Bryn shares this report from last night’s race. Ed
The Wightlink Warriors, despite losing two of their seven riders through injury during the first five heats, pulled off stunning last gasp 46-43 victory in last night’s home National Trophy clash with Mildenhall.
They went into the final race trailing by a point at 41-42 but roared on by their fans, new signing Joe Jacobs made a dream start as the tapes rose and skipper James Cockle joined him at the front on the second lap to secure a maximum 5-1 advantage to clinch a 46-43 victory that had those fans jumping up from their seats.
Crash in second race
The drama began to unfurl in the second race of the match, the first having seen Jacobs win his debut ride in the Warriors colours, when Tyler Govier crashed heavily on the first bend of the second lap. Our paramedic crew raced to his aid and there was a lengthy delay before, much to everyone’s relief, he was able to rise to his feet and be assisted to walk away from a very nasty looking fall.
It was no surprise though, especially when it was announced that he was complaining that he was suffering pain in his lower back, that he was ruled out of the match and opted to allow his pit crew to take him to hospital for further treatment that revealed muscle damage in that area.
Undeterred the Warriors, courtesy of race wins for Matt Saul in the re-run of that second race, Baseby (twice) Cockle and Jacobs again, they had eased into a seven point lead at 21-14 after the completion of six of the fifteen heats.
However in the fifth race, Lee Smart was leading when the main drive chain on his machine appeared to snap and he ground to a halt clearly in some distress having seemingly received a hefty blow in the groin area from that rogue chain!
That injury meant that he joined team mate Govier as being ruled out of the action and, having started with seven fit riders, stand-in team manager Barry Bishop’s side were now down to five!
With the sport’s regulations only permitting Govier’s fellow reserve Matt Saul able to replace both riders in their programme outings for the rest of the match, and him being restricted to a maximum rides forcing them to track just one rider in two of the heats to follow those opening six, it perhaps was no real surprise that the visitors clawed their way back in heats 7, 8 and 9 putting one point ahead with six heats remaining and after a shared heat 10, the lead in what had developed into an enthralling encounter, changed hands after completion of the next four races resulting in that last heat decider and, ultimately, the Wightlink Warriors stunning victory.
It was a victory that had stand-in team manager Barry Bishop, deputising for Neil Vatcher who is abroad on World Under 21 duty, enthusing,
“What a fantastic evening of speedway, absolutely superb with great racing from start to finish. Losing two riders so quickly was a big blow but we dug deep and pulled off a great win and we must also thank Mildenhall too who really did put on a show tonight and wish both Tyler and Lee quick recoveries from their respective injuries.”
And he concluded by saying,
“I am so proud of the team and of our fans too for all the support they gave on a night that was a truly great advert for our sport.”
National Trophy: Isle of Wight 46 – Mildenhall 43
Isle of Wight scorers: James Cockle (C) 13, Joe Jacobs 12+2, Mark Baseby 10, Kelsey Dugard 5+1, Matt Saul 5, Lee Smart 1 (2 rides – injured), Tyler Govier 0 (1 ride – injured)
Mildenhall scorers: Connor Mountain 11, Chris Widman 9+2, Daniel Halsey 9, Connor Coles 7+1, Alfie Bowtell 4+1, Lee Springthorpe 3. John Armstrong (rider replacement regulations applied)
Image: © Used with the kind permission of Ian Groves
