efforts and, his belief uppermost in my mind.

“No concrete offer has come forward, but we’ve been looking at my other two businesses and looked hard and deep into things, and I will not walk away, and I will keep Newcastle running in 2022 for the memory and influence of Dave Tattum. We do have new backing and I’ve learned a lot in the last 18 months which will only benefit the future of the club. Also, I have sent in an application for a new co-promoter to join me, and he’s a businessman, who will be a very familiar face to the Brough Park faithful, and obviously knows this club inside out.

“The loyalty shown to us proves people of this City and beyond, love this club and desperately want it to continue, and the love poured out over the weekend has been an important factor in this decision and we have to repay that huge level of loyalty.

“This time, however, will be starting preparation for 2022 on a level playing field with the rest of the teams, and won’t be playing catch-up in the team building stakes, which will, at least mean, we’ll have a decent chance of challenging for much better league place that this 2021 season, which is now well behind us.”

The Newcastle Speedway press office will be keeping a close eye on this story, and will report all developments as it happens, but above all else, the important news today is the Diamonds will come to the tapes in 2022 and powered by the memory of the late Dave Tattum.

Emotionally charged close call sees Diamonds lose out to Brummies by a point on “final” night at Brough Park

Win Or Bust For Brummies

The Inspiration and determination of the late Dave Tattum breathes vital life into Diamonds’ future

LEE – I’LL BE READY!

𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 & 𝙎𝙏𝙎!