Matches between these two local rivals don't usually pass by without incident, and this match was no exception, unfortunately for the wrong reason. Wasps' debutante reserve, Billy Legg took a horrifying-looking fall in his opening race, when he clipped the back wheel of his team-mate Joel Parsons' bike, as he attempted to pass Ben Barker. A rejuvenated Simon Walker won the re-run, after a flying start, which left him with a relatively easy win over Joel Parsons. Billy had already suffered a heavy looking fall in the warm up, when he flipped his bike on a practice start. So the luckless Billy's involvement got no further than a trip to the local hospital. Initial reports suggest that he has suffered some concussion and bruising, but thankfully nothing worse. He should soon be on the road to recovery. The match itself proved to be an entertaining affair, which belied the earliness of the season. Both teams appeared to be up for the task, with the Rebels getting the better of the opening heats, racing to an eight-point lead by heat three. The Rebels' skipper, Magnus Zetterstrom, got the home side off to a flying start, with what proved to be the fastest time of the night on a track that had seen a huge amount of rain over the last week. Paul Fry started where he left off last season with a 5-1 heat win. Jamie Smith took the place of the departed Ritchie Hawkins as his partner. The Wasps replied in the next heat with their own 5-1 win, after Ben Barker was left stranded at the gate and Glenn Cunningham dropped a chain, whilst leading into the final lap with Craig Watson seemingly beaten. He ended the race pushing the bike over the line for the final point. The Rebels piled on the pressure again taking the next three heats, and establishing a 12-point lead. The highlight of these races was a typical Glenn Cunningham last to first effort in heat seven. After Simon Walker produced another flying start to lead with Cunningham in last place, the Bristol scrapper took a lap to assess the situation, before dispatching the Wasps' duo of Wilkinson and Atkin in one swoop of the third bend of lap two. Half a lap later he was in front with Walker following him home for a 5-1. As they had done earlier the Wasps struck back immediately with their own maximum, but this time with the added bonus of a tactical ride from Chris Schramm. Pavel Ondrašík, having his first meeting in Rebels' colours, had suffered with poor starts all evening, but on this occasion he got a flyer, only to see his front wheel climb into the air, which gave him no chance to cut across the closing Wasps' pair. Once he had the machine down and running it was too late to force his way back in front. For four laps he tried every trick in the book to pass his rivals, but a great bit of team riding from Schramm and Parsons saw him shut out, as they brought the gap down to five points. The opening races of the second half of the match were all shared 3-3, but that doesn't mean they lacked excitement. In heat nine, Jamie Smith scored a superb win over Craig Watson, after he had made a superb start to lead Watson and team-mate, Paul Fry. The Rebels' pairing almost made it a 5-1, only losing out as Paul Fry spun out as he tried to cut back underneath Craig Watson, heading onto lap two. Heat 11 saw Glenn Cunningham having to do it the hard way again with Schramm getting the better of the start. Again it only took Cunningham a lap to find the pass, as he dispatched Schramm on the back straight, whilst his partner, Simon Walker, succumbed to mechanical problems on lap three. Heat 12 saw the Wasps reduce the deficit to three points, when Carl Wilkinson, who has shown his liking of the Oak Tree circuit in the past, scored a good victory over the confident Jamie Smith. A quick start saw the Lincolnshire-born rider never headed, despite the close attentions of the quick Smith. That was as close as the visitors got to winning this challenge match. The Rebels took the tie by the scruff of the neck from here on in, with skipper Magnus Zetterstrom defeating the returning Craig Watson twice. The best of these races was heat 13, where Craig Watson got the better of Zetterstrom off the start. Zorro stalked Watson for all four laps with hardly a bikes length between them, before making a stunning pass up the inside to lead just before the winning line. Meanwhile Glenn Cunningham, who had been last away and had accounted for Neil Collins on the second lap, was closing fast on the outside and at the line would surely have been level with Watson in a few more yards.  | | Joel Parsons, Paul Fry (R) and Simon Walker (B) |
Paul Fry completed his night with a 5-1-heat win with Simon Walker to extend the lead to nine points. Jamie Smith and Chris Schramm were both awarded for their good work with a birth in the nominated heat 15 alongside their more illustrious colleagues. Smith made another flying start to lead with Zorro before Watson took second place from him at the end of the first lap. The resulting 4-2 win to the Rebels gave them an 11-point lead to take to the second leg. All in all a satisfactory start to the Somerset Rebels' season, which contained some great performances from the team. The two new additions to the team had quite a night, which did not reflect the efforts both put in, and they will surely improve in coming weeks. Pavel Ondrašík was having problems with his starting, but new clutch parts, which did not arrive in time, may solve some of those problems.  | | Jamie Smith celebrates after the win |
Ben Barker also suffered some mechanical problems, being left stuck on the start line in one race. As this was his first full meeting after a serious leg injury at the end of last season, he is bound to improve. Magnus Zetterstrom finished the night with a full five-ride maximum and produced some great racing in the process. Paul Fry and Glenn Cunningham both produced solid performances, but the plaudits on the night must go to Jamie Smith and Simon Walker, with 9+1 and 7+2 respectively. Smith's starting and determination were a joy to behold, and maybe this will be the season that he will realise some of the potential we all know that he has. Simon Walker was a revelation, flying from the starts and holding his own with the best. He deservedly won the man of the match award and was presented with his trophy amid loud cheers from the home supporters. Somerset Junior Rebels 12-12 Newport Mavericks The second half racing saw the Somerset Junior Rebels take on the Newport Mavericks in a four-a-side, six–heat match. This is the first in a series of similar challenge matches being staged for the junior side this season. Future matches will feature teams from other PL and CL clubs, including the possibility of teams from Weymouth and Plymouth. The star of the match was Karl Mason with nine points from three rides. His quickest time of the night was only half a second behind some of those in the main match. Unfortunately, the last two heats of this match fell foul of the curfew, due to the earlier injury to Billy Legg and a couple of crashes in the earlier stages of this one. However, the match concluded with the scores being nicely balanced on 12 points each, leaving it all to play for in the return leg at Queensway Meadows. Somerset: Matt Bates 4 pts, Ben Barker 3 pts, Lee Smart 4 pts, Jordan Frampton 2 pts Newport: Karl Mason 9 pts: Sam Hurst 2 pts, Tim Webster 1 pt, Billy Legg DNS. | 
