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Stoke Potters v Workington Comets
Premier Trophy (Group), 29 April 2006
Loomer Road, Stoke

Stoke 56
1Mark Lemon32331 ..120
2Michael ColesF1*20. ..31
3Paul Clews12*22*. ..72
4Robbie Kessler331*2. ..91
5Alan MogridgeFx12*2*3 ..82
6Barrie Evans2*3331 ..121
7Luke Priest311*.. ..51
Workington 37
1Paul Thorp2T10. ..30
2Tomasz Piszcz1*F30. ..41
3Ritchie Hawkins001*1. ..21
4James Wright2226^2 ..140
5Garry Stead3331#0 ..100
6Lee Derbyshire000.. ..00
7Aidan Collins12*100 0.41

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

Both Stoke and Workington were at full strength for this match..

After their home defeat at the hands of Edinburgh last week, Stoke could hardly have landed a tougher match against the on-form Workington side. In the end, though, they won comfortably.

Mark Lemon passed Tomas Piszcz to win the opening heat but Michael Coles fell with the heat shared 3-3. The Stoke reserves took a 5-1 in heat 2 to put the home side four points up and they increased it to six with a 4-2 in heat 3. The Potters looked as though they were headed for another 5-1 as Robbie Kessler and Paul Clews led James Wright. Clews got out of shape on the third bend and James Wright passed him for the two points.

The third bend was causing the riders some problems and Alan Mogridge fell having passed Garry Stead. The race was rerun with Mogridge excluded and the Comets took full advantage with a 1-5 from Garry Stead and Aidan Collins to cut the gap to two points with the heat four score now 13-11.

Paul Thorp shocked everyone by bursting through the tapes in heat 5 and he was excluded. Aidan Collins took his place. Robbie Kessler won the race but behind him a good tussle developed between Paul Clews and Tomas Piszcz. Clews passed the Workington man but Piszcz chased him hard eventually falling on the last bend when he clipped the Potters’ wheel (no pun intended!). This resulted in a 5-1 for the home side and a 6 point lead again. Garry Stead won heat 6 from the gate beating Mark Lemon for a shared race then in heat 7 Stoke threatened another 5-1 as Barrie Evans and Alan Mogridge led James Wright. Wright got up to pass Mogridge and wasn’t far off catching Evans too. The result was a home 4-2 and an eight point lead. Tomasz Piszcz won the next heat for a share of the points so the score after heat 8 was 28-20.

Garry Stead beat Clews and Kessler for another shared race in heat 9 and heat 10 produced the same result won by Mark lemon. Stoke then went 12 ahead with a killer 5-1 in heat 11 from Alan Mogridge and Barrie Evans although Tomasz Piszcz gave it everything in his efforts to catch them. Barrie Evans and Paul Clews added another maximum in heat 12 as Stoke threatened to run away with it. The score after 12 heats stood at 44-28.

Workington finally gave Garry Stead a TR in heat 13 but Mark Lemon and Alan Mogridge took a third consecutive 5-1 so Stead’s one point was not doubled. In heat 14 Workington tried again, this time giving James Wright the TR. Success for the Comets this time! James Wright produced an excellent ride to pass first Barrie Evans, his only defeat of the match, and then Robbie Kessler for all six points. This gave the visitors a 3-6 advantage but Stoke added two more points to their lead with a final heat 4-2 when Alan Mogridge beat James Wright with Mark Lemon third.

Match Report by Merlin