STOKE A.R. Richards Potters were narrowly beaten 44-46 by the Belle Vue Colts in the Travel Plus National League at Loomer road on Saturday night.

The Colts took the lead in heat one with a 5-1 from impressive 16-year old Dan Bewley and Tom Woolley heading home Potter Shaun Tedham after Ben Hopwood had fallen while in second place, with both Woolley and Tedham doing well to avoid the stricken Hopwood.

The Potters struck back in the second race to level the scores after the race was awarded after Joe Lawlor had attempted to dive up the inside on Potters reserve Paul Burnett resulting in Lawlor falling and the referee Margaret Vardy disqualifying the Colts rider giving Burnett victory from partner David Morgan with David Holt third for a Potters 5-1. Stoke gained a second heat advantage in the next race as skipper Tony Atkin got the better of guest Danyon Hume with Danny Phillips third for a Potters 4-2 giving the Loomer Road outfit and 10-8 lead after the opening three heats.

The Colts again pulled level after seven races as former Potter Rob Shuttleworth took the chequered flag ahead of Ben Wilson with Hume third, but Stoke responded with a 4-2 in heat eight from Tedham and Burnett over Woolley to edge the Potters back in front and they subsequently extended their lead in heat nine after Lee Payne had been penalised and put off the fifteen metre mark when he went onto the infield. Payne did his upmost to get back on terms but it was Atkin and Phillips that held the former Potter at bay to gain a maximum 5-1 leaving the Potters 30-24 ahead.

The Colts fought back though as Hume and Shuttleworth took a comfortable 5-1 over Hopwood and Tedham and then Bewley lined up Ben Wilson in heat eleven to take a superb race victory as Woolley took third place for the Colts to put the sides level again with four races to go.

Payne and Bewley combined for a 4-2 in heat thirteen to edge the Colts in front once again Wilson managing to keep Bewley at bay and with Colts rider Shuttleworth taking victory in heat fourteen it left the Potters needing maximum points to win the meeting.

Ben Wilson took a superb victory from Payne and Bewley in the final race after Phillips had been disqualified for falling while the Colts were on a 5-1 in the original staging of the race, but it was the Colts who took the points in what was a keenly contested meeting.

Potters skipper Tony Atkin commented “No one was at fault for tonight’s loss everyone tried their best and it was one of those meetings that could have gone either way. It was a great meeting for the fans to watch and it just didn’t go our way tonight. The last time Belle Vue come here they annihilated us so it was a lot better show from us. They are a team that are very good around Stoke with Lee (Payne) and Rob (Shuttleworth) and that does give them a little more of an advantage then some other clubs. We are not disheartened by tonight we can step up from this and it was good to see Ben (Wilson) win heat fifteen he’s come back from quite a bad injury and it takes time to get your confidence back and that win will give him a lot of confidence.”

STOKE 44: Ben Wilson 11, Tony Atkin 9+1, Paul Burnett 7+3, Danny Phillips 7+1, Shaun Tedham 5+1, Ben Hopwood 3, David Morgan 2+1.
BELLE VUE 46: Lee Payne 12, Dan Bewley 11+1, Danyon Hume 9, Rob Shuttleworth 8+1, Tom Woolley 5+1, David Holt 1, Joe Lawlor 0.