SL27 winners Sawley are into their second Division Two Cup final after coming through a tight last four tie with Birstall, 91-89. Fredrick Ericsson (13) and Pavel Kulvajt (9+1) scoring the decisive points in heat 15, with the minor places enough to see off a revamped Bulls side, to which promoter Tony Clegg had made five changes from the first leg. One of those brought in was Jake Clarke (10) from Dundee, whose parent club will be Sawley’s opponents in this years final. For the Cakes a much easier passage through the semi-finals, with Liden eliminated by 34 following a 60-30 victory for this weeks Scottish hosts, for whom both heat leader Christer Wiman (15) and reserve James MacLean (13+2) scored maximums.

As expected Purton will line-up in this years Division Three Cup final after they followed up their first leg semi-final win at Grangemouth last week, with another over the Oilers at home this. The Pirates—runners-up in SL27—are looking to win their first club trophy since their SL18 division three title success. Their final opponents Sunderland are looking to take the silverware for a second time, the Stars winning the competition previously some 18 years ago. They have since gone on to lift both the second and top tier versions of the trophy. The Stars reached the final with a 54-36 win over Cirencester, veteran Italian duo Salvatore Largana (13+2) and Ciro Gautieri (12) both unbeaten in the success which secured them a 12 point aggregate victory.

Italian’ Luca Romano (12) was back in the GP winners enclosure as the series moved on to Germany. The Greenhill winner of the opening round made it two out of three to consolidate his three point lead at the head of the World Championship standings, his title victory in Kassel secured with a race-off win over Andy Daniel (2nd) and Kasper Larsen (3rd).

Jamie Brewer (15)—who recently made a load switch from Nottingham to Cirencester—scored a maximum to win this years BU21 title at Eastbourne. With home rider Jonathan Turnbull (14) pushing him all the way, he needed the perfect score to see him add to his tally of titles, the 20 year old having raced to victory in both the British and World Under 19 Championships two years ago. The top seven from Eastbourne all qualify for this years WU21 Championship, the semi-finals of which take place in Greenhill and Odense next month.

Bolsover’s hopes of top three finish in division two were dealt a blow as they suffered their first home defeat of the league campaign. A double blow in-fact as it came against promotion rivals Liden, who end the week second as a result of the 39-50 win, and now five points clear of the fifth placed Crusaders in the standings. The victory was the Robins biggest ever on the road in the league. Auckland meanwhile leapfrogged Bolsover into fourth as they beat Wolverton 37-52 on their travels, the Wolves slip into the bottom three, just two points clear now of a rejuvenated Birstall side, who picked up their first away win of the campaign. The Bulls maiden victory on the road of SL31 was returned at Halesowen, 42-48, which featured impressive debuts for the club for both second string Jake Clark (12) and reserve Adam Beeby (11).