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Sunday, August 24, 2008, 11:50
PLYMOUTH Devils moved to the top of the Conference League after securing a hard-fought win over Weymouth Wildcats at the St Boniface Arena on Friday night.
The hosts won 12 of the 15 heats, but they struggled to put any distance between themselves and Weymouth until the eighth heat.
Then, a 5-1 maximum for Plymouth saw them move 28-20 ahead and after that they did enough to maintain their unbeaten home record in 2008.
Mark Simmonds top scored for the Devils with 13+1 points from five rides.
However it was Tom Brown, riding with a broken thumb, who was the Plymouth hero scoring a 12-point maximum from his four rides.
The victory means that the Devils sit one point ahead of Boston, who could only manage a 46-46 draw at home to Redcar, on top of the standings.
Devils' number one Simmonds gave the hosts a perfect start by winning heat one in convincing fashion.
But Weymouth's Andrew Bargh and Karl Mason claimed second and third respectively, from Kyle Hughes in fourth, to tie the heat 3-3.
The visitors looked odds-on for a 5-1 maximum in heat two, but with Kyle Newman leading and Brendan Johnson second, the latter's chain came off causing him to withdraw from the race.
Paul Starke's second place and Jaimie Pickard's third ensured Plymouth tied the heat 3-3.
Neither side was giving an inch in the early exchanges and heat three was another 3-3 tie.
Brown produced a superb ride for the Devils to take the honours but Luke Priest and Matt Wright, second and third respectively, kept the match perfectly poised at 9-9.
Heat four saw the home side go ahead for the first time thanks to a win from skipper Seemond Stephens and third place from reserve Starke.
Jay Herne claimed second for Weymouth, but the Devils were now ahead 13-11.
Brown recorded his second win of the match in heat five, but Weymouth claimed a 3-3 tie with Mason second and Bargh in third.
Wildcats' Johnson was excluded from heat six after falling on the first bend.
In the re-run, the Devils took advantage with Simmonds in first and Hughes in third sandwiching Herne to give the hosts a 20-16 lead.
Plymouth skipper Stephens gained his second heat win in heat seven.
However Priest and Wright finished second and third to secure a 3-3 tie for the visitors and leave the match delicately poised at 23-19 to the hosts.
The Devils extended their lead to 28-20 in heat eight with the first 5-1 maximum of the meeting.
Hughes rode superbly to take the honours with Starke holding off Mason to finish second.
However the hosts can thank Weymouth's Newman, who fell at the start of the second lap when second, but who got up quickly to allow the heat to finish.
Weymouth used Bargh as a tactical substitute in heat nine in a bid to reduce the eight-point deficit.
The race was awarded when Starke fell on the final bend of the final lap.
However Bargh could only finish third with Brown, who passed Herne on the final bend just before Starke suffered his mishap, ensuring the visitors only managed a 4-3 win.
Simmonds claimed his third win of the match in heat 10 and with Hughes in third – Weymouth's Wright finished second – the Devils extended their lead to 35-26.
The Wildcats hit back in heat 11 with a 4-2 victory courtesy of first for Bargh and third for Mason. Devils skipper Stephens was second.
Heat 12 saw Starke replaced by Pickard, yet the Plymouth reserve could make no impact on the race and he finished a distant fourth.
However team-mate Brown claimed his fourth heat win to ensure that Weymouth – who had Priest second and Johnson third – had to be content with a 3-3 tie and a 40-33 deficit.
Plymouth registered their second 5-1 maximum of the night in heat 13 with Simmonds and Stephens first and second for the hosts and Herne third for the Wildcats.
But Weymouth were unfortunate when Bargh suffered an engine failure when sitting second.
The 14th and penultimate heat saw Weymouth use Wright on a tactical ride in a bid to gain a draw from the match.
However Plymouth's Starke recovered from his earlier fall to take the honours and keep Wright back in second and Newman in third.
Weymouth took the heat 5-3 but it was to no avail as the Devils, leading 48-39, could not now be caught.
The 15th and final heat saw the Devils use Simmonds and Hughes and the Wildcats opt for Bargh and Wright.
Bargh rode a superb race to claim first place, but with Hughes second and Simmonds third, the heat was tied 3-3 and it was Plymouth who recorded a 51-42 victory.
Plymouth Devils: Mark Simmonds 13+1 points (5 rides), Kyle Hughes 7 (5), Tom Brown 12 (4), Jamie White-Williams 0 (3), Seemond Stephens 10+1 (4), Jaimie Pickard 1+1 (4), Paul Starke 8+1 (5).
Weymouth Wildcats: Andrew Bargh 11+1 (6), Karl Mason 5+1 (4), Luke Priest 6 (4), Matt Wright 8+2 (5), Jay Herne 7 (4), Brendan Johnson 1+1 (3), Kyle Newman 4+1 (4).
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