Sunday night in Poland saw the last two matches in the regular season in the Ekstraliga. They were two matches whose result would not affect the overall standings but in which pride would be the main motivating factor.
In the early game, bottom of the table and already relegated GET WELL Torun hosted STELMET FALUBAZ Zielona Gora.
In the late match, BETARD SPARTA Wroclaw could not catch leaders, FOGO UNIA Leszno but they would want a victory in front of their home fans as well as the psychological factor of beating their biggest rivals to the trophy just before the playoffs.
But sport being sport nothing went as planned. Torun fought back from a 10 point deficit to win the match in Heat 15, whilst Leszno totally humiliated Wroclaw strongly suggesting they will go on a win this year's Ekstraliga.
Sadly for Zielona, Nicki Pedersen was seriously injured in the first heat and later reported he had broken his hand. It is also bad news for his Danish club Holsted Tigers and Swedish club, Västervik who are all set for playoff action.
Detailed match reports below:
#TORZIE
Torun have had a miserable season winning only one match, and this one started true to form as Zielona went ahead with three 2:4 heats in a row. In Heat 6 Michael Jespen Jensen and Piotr Protasiewicz won a 1:5 for the visitors and Torun's last home match in the Ekstraliga appeared to be following pattern as all the rest as they were behind 13:23.
But then this started to change for Torun as they did what they failed to do all season - mount a comeback. Three 4:2 heats in a row with Jack Holder, Jason Doyle and veteran Rune Holta all winning for the home team put them back in contention. Jack Holder (above) and Holta would lead the charge for the home side by scoring 10 each.
And when in Heat 11 Australian pair of Jack Holder and Jason Doyle gained a 5:1 over Zielona, they were back level for the first time since the match started at 33:33.
The remaining four heats contained some classic speedway as the match swung backwards and forward with each bend and heat. Whilst Chris Holder and younger brother Jack both won heats for Torun, they could not get ahead and Jespen Jensen was on winning form again in heat 14 to bring the match to a tantalizing climax - 42:42.
Heat 15 saw a epic battle as Torun's veterans, former world champion, Chris Holder (32 yrs) and Rune Holta (45 yrs) were pitched against Zielona's young darlings of the SGP circuit, Martin Vaculik (29 yrs) and Patryk Dudek (27 yrs).
And strangely enough the youngest rider would be last and the oldest rider first. Local hero, Holta, lead in a 4:2 for Torun and a disappointing season finished on a high as they won 46:44 to gain their second victory of the season.
#WROLES
In Round 1 when the two teams met in Leszno the match finished 50:40 and Wroclaw came back from 16 points down to not win it, but at least save face. They were led by Tai Woffinden who dropped just two points that night.
So, at home on Sunday night the home fans expected nothing but a victory, even if the bonus point was probably unlikely to be taken.
But they were to be sorely disappointed as Sparta failed to win a single one of the first seven heats. When Maksym Drabik and Maciej Janowski finally won a 5:1 in Heat 8, Wroclaw were already behind the 2018 Polish champions by 10 points.
But if anyone thought that this might be a turning point for the match they were definitely wrong.
Leszsno continued to pour on the misery as Janusz Kolodziej, Piotr Pawlicki, Brady Kurtz and Emil Satfutdinov won the next four heats so that the league leaders led by 20 points (!) at the end of heat 12 having already won the match 26:46 with three heats to go.
Woffinden was at least able to salvage some pride for Wroclaw by winning one heat. But lead scorer for the second placed team was the young Drabik, with 12 points.
Winner of the Czech SGP, Kolodziej was the highest scorer with 13 for Leszno who won 35:55 by the time the final checkered flag was waved.
It was an awesome displayed by the champions against the next best team in the Ekstraliga. And after that, few would dare to believe anything other than that Leszno will take home their fourth title in five years.
