IT was another frustrating night for the Stoke A.R. Richards Potters as they slipped to a 48-42 defeat against Midlands rivals Cradley at Monmore Green on Monday night, although the Potters did bring a point back from their travels.
The Potters led the meeting early on courtesy of a couple of 4-2 heat advantages from Joe Lawlor and Luke Priest in the third heat and then Jason Edwards and Shelby Rutherford in heat five after Dan Halsey had been excluded to give the Potters a 17-13 lead after five heats.
Max Clegg and Luke Harris teamed up for a 4-2 for the Heathens in heat six before the Heathens then took a couple of 4-2 advantages in heats 9 and 10 to take the lead 31-29.
Edwards and Rutherford levelled things up with a 4-2 in heat 11, but then the Heathens struck with a maximum 5-1 advantage in heat 13 from Clegg and Jack Smith to open up a 4-point lead going into the final couple of races.
A shocking high-speed collision saw three riders hit the deck and remarkably all four eventually got up and returned to the pits. In the rerun Joe Alcock was unable to take his place leaving team manager Adam Isherwood no alternative but to bring in James Chattin. Dan Halsey picked himself up for the home side and took victory but Luke Priest and Chattin took the minor placings.
The Potters knew they had the chance of gaining a consolation point for not losing by more than 6-points and despite Clegg taking victory for the Heathens Connor Coles managed to get the better of Jack Smith and split the Cradley pairing.
Team boss Isherwood commented “It was similar to the Isle of Wight as were leading at one point and silly falls and silly mistakes when in points scoring positions and things went wrong, well not everything as we brought a point away from the meeting which is always good to get, but I do feel we could and perhaps should have had more points from the meeting tonight.”
CRADLEY 48: Max Clegg 14, Jack Smith 10+1, Danny Halsey 8, Luke Harris 6+1, Harry McGurk 5+2, Tom Spencer 5, Sheldon Davies 0. STOKE 42: Joe Lawlor 10, Jason Edwards 10, Connor Coles 9, Luke Priest 4+1, Shelby Rutherford 3+1, James Chattin 3+1, Joe Alcock 3+1.
