Morris loss hurts Diamonds

Phil Morris had an unforunate start to the meeting whilst racing in heat 1 and leading he fell off with no apparent cause, whilst Christian Henry, closely following, laid his bike down but still collided with him. He was originally diagnosed as being ok but the doctor requested for the ambulance to come and attend and he wanted a sling and chair for Morris.

Phil refused the chair and walked back to the pits. He was immediately withdrawn from the meeting with a suspected broken left elbow. Consiquently Workington were gifted a 1st and 3rd place with Christian being awarded 2nd place. Morris' absence from the meeting was one of the big telling points in Newcastle's defeat, although the non-performance of one other home rider made matters much worse.

Heat 2 both Workington riders got in each others way on the 2nd bend allowing the Newcastle riders through after leaving the door wide open. Jamie was drifting wide all the time and consiquently let James Wright through. Tony Dart was not at the races. Heat 3 Claus Kristensen's mind was apparently not on the racing, consequently he started in 1st place but dropped back and got slower and got to the point of looking somewhat novicule in his riding much to the vast displeasure of the fans and the management.

During heat 4 Jamie was doing well in 2nd place but locked up in 2nd place on bend 2, lap 3. He finished in 3rd place. Shaun Tacey was not at the races at all, looking well off the pace.

In heat 5 the Newcastle riders were in each others way. They seemed to hit a hole on the 1st bend letting ex-Newcastle rider Kevin Little into the race further with Kristensen trailing off at the back once more.

During heat 7 Lubos Tomicek tried to pass Scott Robson but to no avail whilst in heat 9 it was a close race between Josef Franc and James Wright, with Kristensen seemingly uninterested for a third time.

In heat 11 it was as near a dead-heat as you'll ever see between James Grieves and Carl Stonehewer, one of the best races of the night whilst in heat 12 even though Kristensen was leading, he couldn't even keep a grasp onto that! Even though there were only 3 riders in the race ending a night of extreme disappointment from the Dane's point of view..... bearing in mind only 4 more points from him would have clinched the win.

Team Manager George English said: "I was very proud of Jamie, James and Josef, they did what they could to try and compete with the Comets, but it's not the same as having your number 1 and captain in the side with you to give you backing which was a huge loss to the side, but they did well to take it to a last heat decider."