STOKE Easy Rider Potters posted their biggest win of the season against National League leaders King's Lynn Young Stars in the first leg of this KO Cup quarter final clash running out 57-32 victors on Saturday night at Loomer Road.

King's Lynn went in front in with a 4-2 in heat two as Lewis Rose took victory from Lee Payne with Lee Geary taking third place having pushed the bike home for three quarters of a lap, Shaun Tedham having being disqualified for falling while leading the original staging of the race the Potters having been on a 4-2 heat advantage at the time of the stoppage.

The Potters were quickly on level terms as skipper Luke Priest took a comfortable victory over Darren Mallett with Ben Reade third for a Potters 4-2 levelling the scores up at 9-9. Stoke went in front in heat four after Lewis Kerr suffered an engine failure and then Rose who had been leading the race then fell on his own going into the first turn of the second lap leaving Kyle Hughes and Payne taking a 5-0 heat win giving the Potters a 14-9 lead. The Potters continued to pile on the pressure with a further 4-2 heat advantage in heat five as Priest beat Steve Worrall into second place with Reade third to extend their lead to seven points over the Young Stars.

Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey was forced into a decision after Luke Chessell broke the tapes and the Potters boss replaced Chessell with reserve Lee Payne for the restart. In the restart Potters duo Lee Smart and Payne combined for a 5-1 heat advantage over Geary after Kerr suffered his second engine failure of the night this time a chain coming off the cause to leave the Young Stars trailing 23-12 after six heats. Kyle Hughes and Shaun Tedham contine the heat advantages in heat seven with a 4-2 over Mallett to extend the Potters lead, Hughes clocking the fastest time of the season at Loomer Road registering a time of 63.7.

Luke Chessell took his second win of the night defeating Shane Waldron with Lee Payne finishing third for a Potters 4-2 heat win extending the Potters lead to fifteen points after eight heats.

Young Stars team manager Dale Allitt nominated Lewis Kerr as a tactical ride in heat nine but it was to no avail as Kerr's bad luck continued as he fell while attempting to catch Stoke's Ben Reade resulting in Kerr being disqualified from the rerun after he was unable to clear the track resulting in the race being stopped. In the rerun Reade and Priest made no mistake as they took a maximum 5-1 to leave the Potters 36-17 up after nine heats.

The Young Stars stopped the rot in heat ten as they managed a drawn 3-3 as Mallett and Shane Hazelden filled the minor placings behind race victor Smart as the Young Stars trail by nineteen points after ten races.

Young Star manager Allitt nominates Steve Worrall as a tactical ride in heat eleven but it was Hughes who took charge of the race with Worrall chasing when the race was stopped after Shaun Tedham fell resulting in Tedham being disqualified giving the Young Stars a 5-3 heat advantage as the Potters lead 42-25.

Ben Reade took victory in heat twelve ahead of Lee Geary after Payne fell on the second turn resulting in a 3-2 heat advantage for the Potters as they extend their lead Mallett already having been disqualified for falling.

Heat thirteen was stopped in the interests of safety with Hughes leading for the Potters before Lewis Rose fell bringing down Potters number one Lee Smart resulting in Rosé being disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage and with Worrall also not being under power he was also disqualified from the rerun resulting in Hughes and Smart taking a 5-0 in the rerun to extend Stoke's lead in the meeting with the Young Stars trailing 50-27.

Priest took victory in an awarded heat fourteen after Shaun Tedham collided with Shane Hazelden resulting in the race being stopped and Tedham disqualified the result being a drawn three all race.

Heat fifteen Priest complete his maximum with Worrall splitting the Potters pairing to deny Hughes his maximum giving the Potters a 4-2 and a 57-32 victory and a twenty five point lead going into the second leg at the Norfolk Arena in a couple of weeks time.

Stoke: 57: Luke Priest 15, Kyle Hughes 13, Lee Smart 8+1, Lee Payne 7+2, Ben Reade 7+1, Luke Chessell 6, Shaun Tedham 1
King’s Lynn Young Stars 32: Steve Worrall 9+1, Darren Mallett 6, Shane Waldron 5+1, Lee Geary 5, Lewis Rose 4+1, Shane Hazelden 3+1, Lewis Kerr 0