PLYMOUTH Devils survived an early scare to breeze past Buxton Hitmen at the St Boniface Arena.

The Derbyshire outfit drew the first heat 3-3 despite Plymouth number one Mark Simmonds recording the home team's first win of the night.

Former Devil Mark Andrews rubbed salt in the home side's wounds with a win in heat two after Plymouth's Danny Stoneman crashed out of the race and eventually the meeting.

David Gough, who had his own share of bad luck when he flipped himself off his bike later in the meeting, grabbed a handy second place, but Devils lost the heat 4-2.

A minor crisis was averted when imperious winner Kyle Hughes and sidekick Paul Starke stormed to a 5-1 victory in heat three to give Plymouth a 10-8 advantage.

From then on, the meeting went according to form, with Plymouth ending the evening with a healthy 55-38 win, thanks to further heat wins from Hughes, captain Seemond Stephens and Simmonds.

Devils boss Mike Bowden said afterwards that the win would put them into the National League's second spot.

Bowden said: "It was a good team effort by the boys."