STOKE Easy Rider Potters suffered their third heavy defeat on the bounce as they suffered a 68-22 defeat against the Isle of Wight Islanders in the National League at the Smallbrook Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Potters were up against it from the start having to use rider replacement for ex-Islander Kyle Hughes and the injured Lee Payne and had to draft in Spitfires youngster Charles Wallace while the injured Ben Reade was replaced by King's Lynn's Lewis Rose.

The Potters were 18-6 down after the opening four heats with only Luke Chessell and guest Lewis Rose managing to beat an island rider Chessell coming closest in the opening heat when he led the race for the opening three laps before Island number one Tom Perry went round the boards to pass Chessell down the back straight.

The Potters continued to struggle on the big Smallbrook circuit as the Islanders continued to dominate the meeting with a further two 4-2 heat advantages and a 5-1 to lead 31-11 at the midway point of the meeting with Lee Smart and Rose the only riders managing to split the Islanders partnerships.

With the Potters trailing 41-13 after nine heats team manager Malcolm Vasey nominated Lewis Rose as a tactical ride in heat 10 but it was to no avail as Rose fell while in second place seeing the Potter disqualified with referee Dan Holt awarding the race giving the Islanders a 5-1 as the Potters trail 36-14 after 10 races.

Potters team manager Vasey nominated his second tactical ride in hear eleven as Lee Smart took the black and white helmet colour. The move again was to no avail as the islanders pair roared from the start to leave the Potters pairing of Smart and Chessell reeling for another maximum 5-1 to leave Stoke trailing 51-15 after 11 heats.

Only guest Lewis Rose managed to defeat an opponent in the following three heats as the Potter capitulated completely with the Islanders continuing to dominate gaining a 4-2 and two 5-1's to lead 65-19 with one heat to go.

In the final heat Luke Priest was disqualified after falling but partner Lewis Rose became the first and only Potter to gain a victory as he took the chequered flag ahead of Ben Hopwood and Tom Perry for a drawn heat.

Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey commented "thank goodness we had Lewis Rose with us tonight as he saved us from a total humiliation. We now have to regroup and look at things and see what we can now do."

ISLE OF WIGHT 68: Adam Ellis 15, Ben Hopwood 14, Tom Perry 11+1, Brandon Freemantle 10+4, Lewis Kerr 9+3, Darryl Ritchings 9+2, Danny Stoneman R/R.

STOKE 22: Lewis Rose 9, Lee Smart 4, Luke Chessell 4, Luke Priest 4, Shaun Tedham 1, Charles Wallace 0, Kyle Hughes R/R.