The audience gathered on Friday in the stands of the Olympic Stadium in Wrocław expected their players to win. Nobody imagined a different result, if only because they had beaten the visitors twice in the previous season and were aspiring to win the Polish Championship. Failure to beat Grudziądz in front of their home crowd would cast a big question mark over their championship ambitions, something which nobody in Wrocław seems to be taking into account. Ultimately, the result showed that although there are still nuances in the Wrocław team that need to be worked on, the strength of the team built for the 2024 season is sufficient to fight for a place in the play-offs. Another confirmation of Betard Sparta's potential will be the postponed match of the second round with Włókniarz Częstochowa, scheduled for 30 April at the Krono-Plast Arena. In the meantime, we invite you to take a look at a brief summary of the match that took place on Friday.
💪 An important victory – despite their third defeat, the team from Grudziądz has the potential to surprise many a team this Ekstraliga PGE season. Friday's victory is important because it builds momentum in Betard Sparta's ranks and provides a good starting point before the rematch, in which a bonus point (win in two games) will be at stake. With the teams being very evenly matched, bonus points could decide places in the play-offs, which could have a significant impact on the final outcome and the fight for the Polish Championship.
📈 Seniors in top form – three out of four seniors in the Wrocław team scored 12 points with a bonus. The high form of the captain, Maciej Janowski, was very important for the Betard Sparta team, and everyone in Wrocław hopes that such a score is a good sign before the upcoming match against Częstochowa. The team's leader, Artem Łaguta, once again showed his skills, leading the top scorers of the Ekstraliga in terms of average points scored.
💆♂️ Less eventful than the inauguration – the second Ekstraliga match, although full of excitement, was on a completely different scale than the league inauguration, the scenario that even the best playwrights could not have come up with. This time, the audience gathered at the Olympic Stadium witnessed a harmless-looking crash in the fourth heat, when Marcel Kowolik and Kevin Małkiewicz collided after the start. Other than that, Betard Sparta kept their emotions in check, only once allowing the visitors to equalise after a 1:5 defeat in the junior heat, and controlled the course of the match, which ended with a whopping 16-point difference in favour of the Wrocław team.
⛑ Little time to recover – after the victory over the team from Grudziądz, the Wrocław speedway riders do not have much time to rest – already next Tuesday (30 April, 8:30 p.m.) , they have a long-overdue away game against Włókniarz Częstochowa and three days later they will face Apator in Toruń. Considering that some of the Spartans will compete in the English league on Thursday and that the SEC qualifiers will take place in the meantime, we are in for a lot of racing in the near future.
Scoring:
Tai Woffinden: 3,3,0,0 (6); Dan Bewley: 3, 2*, 3, 1, 3 (12+1); Bartłomiej Kowalski: 2*, 0, 1*, 3, 2* (8+3) Artem Łaguta: 2, 3, 2, 3, 2* (12+1); Maciej Janowski: 1*, 2, 3, 3, 3 (12+1); Marcel Kowolik: 0, 1, 1 (2); Jakub Krawczyk: 1, 0, 0 (1).
Next match:
Włókniarz Częstochowa vs Betard Sparta Wrocław 30/04/2024, 8:30 p.m., broadcast on Canal+Sport
