The injury hit Wightlink Warriors, missing 3 regular team members, travelled to the Wolverhampton home of league leaders Cradley Heathens last night (Monday) for a Travel PlusTours National League fixture and returned South with another valuable league point.
They journeyed north for the encounter missing number 1 rider Benji Compton plus the very much in form duo of Kelsey Dugard and Mark Baseby with team manager Neil Vatcher having to work hard to secure the services of Birmingham’s Tom Perry to deputise for Compton, Belle Vue teenager Dan Bewley in for Dugard and forced to use the rider replacement regulations to cover Baseby’s absence.
Given all that, whilst they couldn’t prevent those table topping Heathens making it 4 home wins out of 4, the final scoreline of 48-42 was enough under the league rules to earn the Warriors a bonus point for restricting the margin of their victory to 6 points or less.
With just 2 races to go, and the homesters leading by just 4 points at 41-37, the brave Warriors were very much in with a shout of pulling off either a win or a draw but a 4-2 home win in the penultimate heat saw the Cardley Heathens secure victory.
FINAL SCORE: CRADLEY HEATHENS 48 WIGHTLINK WARRIORS 42
WIGHTLINK WARRIORS SCORERS: Tom Perry (G) 12+1, Dan Bewley (G)10+1, James Cockle 9, Lee Smart 8+1, Matt Saul 2, Tyler Govier 1+1
