STOKE Easy Rider Potters completed their home league programme with a 49-40 victory over last seasons league champions Edinburgh Monarchs to take all three points.

 The Monarchs took the lead in heat one as Ryan Fisher and Aaron Summers who was replacing late arrival Paul Clews took maximum points over Jason Bunyan and Tom P Madsen.

 Heat two took several attempts to complete with first Craig Branney touching the tapes and having to go off the fifteen metre mark, at the second attempt Aaron Summers took a tumble and was disqualified from the rerun and at the third attempt Byron Bekker was in front with Jesper Kristiansen second Branney fell and remounted before Bekker fell while leading Kristiansen took avoiding action as Bekker got to his feet and remounted his bike only to see the red lights come on and referee Graham Flint award the race with Kristiansen being awarded first place, Branney second and Bekker being disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage to gift the Potters a 5-0 race win and putting them a point ahead after two races with the score 6-5.

 Edinburgh struck back with a 4-2 race win from Michal Rajkowski and Aaron Summers over Robert Ksiezak to put the Monarchs back in front by 11 points to 12.

 The Easy Rider Potters got their noses back in front with maximum points from Lee Complin and Klaus Jakobsen  who made a superb inside pass on Monarchs number one Ryan Fisher to take second place in heat five as Stoke regained the lead after five heats
to go three points up. Stoke extended their lead in heat six as Bunyan and Madsen gained a 4-2 over Edinburgh’s Rajkowski to go five points in front as the Potters took a 20-15 lead.

 The Scottish outfit were not finished though and countered with maximum points in heat seven from Rajkowski and skipper Matthew Wethers over Branney and Ksiezak as the Monarchs reduced Stoke’s lead to just a single point at the halfway point of the meeting.

 Tom P Madsen took a hard fought victory in heat eight from former Potter Paul Clews who pushed the home rider for all four laps but could not quite find the drive to pass the Dane while Aaron Summers held out Kristiansen to take third for a drawn race.

 The Potters gained a 5-1 in heat nine as Dane Klaus Jakobsen bouncing back after the disappointment of not scoring at Berwick the previous night chalked up his second win of the afternoon to remain unbeaten by an opponent and with Complin in second place holding Rajkowski at bay Stoke opened up a five point lead again. The home side gained a second successive advantage in heat ten as Bunyan stormed to victory over Clews and Madsen managed to hold off the challenge of Wethers to gain a 4-2 race win and put the Potters 33-26 in front.

 Edinburgh again clawed their way back into the meeting to reduce the deficit back to five points as Paul Clews gained a comfortable victory over Ksiezak, Fisher finished in third for Edinburgh after Branney came to grief of the opening lap, Stoke still lead 35-30. 

After two previous pointless rides Jesper Kristiansen gained a superb victory over Summers and Wethers to keep the Potters lead in tact with Jason Bunyan and Lee Complin doing the same in heats thirteen and fourteen as the Potters edged home to
claim victory on the night but Edinburgh still had a chance of salvaging a point if they did not lose by more than six points.

The Potters needing a minimum of a 4-2 heat advantage in the final heat duly delivered
as home skipper Lee Complin and Potters number one Jason Bunyan made a magnificent first and second turn to edge out Fisher and Rajkowski to take the maximum 5-1 heat advantage and give the Potters all three points as they ran out 49-40 victors. 

Potters skipper Lee Complin said “We’ve all done well tonight and things came together as a team. “Klaus was superb all night along with Bunny and Jesper came good when it mattered and we managed to gain all three points.”

 Promoter Dave Tattum said “I think we deserved the victory and did not really feel we would lose at anytime during the meeting. “We always finish strong and have the perfect partnership in heat fifteen with Jason Bunyan and Lee Complin, but we have to give a
pat on the back to all the lads tonight all chipped in with good points and we beat a decent team in Edinburgh. “We’ve only lost once in the league at home this season and that was against King’s Lynn who look like they will win the league title this season and I do not think we should fear anyone in the play offs around hear and we just need to get our away form going and who knows what might happen.”

 Stoke 49: Jason Bunyan 12+1, Lee Complin 11+1, Klaus Jakobsen 8+1, Jesper Kristiansen 6, Tom P Madsen 5, Robert Ksiezak 4, Craig Branney 3+1