A DISASTROUS night for the Weymouth Doonan Wildcats saw Jon Armstrong forced out of the Conference League Pairs, and probably the rest of the season, with a broken tibia.

The Mighty Midget collided with team-mate Jay Herne, and Sittingbourne's Jerran Hart, after Herne fell during heat seven to leave a sour taste in the host club's mouth on a night where the Boston Barracudas lifted the Pairs' trophy after beating the Redcar Cubs in the grand final.

Armstrong and Herne took on Buxton Hitmen duo Ben Taylor and Jack Roberts in the opening race and although Roberts won the heat the Wildcats took a 5-4 victory courtesy of Herne and Armstrong placing second and third.

Mechanical problems for Boston's Simon Lambert in heat two enabled Kyle Hughes (2nd) and Paul Starke (3rd) to claim a 5-4 in the Plymouth Devils' favour.

Hot prospect Aaron Summers proved his worth by taking the chequered flag in heat three for a 6-3 Redcar victory.

Race four, after being re-run twice, saw Scunthorpe Saints pick up a 7-2 maximum with Byron Becker coming first.

An exciting battle in heat five between Summers and Roberts ended when the latter went crashing into the fence on the final lap and was excluded, handing victory to Summers and a 6-3 in Redcar's favour.

Paul Starke passed Day on the final bend to help the Devils pinch victory over Rye House in heat six before the drama of race seven unfolded and ultimately ended the home team's challenge.

Reserve rider Brendan Johnson came in for Armstrong but, under event rules, any points he won would not go towards the Weymouth total.

Hart and Felton held off Johnson to effectively record a 7-0.

Heat eight was won by James as he fended off the challenge of Becker to help Boston overcome Scunthorpe 6-3.

Herne fell on the first corner of the next race but got back up for the re-run. The Aussie led for the majority of the heat but a terrific manoeuvre on the last bend from Summers saw him maintain his 100 per cent record.

Cockle also continued his unbeaten run with victory in the tenth heat, a race the Barracudas won 7-2.

Crusader Hart won heat 11 but Roberts and Taylor, in second and third, secured a 5-4 for the Hitmen.

Heat 12 saw Starke crash into Bethall, resulting in the former being excluded for unfair riding and the latter replaced by reserve rider Tim Webster.

The re-run was won by Becker with Hughes in second, meaning both the Devils and Saints ended all square on 14 points from their three rides.

With all group races completed Redcar (18 points) topped Group A, followed by Sittingbourne (14), while Boston (17) won Group B with Scunthorpe (14) in second by virtue of winning the head-to- head heat between them and Plymouth.

The first semi-final saw Summers and James storm to success for Redcar against Scunthorpe who had Webster riding in the absence of Bethall.

And Boston set up a final showdown with the Cubs after beating Sittingbourne in the second semi, won by Cockle.

The final had to be re-run but once fully underway, Summers' first place gave him a perfect score however, on the penultimate lap, Lambert went past James and held on to hand overall victory to Boston.

Sittingbourne won third prize after lots were drawn due to them and Scunthorpe having identical records.

The final action of the night belonged to Wildcat Matt Bates who beat team-mates Kyle Newman, Johnson and Webster in a running race around the circuit to claim the £100 prize that marked the 100th meeting at the Wessex since speedway returned to Weymouth in 2003.

SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

GROUP A

WEYMOUTH 8

Jon Armstrong 2* n n 2+1

Jay Herne 3 fx 3 6

BUXTON 12

Ben Taylor 0 3 2* 5+1

Jack Roberts 4 fx 3 7

REDCAR 18

Scott James 2 2 2 6

Aaron Summers 4 4 4 12

SITTINGBOURNE 14

Dean Felton 0 3* 0 3+1

Jerran Hart 3 4 4 11

GROUP B

BOSTON 17

Simon Lambert 0 2 3* 5+1

James Cockle 4 4 4 12

PLYMOUTH 14

Kyle Hughes 3 4 3 10

Paul Starke 2* 2 fx 4+1

RYE HOUSE 7

Gary Cottham 2 3 0 5

Terry Day fx 0 2 2

SCUNTHORPE 14

Byron Becker 4 3 4 11

Jonathan Bethell 3* 0 fn 3+1

Reserves

Brendan Johnson 2 0

Tim Webster 2

Referee: Ms Barbara Horley

Ht 1: Roberts, Herne, Armstrong, Taylor, 52.3

Ht 2: (Re-run) Cockle, Hughes, Starke, Lambert (ret), 53.8

Ht 3: Summers, Hart, James, Felton (ret), 52.7

Ht 4: (Re-run x2) Becker, Bethell, Cottham, Day (fx), 54.9

Ht 5: Summers, Taylor, James, Roberts (fx) race awarded

Ht 6: Hughes, Cottham, Starke, Day, 53.2

Ht 7: (Re-run) Hart, Felton, Johnson, Herne (fx), 54.0

Ht 8: Cockle, Becker, Lambert, Bethall (f ret), 53.7

Ht 9: (Re-run) Summers, Herne, James, Johnson, 52.8

Ht 10: Cockle, Lambert, Day, Cottham, 54.5

Ht 11: Hart, Roberts, Taylor, Felton, 53.9

Ht 12: (Re-run) Becker, Hughes, Webster, Starke (fx), 54.0

SF 1: Summers, James, Webster, Becker, 52.5

SF 2: (Re-run) Cockle, Lambert, Hart, Felton (fx), 55.0

Final: (Re-run) Summers, Cockle, Lambert, James, 53.3

£100 Run-off: Bates, Newman, Johnson, Webster (ret), 36.9

Auto Marine of Poole's rider of the night: Aaron Summers