The Lakeside Hammers have taken all five available Sky Sports Elite League points from their two matches this week following their home win against the 2007 treble Champions Coventry on Wednesday and away at play-off hopefuls Ipswich on Thursday.

Those five vital League points move the Essex Club up into second place in the table one point below leaders Poole, who have ridden two matches more and one point above Swindon who have ridden three more matches. In fourth place are Eastbourne who are six points behind the Hammers but have ridden four more matches.

The top four teams at the end of the season will go into the play-off’s with the top two getting the advantage of a home tie in the semi-finals. The final will then be completed over two legs with the winners on aggregate being crowned the 2008 Sky Sports Elite league Champions.

Since the Essex Club joined the top division of Speedway in this Country in 2004 they have not reached the play-offs but this year sees them in with a good opportunity of getting through to the finals. However, next week will be a very important one for the Club as, over a period of five days, they will meet the other three teams who are currently in the play-off positions.

On Monday, 4th August, the Eastbourne Eagles will be the visitors to the Hammers Arena-Essex Raceway for a match that will be screened live by Sky Sports. The start time for this fixture will be 7.30pm. Due to the importance of this fixture fans are urged to arrive as early as possible at the Raceway as a large crowd is anticipated. The match is being sponsored by the Royal Air Force as part of their current recruitment campaign.

Then, on Wednesday 6th August, the Hammers travel down to Dorset to face the present League leaders, the Poole Pirates. It will be first against second in the table and a clash between the bookies pre season joint favourites to take the title.

The action returns to the Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday, 8th August, when the Swindon Robins will be the opposition. This match will start at 8pm and is being sponsored by S & B Commercials, the local Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi Fuso dealerships.

The Hammers Co-Promoter and Team Manager, Jon Cook, commented on the week ahead after Thursday’s important win at Ipswich by saying: “We weren’t at our best this evening but did enough to get the three vital League points here against the Witches. That keeps us in second place in the table one point above Swindon but the three matches next week will have a important bearing on who will finish in the four play-off places come the end of the season.

“We need to take one meeting at a time so all our effects at the moment will now be concentrated on Monday’s match against Eastbourne. They will be desperate to get something from the meeting at our Raceway to keep alive their play-off aspirations but we will be equally determined to keep our 100% home League record intact. It’s going to be a thriller and one that I hope will bring in the crowds. This should be a great advert for the Sport as Sky Sports will be covering it live. Poole will be very difficult to beat down at their place and we will then need to ensure the team all perform to their true abilities for next Friday’s visit of Swindon.

He concluded: “All the lads are really up for next week and, with the support of our superb fans, I’m sure we will be able to do sufficient to consolidate our position up in the top two of the League.  Our loyal fans deserve a home tie in the play-off semi’s and that is what we will be looking to achieve.”

The results from these three crucial fixtures will go a long way in deciding the eventual play-off positions and, therefore, represent one of the most important weeks in the Essex Club’s 25 years or racing at the Arena-Essex Raceway.