Målilla Dackarna v Eskilstuna Smederna, 53:37 #DACSMED
With rain coming to the Småland town of Målilla in the afternoon it looked more than likely that this Final 1 tie might be off. But as the scheduled start time approached, the rain easied and just 30 minutes later the 2021 Final was underway.
Dackarna were the favourites on paper with their three SGP riders, Tai Woffinden, Maciej Janowski and Jason Doyle all fit and ready for action. But no one dared to rule out Smederna who beat the Målilla side in both 2018 and 2019 to win the Swedish title.
The weather conditions and tight racing lead to many 3:3 heats with the scores at 25:23 after Heat 8.
But the second half of the match saw the home side put this Final, and maybe the whole championship, out of reach of their opponents. Dackarna scored seven heat advantages in the last eight heats, including two 5:1s.
Arguably, the difference between the two sides was Målilla’s Rasmus Jensen and Jacob Thorssell (pictured). The Scandinavian pair raced four heats together gaining three heat advantages, with the Swede gaining 12 points from 5 heats. The rider, who won the Swedish championship on this track in 2020, only dropped points in his very first heat and otherwise was first to the checkered flag in all his heats. It was, however, the team’s Australian SGP rider, Doyle who topped the team with 13+1.
For Smederna, Pontus Aspgren continue to show the form that makes him the top scoring Swede in the Elitserien top scoring with 11 pts, the same score as Polish teammate, Kacper Woryna.
The final score was 53-37 and few would bet against Dackarna lifting the Championship trophy in Final 2 in Eskilstuna tomorrow.
Full scores from Zuzelend.
