STOKE were thrashed 61-29 by the Mildenhall Fen Tigers in the Travel Plus National League at West Row on Sunday afternoon.
The A.R. Richards started the meeting without reserve Shaun Tedham who had been taken ill in the overnight and contacting the Potters management in the morning leaving the Potters with just six riders after the Potters management had attempted to get a reserve in place for the meeting.
The Potters went behind in heat two and the Tigers never look back as they recorded four 5-1 heat advantage and a 4-2 in the opening six heats with only Mitchell Davey, Paul Burnett and Lee Dicken beating an opponent as the Potters trailed 27-9 after six races.
Heat seven saw the Potters gain a 3-3 with Tony Atkin and Luke Priest taking them minor placings behind Dan Halsey. Ryan Terry-Daley got second in heat eight but the Tigers extended their lead and this was followed with the Tigers gaining a couple of 4-2’s and a 5-1 heat advantage to secure all three points with five heats remaining with the Potters trailing 43-16.
In the later part of the meeting the Potters gained a couple of 3-3 drawn heats and a couple of second places and a heat win as number one Davey took victory in heat thirteen ahead of Halsey and Connor Mountain.
Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey said “It was a disappointing performance especially in the early of the meeting, but we did come back at them in the latter stages of the match but one or two riders just did not come up to the mark this afternoon. We were up against things from the start losing Shaun (Tedham) due to illness, we tried various riders to make the side up and had got William O’Keefe to agree to ride after he was released out of a 1-7 this morning but we were informed that we were not allowed to use him so had to go with six riders. Mildenhall were very good and deserved the win on the day and we have to accept that.”
MILDENHALL 61: Jordan Jenkins 13, Jon Armstrong 12+2, Dan Halsey 11, Luke Ruddick 10, Connor Mountain 6+2, Danno Verge 5, Alex Spooner 4+1. STOKE 29: Mitchell Davey 10, Tony Atkin 6+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 6, Luke Priest 3+1, Lee Dicken 3, Paul Burnett 1, Shaun Tedham did not ride.
