Newcastle 55 Stoke 38

STOKE Easy Rider Potters went down to a battling 55-38 defeat against the Newcastle Diamonds in the Premier League last night.

 The Potters who were already without Klaus Jakobsen then lost both Taylor Poole and Adam Roynon due to injury.

 Stoke went behind in heat one after Michal Makovsky was disqualified by referee Peter Clarke as the primary cause of the stoppage in heat one leaving Lee Smart as the sole Potters rider in the rerun, but former Potter Mark Lemon and Derek Sneddon teamed up for maximum points leaving Smart in third place.

 The Potters cause was not helped in the next heat as Adam McKinna and Stoke youngster Taylor Poole have a collision resulting in McKinna being disqualified by referee Clarke. Both riders were down for a long time and McKinna was taken off the track on a spinal board as he was taken to hospital, Poole meanwhile was withdrawn from the meeting with injuries to his hand and has a precaution after suffering a knock on the head. In the rerun Lee Smart took victory for the Potters over Dakota North for a Potters 3-2.

The Potters reduced the deficit to just a single point as Ricky Wells and Adam Roynon gained a 4-2 over Rene Bach in heat three with Stoke trailing 9-8.

 Newcastle then piled on the misery for the Potters as they take three 4-2 and one 5-1 heat advantages in the next four races to open up an eleven point lead as Stoke trail 29-18 after eight heats. Things got worse for the Potters in heat nine as Stoke could only use one rider in heat nine and Potters skipper Hynek Stichauer was disqualified allowing the Diamonds pairing of Jason King and Rene Bach to take a 5-0 extending the Diamonds lead to 34-18.

 Stoke’s fortunes got worse in heat ten as Derek Sneddon caused Adam Roynon to fall referee Clarke disqualifying Sneddon immediately, but after medical attention on the track Roynon was taken to the local hospital with a suspected broken ankle. Smart came in to replace Roynon in the rerun but home number one Lemon took the flag ahead of Wells and Smart.

 Stoke introduced Michal Makovsky as their first tactical ride in heat eleven but Diamonds rider Kenni Larsen got the better of the Czech rider to take victory with Dakota North finishing third for a drawn heat.

 Easy Rider Potters manager Malcolm Vasey introduced Ricky Wells as a tactical ride in heat twelve and he duly delivered with a victory and partner Smart followed him home for an 8-1 heat win for the Potters over Jason King as the Potters trail 42-33 with three races remaining.

 The Potters though ran out of steam in the latter part of the meeting as the Diamonds gained two 4-2 heat advantages and one maximum 5-1 in the final race to complete a 55-38 victory.

 Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey was very proud of his riders as he said “The lads rode extremely well tonight and battled very hard. We were already missing Klaus and then to lose Taylor without him completing a race due to a hand injury was a body blow as he has been in some very good form this season. In meant we had to juggle things around in some heats as we could only use one rider and then we were hit again losing Adam with a suspected broken ankle it really did put us in a backs to the wall situation and I really do feel the lads have come out of this meeting with a lot of credit. Michal rode well and I feel he was harshly disqualified in heat one and Lee Smart rode his heart out as did Ricky Wells who has come in for a lot of stick of late from certain quarters  and he has answered them in the best possible way and I’m really pleased for the lad. We will now re-group and see what the situation is in the morning with Taylor and Adam.”

Newcastle 55: Kenni Larsen 15, Rene Bach 12+2, Mark Lemon 10, Derek Sneddon 7+2, Dakota North 6, Jason King 5, Adam McKinna 0 

Stoke 38: Ricky Wells 14, Lee Smart 13+2, Michal Makovsky 8, Hynek Stichauer 2+1, Adam Roynon 1, Taylor Poole 0, Klaus Jakobsen (Rider Replacement) 

Stoke will give an update on the injuries to Taylor and Adam on Monday.