Stoke 38 Workington 52

Workington win 106-74 on aggregate

STOKE Easy Rider Potters went out of the Premier League cup in a wimper as the Potters went down to a 38-52 defeat against the Workington Comets at Loomer Road last night as the Comets romped to a comfortable 105-74 victory on aggregate to move into the second round.  

 The Easy Rider Potters who were already eighteen points down after the first leg of this KO Cup tie against the Comets were facing an uphill struggle if they were to claw their way back into this meeting and things looked hopeful after the first heat as guest Cory Gathercole and reserve Lee Smart took maximum points over John Branney to put the Potters in front on the night after Comets number one Andre Compton had been disqualified in the first running of the race after he fell while leading.

 Workington struck back with a 4-2 in heat two as former Stoke rider Rusty Harrison and Richard Lawson combined for a 4-2 over Smart after Taylor Poole had been disqualified for falling at the first time of asking reducing the Potters lead to two points. The Comets then took the lead on the night themselves as Andre Compton and Branney gained a 5-1 over Ricky Wells and Adam Roynon to give the Cumbrian side a 14-16 lead after five heats. The Comets continued to put the pressure on as they gained a 4-2 from Peter Kildermand and Richard Lawson over Gathercole and Poole, Kildermand riding a hard second turn to edge in front of Gathercole to take the victory and extend Workington’s lead on the night to four points.

 The Potters stem the tied in heat eight with a 4-2 from Poole and Smart over Harrison to reduce the deficit to two points on the night with Workington leading 23-25 and Stoke still trail by twenty points with the aggregate score being 59-79 in favour of the Comets time is fast running out for the Potters.

 Lawson and Kildermand gained maximum points in heat nine over Roynon and Wells to give the Comets a six point lead n the night.

 Taylor Poole took a heavy fall in heat ten the youngster being disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage, the race is awarded as of when the race was stopped resulting in Gathercole taking the victory for a drawn heat, but the Potters still trail by six points. Poole being withdrawn from the meeting after his handlebars and caught him in the abdomen with the youngster being in quite a bit of discomfort. 

The Potters went further behind in heat eleven as Branney and Compton take maximum points from Smart and Stichauer seal an aggregate victory for the Comets. Workington then piled more misery onto the Potters as Gathercole lifts in the middle of the second bend on the second lap causing both Stichauer and Compton to lay their bikes down to avoid Gathercole who was then disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage. In the rerun Kildermand and Compton took maximum points over Stichauer to lead 46-32 to seal victory on the night over the Potters with two heat remaining.

 Heat fourteen saw Adam Roynon take his first win in Stoke colours for a drawn heat as Hynek Stichauer did the same in heat fifteen but again his partner could not finish in a points scoring position. 

Stoke team manager Malcolm Vasey was naturally a very disappointed man saying “It was a difficult meeting but it was abundantly clear we are not good enough and we’ve got to finalise our plans on improving this team as a matter of urgency as quite simply five race winners on your home track is extremely poor and we have to rectify that problem. I’m hopeful Taylor will be fit for Wednesday at King’s Lynn but cannot guarantee that he is very sore but we do know there is no bone damage which is the main thing. Knowing Taylor though he will want to ride on Wednesday but we will have to wait and see, but it is plain to see we are not good enough, no disrespect to Workington but they are not currently one of the top teams in the league and yet they have come here tonight and literally taken us apart and that is simply not good enough and I’m not happy about the situation at all. Dave and I both know we need someone who is going to come in and start winning races for this club but it’s finding the right person. It really is no good replacing someone who is riding on a four point average with someone else who is riding a four point average you’ve got to make an improvement and we’ve got to take urgent steps to do that.”