Workington Comets head to Mildenhall this afternoon on the back of two heavy defeats against Leicester Lion Cubs yesterday.
They lost 61-29 in the National Development League and then in the second leg of the Knockout Cup they were trailing 49-23 with two heats left when the curfew took effect and the match was abandoned.
The result will stand, however, as Leicester already had a big lead from the first leg at Workington.
It now means champions Leicester are almost certain of a place in the NDL Grand Final after skipper Joe Thompson scored a six-ride 17+1 paid maximum whilst Max Perry continued a bumper weekend with 13.
It was an emphatic home victory on the League clash despite a string of incidents involving both teams.
Connor Bailey reached 10 points for the Comets, and the second fixture of the night resulted in another big Lion Cubs win to book their place in the KO Cup Final.
Perry scored 13 again with Thompson unbeaten on 11+1 and Vinnie Foord scored 9+4 in both meetings but Sam McGurk was ruled out for the Comets in the follow-up Cup clash with a knee injury.
The Lion Cubs will face Mildenhall in the Cup Final and only some unlikely mathematics can rule them out of the top two in the league.
Boss Dave Howard said: “That was probably the night with more things happening in it since speedway reopened here in 2011!
“It was a tricky track for everybody to start with and there were lots of incidents but we got there in the end.”
In the League clash the Comets only had three race winners, two of them by Connor Bailey and the other from Luke Harrison.
Actually hopes had been raised in the first heat which earned the Comets a 5-1 after being awarded following Alfie Bowtell’s fall.
That went to Bailey and skipper Luke Crang, and the same pairing forged Workington a 4-2 in heat five. At that point, with a third of the meeting gone, the Comets were in touch, trailing 17-13.
That changed rapidly as four of the next five races were 5-1’s for the Cubs and into the later stages it was just a question of how many – and damage limitation.
The one bright spot was a 4-2 to the Comets in heat 12, with Harrison coming home first and Elliot Kelly grabbing third – but mostly it was heat domination by the home side.
With McGurk unable to start in the Knockout Cup tie the Comets were really up against it – trailing by 16 points from the first leg.
Bailey took the first heat again but he was the only Workington race winner second time round and there were no real complaints when the curfew brought an early end to the meeting with three heats unraced.
National Development League
Leicester Lions Cubs 61: Alfie Bowtell 10 + 2; Ashton Boughen rider replacement; Max Perry 13; Tom Spencer 5; Joe Thompson 17 + 1; Vinnie Foord 9 + 4; Max James 7 + 2.
Workington Comets 29: Connor Bailey 10; Luke Crang 4 + 1; Luke Harrison 6; Sam McGurk 1 + 1; Ace Pijper rider replacement; Elliot Kelly 5; Kai Ward 3.
Knockout Cup semi final
Leicester Lion Cubs 49 (102)
Alfie Bowtell 8; Ashton Boughen rider replacement; Max Perry 13; Tom Spencer 1 + 1; Joe Thompson 11 + 1; Vinnie Foord 9 + 4; Max James 7.
Workington Comets: 23 (60)
Connor Bailey 7; Luke Crang 3 + 1; Luke Harrison 5 + 1; Sam McGurk non starter; Ace Pijper rider replacement; Elliot Kelly 2; Kai Ward 6 + 1.
