WEYMOUTH WILDCATS 68 SCUNTHORPE SAINTS 23
A RUTHLESS Weymouth Doonan Wildcats side hammered the Scunthorpe Saints to stretch their lead at the National League summit.
The Saints may have been without star man Simon Lambert at the Wessex Bus Raceway but even he would have struggled against a dominant Weymouth outfit, for whom Tim Webster and James Cockle stole the limelight with 12-point maximums.
Reflecting on an enormous triumph, team manager Jem Dicken, whose men sit three points clear at the top, said: “It wasn’t very good for the paying spectators but it’s a good pay day for our boys who all rode well.
“All they can do is beat what’s put in front of them. Scunthorpe should’ve had a stronger line-up but that’s the trouble with having riders who double up, it can catch you out.
“Big wins like this I don’t enjoy, I’d rather see us win by two or three points. These one-sided meetings aren’t great but it’s a development league and we’ve got the best team in the league so we’re always going to do well.”
The evening started as it meant to go on with Terry Day and Mark ‘Buzz’ Burrows claiming a 5-1 in the re-run of heat one after Scunthorpe’s Adam Wrathall was excluded for sending Burrows to the floor.
Race two finished level only because James White-Williams fell at the first turn.
There were no mishaps for Cockle and Matt Wright in the next heat as they easily fended off the Scunthorpe pair to extend Weymouth’s cushion.
Lee Smart and White-Williams repeated the 5-1 feat in race four before Cockle earned his second victory of the night to spearhead a third consecutive home maximum.
The evening was becoming highly repetitive as yet more Weymouth 5-1s followed in races six and seven.
The pattern was broken in the next outing though as Day was excluded for falling. The Saints were on course to salvage at least a draw in the re-run but Kyle Howarth lost control and he too was disqualified from the heat, ending in a 3-2 for the hosts courtesy of White-Williams being out in front when the race was awarded.
It was business as usual for heat nine with Cockle maintaining his perfect record, followed home by team-mate Wright for a seventh Weymouth maximum.
Saints’ Richard Franklin then managed to get in between Burrows and Day to restrict the Wildcats to a 4-2, however, Webster’s hot streak continued in race 11, the reserve rider leading fellow Cat Smart across the line for a 5-1.
The gap between the two sides stood at a mammoth 39 at the end of the 12th heat as Cockle and White-Williams fronted another maximum haul.
The advantage was stretched further after the next race with Smart and Burrows coming home first and second.
Scunthorpe played their second tactical ride in the penultimate contest of the night and it paid dividends as Franklin, despite losing out to Webster, finished ahead of Wright to ensure a 4-4 tie.
Day took the chequered flag in the final heat and with White-Williams in third, helped the home tally hit a massive 68.
Next up for the in-form Wildcats is a mouth-watering trip to Dorset neighbours Bournemouth on Thursday, followed 24 hours later by a home clash with Buxton.
INDIVIDUAL SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS
WEYMOUTH WILDCATS
1 Mark Burrows 2* 3 3 2* 10+2
2 Terry Day 3 2* fx 1 3 9+1
3 James Cockle 3 3 3 3 12
4 Matt Wright 2* 2* 2* 1 7+3
5 Lee Smart 3 2* 2* 3 10+2
6 Tim Webster 3 3 3 3 12
7 James White-Williams 0 2* 3 2* 1 8+2
Team manager: Jem Dicken
SCUNTHORPE SAINTS
1 R/R Simon Lambert
2 Adam Wrathall x 0 2 0 0 2
3 Ashley Morris 1 1 0 0 2
4 Richard Franklin 0 1 0 2 4^ 2 9
5 Scott Richardson fx 0 1 1^ 1 3
6 James Sarjeant 1* 1 0 1 0 3
7 Kyle Howarth 1 2 1 fx 0 4
8 Alex McLeod
Team manager: Malcolm Vasey
Referee: Mr Ronnie Allan
Ht 1: (Re-run) Day, Burrows, Howarth, Wrathall (x), 53.7 (5-1)
Ht 2: Webster, Howarth, Sarjeant, White-Williams (ret), 54.5 (8-4)
Ht 3: Cockle, Wright, Morris, Franklin (frmt), 54.5 (13-5)
Ht 4: (Re-run) Smart, White-Williams, Howarth, Richardson (fx), 53.6 (18-6)
Ht 5: Cockle, Wright, Franklin, Wrathall (ret), 53.7 (23-7)
Ht 6: Burrows, Day, Sarjeant, Richardson (frmt), 54.6 (28-8)
Ht 7: Webster, Smart, Morris, Franklin, 52.5 (33-9)
Ht 8: (Re-run) White-Williams, Wrathall, Howarth (fx), Day (fx), race awarded (36-11)
Ht 9: Cockle, Wright, Richardson, Sarjeant, 53.6 (41-12)
Ht 10: Burrows, Franklin, Day, Morris, 54.2 (45-14)
Ht 11: Webster, Smart, Richardson (tact), Wrathall, 53.1 (50-15)
Ht 12: (Re-run) Cockle, White-Williams, Sarjeant, Morris, 54.2 (55-16)
Ht 13: (Re-run) Smart, Burrows, Richardson, Sarjeant, 52.9 (60-17)
Ht 14: Webster, Franklin (tact), Wright, Howarth (ret), 53.6 (64-21)
Ht 15: Day, Franklin, White-Williams, Wrathall, 54.9 (68-23)
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