Super Comets roar into last eight
Last updated 10:15, Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Premier League Knockout Cup: Workington Comets 54 Stoke 36: Workington Comets wrapped up their place in the quarter-finals of the Premier League Knockout Cup with another clear-cut win over the Potters.
It was their third victory against Stoke so far this season but both the previous two were at Loomer Road, the second of which was the club’s biggest-ever away success.
But for a painful early exit for Carl Stonehewer and a series of mechanical gremlins for reserves Joe Haines and John Branney, the Comets would have been heading for en even more emphatic victory.
Stonehewer, who had suffered rib and arm damage in a heavy fall at Loomer Road on Saturday, was forced to withdraw after just two of his four programmed rides – both wins.
“The pain in my chest from the ribs is really bad and I was in agony after my second race. I’m going to pull out of my two guest bookings on Thursday and Friday and try to get sorted for Saturday night,” said Stoney.
The Workington veteran had been seen at his best on his second outing when he had a thrilling duel with Barrie Evans before using every inch of his track craft and experience to edge under the Stoke rider on the penultimate turn and score a merited win.
Already using rider replacement for the injured Barry Burchatt, the Comets reserves were stretched to the limit having to accommodate Stoney’s last two rides and the machinery suffered.
Haines was forced to retire in three successive outings and when he went out for his seventh and final ride, and won it, his bike conked out on the victory lap.
Branney snapped a chain in one of his outings – the sixth of the night, and the first one in which he had failed to pick up any points.
Stoke had been hit hard by a serious road accident for number one Lee Complin in the early hours, and Birmingham’s Adam Roynan was brought in as a late replacement at number one.
Roynon rode with spirit and gusto all night and was top-scorer with eight points, among just four Stoke riders who won a heat each.
It was hard going for the Potters, deflated after Saturday’s heavy home loss to the Comets and then even more by the serious injuries suffered by Complin in his road crash.
Any thoughts of an upset were firmly squashed by heat four when Workington held an 18-6 lead with three race maximums included in that powerful start.
Stoke even fell flat when they used a tactical ride for Ben Barker in heat seven and he was last with Evans giving Stonehewer a great battle.
By heat eight it was 33-15 to the Comets and Workington fans were contemplating arrangements for the trip to Isle of Wight in the quarter-finals.
News of Stonehewer’s withdrawal must have perked up the visitors and with Kauko Nieminen making a rare poor start in heat nine, Klaus Jacobsen and Emiliano Sanchez fashioned a 5-1 over Charles Wright – their first heat advantage of the night.
The only other came in heat 11 with the help of a mechanical retirement for Haines which left Roynon and veteran Mark Burrows clear of Branney despite a brave effort by the Workington reserve.
But 38-28 was as near as the Potters got and it was business as usual for the Comets over the last four heats – two of which finished 5-1. The others would have been better than 3-3, too, but for Branney and Haines suffering mechanical problems.
Daniel Nermark again emerged as Workington’s top scorer with 14 points – a paid maximum – while Nieminen rattled up four wins in his 12-point haul.
MATCH FACTS
Workington Comets 54: Daniel Nermark 14, rider replacement for Barry Burchatt; Kauko Nieminen 12; Charles Wright 7; Carl Stonehewer 6; Joe Haines 7; John Branney 8.
Stoke Potters 36: Adam Roynon 8, Mark Burrows 6, Ben Barker 6, Barrie Evans 4, Emiliano Sanchez 5, Klaus Jacobsen 4, Jesper Kristiansen 3.
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