Peter Adams: Wolves' away triumph was a real team effort
Wolverhampton team manager Peter Adams says focusing on the races that didn’t include Ipswich’s top two racers was key to their first away success of the season on Thursday.
The Parrys International Wolves claimed all three league points on offer at Foxhall and moved to the top of the Sports Insure Premiership table following their 51-39 victory.
The hosts failed to gain any advantage in a race that didn’t include 2017 world champion Jason Doyle – and while he and fellow heat-leader Emil Sayfutdinov scored 23 points in total, their team-mates managed just six points between the rest of them.
Having kept within two points of Ipswich in the first seven races, Wolves then stepped things up another notch admirably and finished in sensational style with three 5-1s in the final four heats.
And boss Adams was thrilled to see his side continue their improvement on the road after a 45-45 draw at Belle Vue earlier in the week.
“I half expected it to be honest because we appear to be in something of a hot streak and we’ve got guys who can deal with their top two,” he said. “To some extent we were concentrating on the races that they weren’t in because we thought they would be the races we could gain an advantage. Looking back, to restrict a team like that to just two heat advantages in the entire match was a tremendous effort.”
Six of the Wolfpack found at least one race win each and while every rider contributed, there were significant steps for three of their stars.
Ryan Douglas top scored on the road for a second straight meeting while Zach Cook and Rory Schlein enjoyed their best away performances of the year.
Adams said: “Rory has been having a bit of trouble with his gating, he’s been pretty inconsistent the past few weeks, but he pulled it together here.
“Dougy conquered Foxhall at last because it’s been a bit of a bogey track for him in the past.
“Zach also rode excellently but they were all tremendous and it was a brilliant effort from 1-7.”
With the Parrys International Wolves’ scheduled trip to Peterborough on Monday (June 5) postponed due to stadium availability issues at the East of England Arena, they are now back in action next Thursday (June 8, 7.30) when they travel to Sheffield for the first leg of their Sports Insure Premiership Knockout Cup Semi-Final.
