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Stoke Potters v Workington Comets
Premier League, 20 August 2006
Loomer Road, Stoke

Stoke 54
1Paul Thorp3312*3 ..121
2Trent Leverington2*130. ..61
3Paul Clews2*1Fx1*. ..42
4Robbie Kessler3323. ..110
5Mark Lemon22332* ..121
6Barrie Evans31*121 ..81
7(g)John Branney100.. ..10
Workington 41
1Garry Stead1220. ..50
2Alan Mogridge0F21*. ..31
3Tomasz PiszczFx36^3Fx ..120
4Rusty Harrison112*2. ..61
5James Wright34^311 ..120
6(g)Carl Belfield20Fx.. ..20
7Aidan CollinsR01R0 ..10

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

Stoke had John Branney at reserve in place of Luke Priest while Workington had Alan Mogridge, returning to the scene of his former glories, at number 2 in place of Ritchie Hawkins. Carl Belfield was at number 6 for the Comets.

Workington’s fading chances of qualifying for the play-offs badly needed the boost of an away win but it didn’t look promising for them after a disastrous start. A 1-8 in heat 10 got them back to within three points of the home side but that was as close as they got. There was much interest about how the two riders who had switched clubs, Paul Thorp and Alan Mogridge, would perform but it turned out to be a good night for the former and a poor night for the latter.

Alan Mogridge’s first race against his old club lasted until the first bend when he fell. With Trent Leverington passing Gary Stead to join Paul Thorp up front, Stoke opened with a 5-1. Barrie Evans won the reserve race to add a 4-2 for the Potters then things got worse for Workington as Tomasz Piszcz fell in heat 3 and was excluded from the rerun. Kessler and Clews led Rusty Harrison from the tapes and that’s the way it finished resulting in another 5-1 for Stoke. James Wright stopped the rot by beating Mark Lemon in heat 4 for a shared race taking the score to 17-7.

Kessler won again in heat 5 from Gary Stead but Alan Mogridge fell again leaving Clews to sail home for the third place point which gave the Potters another 4-2 and a 12 point lead. James Wright took a TR in heat 6 but finished behind Paul Thorp for a 4-4 then Workington finally took a heat advantage in heat 7 when Piszcz beat Mark Lemon with Rusty Harrison in third place for a 2-4 cutting the deficit to 10 points again. In heat 8 Carl Belfield fell at the back causing the race to be awarded with Trent Leverington taking the win from Alan Mogridge. The 4-2 stretched the home side’s lead to 12 points again with the score at 31-19 and Stoke still trailing by eight points on aggregate for the bonus point.

James Wright won heat 9 from Kessler in a race which was rerun after Paul Clews had fallen. This gave the Comets a 2-4 and they were 10 points adrift again but better was to come for the visitors! Tomasz Piszcz took a TR and won the race but the real battle was for second place. Rusty Harrison caught Paul Thorp on the line for second place and a big 1-8 for Workington which reduced the home side’s lead to three points at 34-31 and now the Potters had a fight on their hands. Mark Lemon steadied the ship with a win in heat 11 for a shared race and Tomasz Piszcz did likewise in heat 12 taking the score to 40-37 with three heats to go.

Workington’s challenge effectively died in heat 13. Mark Lemon led James Wright from the tapes but Paul Thorp passed Wright for a 5-1 which increased the home side’s lead to seven points. Rusty Harrison could only split Robbie Kessler and Barrie Evans in heat 14 for a 4-2 then Thorp and Lemon added another 5-1 in heat 15 which was awarded after Tomas Piszcz had fallen.

Match Report by Merlin