STOKE Easy Rider Potters went down to a 50-43 defeat against Coventry Storm in the National League at the Brandon Stadium on Sunday afternoon narrowly missing out on coming away from the match with a point.
Stoke went behind in the early heats after Storm gained two heat advantages in the opening three heats firstly Dan Greenwood got the better of Potters skipper Jon Armstrong with Rob Shuttleworth taking third place for an opening heat 4-2 and then Martin Knuckey and Mark Baseby combined for a maximum 5-1 in heat three after the Potters had originally had levelled the scores in heat two with a 4-2 from Potters reserves Shaun Tedham and Paul Burnett over Callum Walker.
Greenwood and Shuttleworth extended Coventry’s lead with a 4-2 in heat six over Lee Payne, but the Potters struck back immediately with a 4-2 from Danny Phillips and form Storm rider Ryan Terry-Daley over Darryl Ritchings reducing the deficit to just two points once again before Storm gained their second 5-1 of the afternoon as Conor Dwyer took the chequered flag ahead of Shuttleworth who edged out Chris Widman on the line leaving the Potters trailing 28-22 after eight heats.
Shuttleworth and Greenwood gained a further 4-2 in heat ten over Phillips putting Storm ten points ahead of the Potters and Stoke team manager Malcolm Vasey wasted no time in nominating Jon Armstrong for a tactical ride in heat eleven and the Potters skipper duly obliged as he took victory, but Storms pairing of Ritchings and Walker took the minor placings keeping Widman at bay as the Potters took a 6-3 heat advantage with Coventry leading 38-31 after eleven races.
Coventry sealed victory in heat thirteen as Greenwood and Ritchings gained a 4-2 over Armstrong and then Storm gained a second successive 4-2 advantage as Knuckey got the better of Phillips with Walker taking third place.
Stoke gained a consolation heat fifteen maximum 5-1 from Armstrong and Payne after Knuckey had fallen the race was stopped by the referee with Knuckey being disqualified and the referee awarding the race as the Potters lose out 50-43 to Coventry.
Potters boss Malcolm Vasey commented “We battled extremely hard and it’s disappointing for us to come away with nothing after losing out on doing so by just a single point.”
COVENTRY 50: Dan Greenwood 11, Martin Knuckey 11, Rob Shuttleworth 7+1, Mark Baseby 6+2, Darryl Ritchings 6+1, Conor Dwyer 5, Callum Walker 4+1. STOKE 43: Jon Armstrong 16, Lee Payne 9+1, Danny Phillips 7, Paul Burnett 4+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 3+1, Shaun Tedham 3, Chris Widman 1.
