STOKE fell to their third successive defeat as they were thrashed 64-26 to the Kent Kings in the Travel Plus National League at Central Park on Monday evening.

The Potters again started slowly with only Rob Shuttleworth able to split the home pairing in the opening four heats in heat four finishing behind Jack Thomas but ahead of Alex Spooner leaving the Potters trailing 19-5.

Max Clegg got the better of Nathan Stoneman and Anders Rowe in heat 6 for a drawn heat and the Potters first race win on the evening a fete he repeated in heat 11 with skipper Tony Atkin and Shuttleworth gaining a couple of second places in between heat 5 and 11 with Kent holding a 48-18 lead.

Kent continued to pile on the pressure and gained a couple of 4-2 heat advantages and a 5-1 in the final four heats to gain a resounding victory over the Potters.

Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey commented “It was always going to be difficult coming here without both our reserves and using rider replacement for Adam Extance against an inform Kent side. The lads that came in and tried their hardest throughout the meeting and I was delighted to see them get a well deserved 3-3 in heat 14 and the three rides that did come in all showed promise. Even our heat-leaders struggled early on and got better as the meeting went on although we were not helped by the referee holding the tapes on what was an extremely humid and warm evening down here tonight, but on the whole it was a disappointing performance by us.

KENT 64: Luke Bowen 13+2, Taylor Hampshire 11+2, Nathan Stoneman 11, Jack Thomas 11, Anders Rowe 7+2, Alex Spooner 6+2, William O’Keefe 5+1.
STOKE 26: Max Clegg 9, Tony Atkin 6, Rob Shuttleworth 6, James Laker (no.8) 2, Tim Colley 1+1, Paul Burnett 1, Chris Watts 1, Adam Extance r/r.