The incident packed meeting saw the Saints trail by three points, with three races to go, but maximum points from those heats secured a 49-39 victory and a return to the top of the Conference League table.


Falls for both Benji Compton and Scott Anderson in the first race saw the Cubs open with a 5-0 heat win but consecutive 5-1s in heats 3 (Byron Bekker and Jonathan Bethell) & 4 (Sam Martin and Scott Richardson) gave the Saints the lead for the first time and by heat 9 that had been extended it to seven points. Over the next three races the Cubs produced a ten point swing with 5-1s from Martin Emerson and Scott James plus Gary Beaton and David Wallinger and a shock away win looked well and truly on the cards at this point.


A fantastic ride by Sam Martin saw him finally pass his Australian compatriot Scott James in heat 13 and join Benji Compton for a 5-1 but it still left the two sides one point apart with two races to go. However, no one expected the Saints’ new reserve for 2008, Gary Irving (pictured), to produce his ride of the night to claim maximum points with Byron Bekker in the last race. With both Redcar riders eventually coming to grief it gifted the Saints a 5-0 and suddenly the meeting had been won.


With the pressure off Benji Compton and Byron Bekker recorded a 5-1 in heat 15 and in the end the final scoreline perhaps flattered the Saints a little. Afterwards Saints Team Manager Malcolm Vasey summed up the meeting “Disastrous start. Then we fought well and got ourselves into a good position before contriving to give it back to them. That was really disappointing but suddenly we get two 5-1s and a 5-0. It was a thrilling finish for the supporters and everyone would surely have been entertained by the meeting. Byron Bekker, Sam Martin and Benji Compton really got it together and Gary Irving’s rode a breathtaking race in heat 14”.


Sam Martin, the Saints Australian rider, said “I tried my hardest to get a maximum but I tried too hard and went in a bit too wide. I went over the camber and the bike just went down on me. Never mind, it happens. I just have to get on with it for the next one” whilst Scott Anderson, who had an eventful night, had the following to say “Wayne Carter had a look at the bike, so that helped but the clutch is dragging a bit. I made some good starts in heat 1 but gates 1 and 2 were definitely better than 3 and 4. I had the wrong gearing on for the first race so it was pulling me all over and in the next one a bolt holding the back end came loose. My third ride I needed to change the gearing but the races were too close together and in the last one my chain broke. I’m so annoyed”.


The Saints are next in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway as part of a double-header meeting on Bank Holiday Monday. They face the Weymouth Wildcats after the Premier League Scorpions’ match with the Somerset Rebels which starts at 3pm.