CRADLEY gained a deserved 40-35 victory over the Stoke Easy Rider Potters in the City Gearboxes National League at Loomer Road on Sunday night as the meeting was abandoned after thirteen heats due to a power failure.

The Heathens were up against it from the start with Tyler Govier having been ruled out of the meeting after crashing at Coventry earlier in the day leaving them with just five riders to start the meeting.

Cradley took the lead in the opening heat as only one rider completed the race in Heathens guest Ben Morley after Lee Payne suffered an engine failure while leading then Michael Neale crashed on the final turn writing his bike off and with Shaun Tedham already having been disqualified the Heathens took 3-0 lead.

Stoke hit back with a 4-2 from Ryan Terry-Daley and Chris Widman over Arron Mogridge and gained a further 4-2 heat advantage in heat three from Paul Burnett and Danny Phillips over Mogridge after Darryl Ritchings had been disqualified for falling to give the Potters an 8-7 lead after three heats.

The Heathens struck back to retake the lead with a 4-2 from Matt Williamson and Mogridge over Payne and then they extended their lead with a maximum 5-1 advantage from Ritchings and Williamson over Terry-Daley to leave the Potters trailing 17-22.

Payne and Chris Widman gained a 5-1 in heat eight over Mogridge to leave the Potters trailing by a single point, but the Heathens returned the compliment in heat nine as Williamson and Mogridge got the better of Burnett after Phillips had fallen.

The Potters again fought back with a maximum in heat ten from Payne and Phillips who held Ritchings at bay before Cradley again gained a 5-1 advantage from Morley and Mogridge over Burnett after Widman crashed heavily after losing control hitting the fence heavily resulting in Widman withdrawing from the meeting with an ankle injury leaving the Potters trailing 29-34 after eleven races.

The next two heats saw the two sides battle out two drawn heats before the lights went out for a second time due to a power failure resulting in the meeting referee Phil Griffin abandoning the meeting with the result standing.

Four riders scored the 40 points between them for the Heathens side while the Potters relied heavily on skipper Lee Payne as the Potters could only muster five race winners out of the thirteen completed heats with Payne gaining three of them.

STOKE 35: Lee Payne 11, Paul Burnett 7+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 6+1, Chris Widman 5+1, Danny Phillips 5+1, Shaun Tedham 1+1, Jon Armstrong r/r.
CRADLEY 40: Matt Williamson 12+2, Ben Morley 11, Arron Mogridge 10+2, Darryl Ritchings 7, Michael Neale 0, Ellis Perks r/r, Tyler Govier dnr.
Abandoned after Heat 13 (power failure) - Result stands