Stoke 47 Birmingham 43

 STOKE Easy Rider Potters kept their unbeaten home league record in tact but only just as the Birmingham Brummies pushed them all the way before eventually falling short at the final hurdle.

 The Potters gained a hard fought 47-43 victory over the Brummies to give the Potters two vital league points with Birmingham taking a point home for losing by less than six points under the new points scoring system introduced this season.

 Potters team boss John Woolridge said “it’s a point dropped but at the end I was happy to get away with just taking the two points and victory on the night over the Brummies”

 Stoke went in front in heat one which was won by Jason Bunyan on a track that was a little difficult to start with after a downpour a few hours before had left the track very wet in the early stages, Tomasz Piszcz took second for Birmingham with Phil Morris falling twice in the opening heat but managing to finish third after Manuel Hauzinger retired with an engine problem to give Stoke a 4-2 heat advantage.

 Birmingham struck back to take the lead themselves in heat three as Brummies skipper Jason Lyons and Richard Sweetman stormed to a comfortable maximum heat win over guest Derek Sneddon and Lee Complin to give Birmingham a 8-10 lead.

 Scores were level in the next race as Jay Herne is excluded after he stalls his bike on the start line and fails to beat the two minutes, Birmingham boss Graham Drury nominates Herne to go off the 15 metres. Tom P Madsen gates and Birmingham skipper Jason Lyons battles to try and pass Madsen to  no avail while Morris has to hold off a late challenge by Herne as the Potters gain a 4-2 race win to level the scores up at 12 points each.

 Stoke edge back in front as they gained another 4-2 heat advantage in heat seven as Morris takes the chequered flag ahead of Ludvig Lindgren, Lee Smart and Richard Sweetman battled for third place before Smart was edged out by Sweetman but on the third lap Sweetman suffered an engine problem which allowed ex-Birmingham rider Smart to take third place and give Stoke a 22-20 lead at the halfway stage.

Stoke extend their lead in a couple of races later when Jason Bunyan stormed around the safety fence to hit the front and take a comfortable victory from Lindgren with Madsen plugging away on the inside taking third place on the line from Sweetman giving the Potters a four point lead after ten heats with the score at 32-28.

 Heat eleven saw all four riders brought back to the start after referee Graham Flint pulled the race back for an unsatisfactory start with Birmingham’s Jay Herne given a warning.

Potters team boss John Woolridge protested to referee Flint that Herne had touched the tapes but the Stockport based official refused to budge. In the rerun the Brummies pairing of Piszcz and Herne romped to a comfortable maximum race win over Morris and Smart to bring Birmingham back level with the scores locked at 33 all.

Premier League pairs winners Lyons and Piszcz gain a 4-2 heat win over Bunyan and Morris in heat thirteen to put the West Midlands outfit two points up with two races to go as Birmingham lead 38-40.

 Lee Complin and Madsen hit back immediately for the Easy Rider Potters as they take a maximum 5-1 heat win in heat fourteen to put Stoke back in front by two points with just one race left to go.

 Tomasz Piszcz clips Jason Bunyan’s back wheel in the first running of heat fifteen and referee Flint calls all four riders back for the restart of the race. Stoke skipper Lee Complin makes the start and blasts around the outside to take the lead and a comfortable victory his third race win on the bounce with Lyons in second and Bunyan holding third place for a 4-2 heat win for the Potters and a Stoke win on the night by 47 points to 43 to push the Potters back into third place in the league table just ahead of the Brummies as race points separate the two sides.

 Stoke team manager John Woolridge commented “I felt a few decisions went against us one being when I thought that Jay Herne had touched the tapes and he got away with it and then in the rerun they hit us for a 5-1. “We did miss the Danes having one out is bad enough but having both out really did hurt us. “Derek Sneddon came in to replace Klaus but things did not go as well as Derek had expected and he is not happy with his performance and is beating himself up a bit about it and it’s nice to see a guest being so passionate about wanting to win for the club he is racing for. “But in the end we dug deep and got the win although as I’ve said before it was disappointing we did not get all three points.”

 Skipper Lee Complin said “We were caught out early on with the track being a little slippery and to be honest in my first two races I was appalling and I have to put my hands up and say I was caught out by conditions. No excuses everyone has to ride the track and perhaps I should have put a little bit more thought into my set up, at least I know where I went wrong and next time it’s wet early on I’ll know the set up. I guess you could say it was a lack of experience on my part as their skipper Jason Lyons was on the boil right from the off and knew what he was doing and I need to learn from riders like him, but the main thing is we got the win and remain unbeaten here at Loomer Road in the league.” 

Stoke 47: Jason Bunyan 11, Lee Complin 10+1, Lee Smart 8+1, Tom P Madsen 8+1, Phil Morris 6, Derek Sneddon 4+1, Jesper Kristiansen Rider Replacement

 Birmingham 43: Jason Lyons 11+1, Ludvig Lindgren 11, Tomasz Piszcz 9, Richard Sweetman 6+1, Jay Herne 5+2, Manuel Hauzinger 1+1, Robert Ksiezak Rider Replacement