STOKE Easy Rider Potters gained their first league win of the season after gaining a 53-37 victory over the Isle of Wight in the National League at Loomer Road on Saturday night.

Stoke did not get off to the best of starts going down to an opening heat 4-2 as Steve Boxall and Danny Stoneman over Lewis Rose after Luke Priest had fallen on the opening lap while in second place. The Potters though struck back quickly as Lee Payne and Shaun Tedham gained a maximum 5-1 over Chris Widman to put the Potters in front after the opening two heats 7-5.
Adam Ellis was disqualified in heat four after he fell on the second turn and was unable to clear track forcing the race to be stopped. In the rerun Payne took the chequered flag ahead of Widman with Kyle Hughes having fallen silting in a 3-2 heat advantage for the Potters as the Potters lead 13-10 after four heats.

The was drama in heat six as first of all Lewis Rose was disqualified having been adjudged to have brought down Ellis and then in the rerun Ellis himself was disqualified after he fell on his own at exactly the same place as he had previously leaving Payne and Stoneman the only two riders left to participate in the third attempt to complete heat six. At the third attempt Stoneman made the gate and took victory over Payne for an Islanders 3-2 heat advantage as the Potters hold a slender two point lead. The Potters extended their lead with a maximum 5-1 heat advantage from Kyle Hughes and Shaun Tedham over Darryl Ritchings after Brendan Johnson suffered a mechanical failure while leading heat seven to leave the Potters leading 23-17 at the midway point of the meeting.

Stoke extend their lead in heat eight as Hughes and Payne gain a second 5-1 in two heats with Widman third to open up a ten point lead.

The Islanders are then hampered with the news that heat leader Adam Ellis has withdrawn from the meeting due to injury.

Heat nine saw the Potters gained their third successive 5-1 after Widman falls while second behind Priest leaving referee Chris Durno with no alternative but to stop the race disqualifying Widman as the primary cause of the stoppage Durno awarding the race to Priest with Steve Worrall second and Stoneman third.

Darryl Ritchings is nominated as a tactical ride in heat ten by the Islanders management team, but it is the Potters pairing of Rose and Tedham that gained a maximum 5-1 over tactical ride Ritchings after his partner Brendan Johnson had fallen on the first lap while leading the race as the Potters lead 38-20 after ten races.

Steve Boxall is nominated as a tactical ride in heat eleven by e Islanders management and he promptly takes the six points with partner Ritchings following him home ahead of Hughes as the Islanders gain an 8-1 advantage but it is the Potters that remain in front with a 39-28 lead with four heats remaining. The Potters hit back straight away with a 4-2 from Worrall and Tedham over Stoneman for a 4-2 securing the Potters their first win of the season.

Boxall makes a lightening start in heat thirteen but he comes to grief on the second turn as Rose as no way of missing Boxall as both riders plough into the air fence. Rose walks away from the accident while Boxall takes a ride back to the pits in the ambulance. Boxall is subsequently disqualified as the primary cause of the stoppage. In the rerun Rose and Hughes collide resulting in Hughes falling and being disqualified. Rose eventually took victory over Widman for a Potters 3-2 heat advantage.

The Potters finished the meeting with a 4-2 in heat fourteen from Priest and Tedham and then Darryl Ritchings took the chequered flag ahead of Worrall in heat fifteen as Worrall went wide off the final turn to give Ritchings victory with Rose third for a drawn heat giving the Potters a 53-37 victory.

Easy Rider Potters team manager Malcolm Vasey said “I’m very pleased to get a win under our belts tonight. The whole team tackled the meeting with a lot of heart and determination and I am really pleased with the whole performance. I’d like to give a special mention to our reserves who both scored heavily tonight also, now we travel to Mildenhall on Sunday afternoon and for the first time in a long while we name an unchanged side.”

STOKE 53: Luke Priest 10+1, Lee Payne 10+1, Lewis Rose 9+1, Steve Worrall 9+1, Shaun Tedham 8+3, Kyle Hughes 7, Luke Chessell r/r.
ISLE OF WIGHT 37: Steve Boxall 12, Darryl Ritchings 10+2, Danny Stoneman 7, Chris Widman 6, Brendan Johnson 2, Adam Ellis 0, Ben Hopwood r/r.

The Potters are back in action on Sunday afternoon as they travel to West Row for their National League encounter against the Tigers, 4.30pm.

The Potters name an unchanged side for the meeting as Lewis Rose again guests for Ben Reade.

Mildenhall – 1. Stefan Nielsen (8.32), 2. Nathan Stoneman (4.46), 3. Josh Bates (7.25), 4. Jon Armstrong (8.31), 5. Danny Halsey (7.50), 6. Liam Rumsey (3.00), 7. Aaron Baseby (4.23).
Stoke – 1. Lewis Rose (g) (7.70), 2. Luke Chessell (4.22), 3. Steve Worrall (6.43), 4. Luke Priest (3.58), 5. Kyle Hughes (6.12), 6. Shaun Tedham (3.58), 7. Lee Payne (3.00)