STOKE suffered their second defeat in 24-hours as they lost out in a last heat decider to Lakeside with the Potters losing out 42-46 in the Travel Plus National League at Loomer Road on Saturday night.

Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey commented “I’m very disappointed about the result because I felt that this was one that got away and a decision in heat fourteen cost us badly. I feel that the referee made the decision to rerun the race too quickly and could of awarded it and ultimately the decision cost us dearly as Ben Woodhull who was battered and bruised after a couple of falls bravely got back onto the bike to take Tony’s place and take nothing away from the lad he did himself, the club and supporters proud as when he returned to the pits he had to be seen by the paramedic due to the amount of pain he went through to complete the four laps.”

The A.R. Richards Potters started the meeting brightly as Mitchell Davey took victory from Zach Wajtknecht with Shaun Tedham third for a 4-2. The Potters maintained their lead until heat six when Ben Morley took the flag after Davey fell coming off the final turn while leading the race allowing Tedham to take second place and Jamie Couzins third to level the scores at 18-18.

Tedham took victory in heat eight from Nick Laurence after Ben Woodhull had fallen and been disqualified as was Alex Spooner who had also fallen and was not under power at the time of the stoppage for a Potters 3-2 heat win giving Stoke a slender 24-23 lead. The Potters extended their lead in heat ten with a 4-2 advantage from Davey and Tedham over Paul Hurry to extend the Potters lead to three points at 31-28.

Lakeside then reduced the Potters lead with a 4-2 from Hurry and Couzins over Terry-Daley after Woodhull had fallen, but the Potters maintained their lead by a point.

It then went all wrong for Stoke with Atkin leading on the third lap Alfie Bowtell hit Atkin from behind as both riders were sent sprawling across the track in a nasty looking incident, the referee disqualified Bowtell and then David Speight for not being under power and then ordered a rerun. Atkin was ruled out of the rerun and Woodhull despite being in a lot of pain took to the track to replace the Potters skipper and bravely finished second behind Hammers rider Laurence for a Lakeside 3-2 advantage to level the scores up at 41-41 going into the final race.

The Potters pairing of Mitchell Davey and Luke Priest missed the gate as Zach Wajtknecht and Ben Morley rocketed from the start and took a maximum 5-1 heat advantage and the points for Lakeside.

Vasey commented “All the lads tried extremely hard and tonight is a bitter pill to swallow as I do feel heat fourteen was very costly for us. We now have to assess the situation with Tony (Atkin) and see what the situation is there and we obviously missed David Wallinger whose wife went into labour and we wish them both well, but having said that Ben Woodhull was nothing short of being heroic tonight and we’d like to thank him for his efforts.”

STOKE 42: Luke Priest 9+1, Mitchell Davey 9, Ryan Terry-Daley 7+1, Shaun Tedham 7, Ben Woodhull 6+1, Tony Atkin 4+2, David Speight 0.
LAKESIDE 46: Zach Wajtknecht 13, Ben Morley 11+1, Paul Hurry 10, Nick Laurence 8+1, Jamie Couzins 3+1, Alfie Bowtell 1+1, Alex Spooner 0.