Bears beaten by Comets comeback!
The Redcar “Agilia” Bears were shocked by a resolute Workington side at the ECCO Arena with the Comets running out 44-46 winners in the BSN Series. Despite the Bears starting the meeting on fire, Workington stuck to their task to turn the meeting around, much to the delight of their sizeable travelling support. Charles Wright top scored for Redcar with 10 whilst Craig Cook hit a superb paid 14 for Workington.
Redcar started the meeting on the front foot after a drama filled opening heat. Firstly, Craig Cook touched the tapes with the Workington skipper excluded. The restaging saw Cook replaced by Sam McGurk with a thrilling race ensuing. The exciting Australian, Tate Zischke rode superbly to pass Danny King in the early stages before the Australian starlet suffered bike problems with the Workington man falling, and with both Bears close behind in points scoring positions, the Bears had the perfect start with a 5-1.
Heat 2 saw Jake Mulford win impressively but with Celina Liebmann passing Ben Trigger, Workington’s German star made sure Redcar did not secure a second 5-1. Nevertheless, Redcar did not have to wait long for their second maximum with Connor Bailey and Jonas Knudsen team riding superbly to hold off Claus Vissing for the 5-1 heat advantage.
Heat 4 saw another Redcar heat advantage with Wright last out of the gate but the skipper, rather astonishingly, was in the lead by the backstraight of the opening lap with the Bears legend then going onto win comfortably, and with Trigger in 3rd, the Bears had a dream start on Teesside.
Heat 5 saw the Comets fightback begin with Cook passing Bailey for the win, and with Knudsen falling (although the Dane did remount to finish), the visitors had their first heat advantage to reduce the arrears to 10.
After a shared heat 6 won by Troy Batchelor, Workington reduced the arrears further to 8 points with another 4-2 heat advantage as Claus Vissing won well ahead of the skipper, and with Antti Vuolas passing Mulford, the visitors were beginning to get back on track.
Suddenly, the Comets sensed blood with two more heat advantages. Firstly, Zischke won heat 8, and with Liebmann passing Trigger, the visitors’ belief was going in only one direction. That belief soared even higher after a 5-1 in heat 9 as Troy Batchelor, and tactical substitute, Craig Cook combined to bring the Comets within two of the Bears, with the visitors having the all important momentum.
Heat 10 saw superb action as Vuolas was passed by both Bears, with King then giving his all to try and pass Vissing, but the Dane held on to ensure the Comets remained within touching distance on Teesside.
After Wright won a shared heat 11, a great race in heat 12 followed with Antti Vuolas getting his maiden win at Redcar by impressively passing Bailey for the win. In the battle for 3rd, Celina Liebmann, who was going off 15 metres after missing the 2 minutes, gained ground on Jake Mulford, with the Bears reserve just holding on for 3rd. Immediately after the chequered flag, Liebmann took a heavy tumble after colliding with Connor Bailey with the Workington reserve in a lot of pain as she left the track.
With Cook taking yet another win in a shared heat 13, the visitors remained 2 behind the Bears ahead of heat 14. After the Bears gated on a 5-1, it looked like the side had fended off the Comets comeback but Claus Vissing had other ideas as he passed both Mulford and Knudsen to take the win to set up a last heat decider at the ECCO Arena.
The final race of the meeting saw Wright gate with the skipper looking favourite for the win, until the Bears man clipped the fence and came down, thus excluding him from the re-run. The re-run saw both Cook and Batchelor gate for a comfortable 5-1 to give the Comets the away win, much to the delight of their travelling supporters.
Redcar = 44
1. Danny King = 8+2
2. Jason Edwards = 7+2
3. Connor Bailey = 8
4. Jonas Knudsen = 4+1
5. Charles Wright = 10
6. Jake Mulford = 5+2
7. Ben Trigger = 2
Workington = 46
1. Craig Cook -= 13+1
2. Tate Zischke = 5+1
3. Antti Vuolas = 4
4. Claus Vissing = 10
5. Troy Batchelor = 10+1
6. Sam McGurk = 1
7. Celina Liebmann = 3