Buxton battered

Wildcats made light of a tense start to triumph 59-33 over a strong Buxton side.

The meeting was held up for 15 minutes following races six and seven as riders from both teams complained that a low sun was blinding them on the back straight.

Prior to these sunshine stoppages, Wildcats were being held 15-15 by the Hitmen.

But the delays seemed to knock the visitors off their stride as Weymouth reeled off five straight 5-1s to put the contest to bed by race 10.

The light issues affected both outfits but Burrows felt his Wildcats adapted best to the conditions.

He said: “The sun was blazing into our eyes down the back straight and when you lose sight of everyone for a few seconds, it’s a bit discouraging.

“It was one or two of the Buxton riders complaining about it – we get used to the sun week after week.

“The light meant the meeting was hard work to start with and Buxton kept up in the first few heats, but we managed to sort things out and pull away.

“It was a good performance, the track was nice and the lads rode well.”

Buzz notched 13 paid 14 points – his best ever score in Wildcats’ colours.

He was unable to track down the fast-gating Lee Smethills in his opening ride but he followed Terry Day home for a 5-1 in race six.

The ex-Wimbledon man then scorched under Gareth Isherwood on bend two to win race 10.

Burrows also chased down Smethills in heat 13 and used some fantastic traction on the inside line to sweep under for his second win.

This was before he gained another triumph over the Buxton number one, when he led Smart home in heat 15.

Skipper Smart also starred for his team and led the scoring with a 14 paid 15 maximum.

His highlight of the night came in a fantastic heat five rundown.

Despite being left for dead on turn one, Smart hunted down Smethills and scorched around the outside beautifully on lap three, bend four.

Following a tough night against Dorset neighbours Bournemouth on Thursday, Day bounced back with eight paid 11 points.

But Tim Webster and James Cockle appear to be feeling the effects of falls at Wimborne Road and scored five paid six and seven respectively.

SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Weymouth Wildcats

1 Mark Burrows (2-2*-3-3-3) 13+1

2 Terry Day (1*-3-2*-2*) 8+3

3 Matthew Wright (0-1-2*-3) 6+1

4 Lee Smart (3-3-3-3-2*) 14+1

5 James Cockle (X-3-3-1) 7

6 Tim Webster (2-2*-0-1) 5+1

7 James White-Williams (1*-2-3-0) 6+1

Team manager: Jem Dicken

BUXTON HITMEN

1 Lee Smethills (3-2-4^-2-1) 12

2 Danny Hodgson (0-1*-0-R-1*) 2+2

3 Jade Mudgway (2-R-X^-2-X) 4

4 Rider replacement – Scott James

5 Gareth Isherwood (3-1-1-1-1-0-0) 6

6 Alex McLeod (0-0-0) 0

7 Lewis Dallaway (3-1-1-1-1*-2) 9+1

Team manager: Jack Lee

Referee: Graham Reeve

Ht 1: Smethills, Burrows, Day, Hodgson, 53.79 (3-3)

Ht 2: Dallaway, Webster, White-Williams, McLeod (fell remounted), 54.84 (6-6)

Ht 3: Smart, Mudgway, Hodgson, Wright, 52.91 (9-9)

Ht 4: (awarded) Isherwood, White-Williams, Dallaway, Cockle (fell exc), no time (11-13)

Ht 5: Smart, Smethills, Wright, Hodgson, 53.32 (15-15)

Ht 6: Day, Burrows, Isherwood, McLeod, 53.68 (20-16)

Ht 7: Cockle, Webster, Dallaway, Mudgway (fell, remounted, ret), 55.54 (25-17)

Ht 8: White-Williams, Day, Dallaway, Hodgson (ret), 55.21 (30-18)

Ht 9: Smart, Wright, Isherwood, McLeod, 54.61 (35-19)

Ht 10: (awarded) Burrows, Day, Isherwood, Mudgway (fell exc) (tactical ride, double points), no time (40-20)

Ht 11: Cockle, Smethills, (tactical ride, double points), Hodgson, Webster, 54.82 (43-25)

Ht 12: Wright, Mudgway, Dallaway, White-Williams, 53.83 (46-28)

Ht 13: Burrows, Smethills, Cockle, Isherwood, 54.60 (50-30)

Ht 14: (awarded) Smart, Dallaway, Webster, Mudgway (fell exc), no time (54-32)

Ht 15: Burrows, Smart, Smethills, Isherwood, 54.11 (59-33)