WEYMOUTH'S hopes of putting one over runaway Conference League leaders Mildenhall were ended before they began at the Wessex Stadium last night.

Already missing experienced Australian Corey Blackman, the Haven Wildcats also lost captain David Mason who was suffering the effects of a hornet bite to his ankle.

Had both men been available, the Dorset outfit might have pushed the Fen Tigers close - without them they had no chance.

And to make matters worse for the hosts, flying reserve Chris Ferguson was rushed to hospital halfway through the contest with a suspected broken ankle.

He's now likely to be out for at least a month, the injury capping what was a frustrating evening for Weymouth boss Brian White.He said: "Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong.

Being without Corey and David made the task impossible and things just went from bad to worse after that.

"The boys battled their hearts out for their team but not many full strength sides beat Mildenhall, let alone ones with three top riders missing."

The clash actually began in style for the hosts with Dan Giffard taking the opening encounter ahead of James Brundle.

Chris Courage fought tooth and nail with James Mann at the back and it was the Wildcat who came through to give his side an early advantage.Heat two was almost a carbon copy with this time Ferguson holding off Lee Smart to take victory, with team mate Jack Gledhill hunting down Kyle Hughes to finish third.

Weymouth's lead didn't last long, however, as British Under-21 champion Ritchie Hawkins showed his class with an easy success in race three to bring the scores level at 9-9.

But anything the Fen Tigers could do during those early exchanges so could the Wildcats and they proved it with a superb maximum in the next.Granted, Courage and Ferguson had Jon Armstrong's unlucky retirement to thank for the 5-1, but the hosts were happy to take the points.Mildenhall bounced back immediately with a Brundle/Mann maximum in race five, but there was a special cheer for 15-year-old Matt Bates who secured his first ever point in a Weymouth jacket.

The visitors went in front for the first time following heat six when Armstrong and Smart were split by Barrett to give the Fen Tigers a 4-2 which put them 19-17 ahead.

Hawkins and Dart recorded their second 5-1 maximum to open up a six point gap in the next and that was preserved courtesy of shared heat eight which was won by Smart in an impressive time of 56 seconds.

Heat nine was an incident-packed affair, which saw Ferguson break the tapes after snapping his clutch. Manager Mike Vernam opted to send the Aussie off a 15-metre handicap in the re-run and for a moment it looked like he'd catch Smart in third.

But just as he was making his move down the home straight on lap three, Ferguson's right ankle clipped the kick boards causing him to part company with his machine.

It was a horrific spill, which left the rider rolling in agony on the centre green, and following a 20-minute delay while he received treatment from the track medics, he was taken to hospital by ambulance.

A somewhat subdued re-run was eventually won by Armstrong with Barrett second and Hughes third.The honour of ride of the meeting undoubtedly went to Giffard in the tenth after the Weymouth number one became the first to beat the brilliant Hawkins. And what made it even better for the hosts was that he did as a double point tactical ride in 55.7 seconds to give the Wildcats a 6-3 success.

A win and a third place for Brundle and Mann respectively put the table toppers 38-31 in front after 11outings and they stretched that to 43-32 through Dart and Smart in heat 12. The Fen Tigers then wrapped up victory with their fifth maximum haul in race 13 and they moved a step nearer the coveted title in controversial circumstances in heat 14.

Wildcats tactical rider Barrett was excluded following a fall on the third bend leaving Smart and Hawkins to roar to another full house.

There were howls of disapproval from the Radipole Lane faithful who felt their rider had been impeded by the opposition, but referee Ronnie Allen was having none of it.And just to rub salt into Weymouth's wounds, Dart and Mann reeled off Mildenhall's seventh 5-1 in race 15 to give their side a comfortable 56-35 victory on the day, 118-58 on aggregate.n Weymouth are expected to draft in Carl Warwick for tomorrow's Conference League trip to Buxton.

Wildcats: Giffard, Rider Replacement, Bates, Barrett, Courage, Gledhill, Warwick.