Workington Comets went down 49-41 last night in their National Development League meeting at Belle Vue Colts.
The two sides are due to meet again this afternoon at Northside when the Comets will be looking to peg back the deficit in a bid to take a much-needed win and the aggregate point.
The Comets, who had to use rider replacement for the injured Ace Pijper, were in contention right the way through until a 5-1 in the penultimate heat took it away from them.
They shared the last heat to finish eight points in arrears, giving some hope they can pull it back although the Aces will be stronger for the return.
However they will be encouraged that it was their best away performance since back in May when they won the opener at Berwick.
Connor Bailey, who rides reserve for the Aces in the Premiership and knows the track well, top-scored with 13 points for the Comets.
He won his first three outings but then had to settle for two second places behind Jack Smith in heats thirteen and fifteen.
Young Luke Harrison was also in double figures with 10 and a bonus points, and he enjoyed two heat wins – doing particularly well in the second of them to hold off Jacob Hook.
Elliot Kelly was another race winner for the Comets when he took the reserves heat, and with Harry McGurk taking third it briefly gave Workington the lead, Bailey having won the first shared heat.
When Sam McGurk became Workington’s fourth rider to win a race – heat nine – the Comets were still very much in touch at 29-25.
Indeed when the Comets scored a 4-2 in heat 11, through Bailey and Sam McGurk, it was 34-32 and could have gone either way.
The difference was back to four points after heat 12 in which Harrison split Freddy Hodder and Luke Muff in the Belle Vue 4-2.
Bailey, on a run of three straight wins, couldn’t repeat the trick in heat 13 when he was out-gated by Smith but the 3-3 kept the Comets in touch.
Unfortunately a Colts 5-1 in heat 14 when Hodder and Muff got well away from Harry McGurk and Luke Crang put the result beyond the Comets.
But they did share the spoils again in the last when Smith again did well to outgun Bailey with Sam McGurk ensuring the heat spoils were shared.
Belle Vue Colts 49: Jacob Hook 6; Matt Marson 9 + 2; Sam Hagon rider replacement; Freddy Holder 10; Jack Smith 16; Jack Shimelt 0; Luke Muff 8 + 1
Workington Comets 41: Connor Bailey 13; Ace Pijper rider replacement; Luke Harrison 10 + 1; Luke Crang 2; Sam McGurk 8 + 2; Elliot Kelly 5 + 1; Harry McGurk 3.
Today’s scheduled meeting at Northside starts at 3pm.
