Premier League Knockout Cup quarter final (second leg)

Plymouth Devils 40 (77), Somerset Rebels 50 (103)

THE Somerset Rebels completed their Premier League Knockout Cup quarter-final in style, as they proved too hot to handle for the Plymouth Devils at the St Boniface Arena on Saturday evening.

Not only did they progress on aggregate, but also completed the double over the Devon side, running out 50-40 winners on the night.

After building a 16-point lead in the home leg on Friday evening, Rebels Team Manager, Garry May, said that they were not going to the SBA to defend their lead, but to win the match, and that is exactly what they did.

The Rebels tracked Edward Kennet as a guest for the absent Brady Kurtz – in Italy on World U21 Championship duty – but the two sides were otherwise unchanged, barring a couple of rider order changes.

Charles Wright was still unable to take his place following his injury on Thursday at Redcar.

For the home side, top man was Sam Simota, with 11-points, ably supported by Todd Kurtz.

The Rebels had produced an emphatic all round performance, not just on the night, but over both legs.

They had been totally dominant from outset, with Richie Worrall producing a top scoring 13+1.

Once again Paul Starke produced a superb performance to back up Worrall with a magnificent 11+2 from reserve, and Josh Grajczonek produced a ‘captain’s innings’ with 11+1.

The Rebels now progress to the Semi-Finals, where they will meet either the Berwick Bandits, or the Rye House Rockets. As a footnote, Brady Kurtz, who missed both legs of the tie whilst contesting the first leg of the World U21 Championship, finished a in a fantastic 5th place – on count back- with a 10 point haul from his five races. He finished on the same number of points as Mikkel Bech and Ander Thomsen, but Bech took fourth with a slightly better tally of wins and second places.