Mavericks pegged back.

The first away fixture for the Wildcats in the Conference League saw plenty of rain during the drive from Dorset to South Wales whilst being confirmed that the meetings, Newport v Exeter in a Premier League Trophy meeting then Newport v Weymouth in the Conference League would be going ahead. On arrival at the stadium there was a short cloudburst followed by a delay waiting for ambulance cover to arrive thus giving the track time to dry enough for racing to commence.

The first away fixture for the Wildcats in the Conference League saw plenty of rain during the drive from Dorset to South Wales whilst being confirmed that the meetings, Newport v Exeter in a Premier League Trophy meeting then Newport v Weymouth in the Conference League would be going ahead. On arrival at the stadium there was a short cloudburst followed by a delay waiting for ambulance cover to arrive thus giving the track time to dry enough for racing to commence.

Before the Wildcats could roar into action the supporters from Newport, Exeter and the travelling Wildcat fans were able to watch Exeter produce a solid performance to carry off the points for the meeting by beating Newport 50-43 in the first leg of the Premier Trophy.

A short interval followed with the heavens opening drenching the track once more prior to the start of the second meeting. In the circumstances the track stood up well to thirty heats of speedway on such a cold and wet afternoon.

The Wildcats won the toss for gate positions taking one and three for the opening heat which was won by Peglar from Elkins who lead until the last lap, and Candy for a share of the points. Heat two with Irwin splitting the Newport pairing of Westacott and Minall after Gledhill fell while the Wildcats were on a shared heat.

Mallett was excluded for a tapes offence by referee Chris Durno with Westacott replacing him and splitting the Wildcats who had Shane Hooper making his first team debut as number eight with Mark Thompson recovering from a twisted knee sustained on Friday nights opener at Weymouth. With the scores now level they remained that way in heats four and five. Heat four Peglar lead Courage and Gledhill and in heat five Candy fended off Mallett and Barnett with the Wildcats skipper Elkins grinding to a halt.

Deadlock was broken in heat six with Peglar and Legg putting the Mavericks into a slender two point lead from Courage. Warwick fell in heat seven causing the heat to be stopped and awarded to Elkins from Westacott and Mallet keeping the gap to two points.

Heat eight saw the first maximum heat advantage for the Wildcats, Candy and Gledhill combining over Minall. Not to be outdone Courage and Irwin produced the same result over Barnett after Mallett again had a tapes infringement in heat nine propelling the Wildcats into a six point lead.

Heat ten Peglar led Courage and Warwick for a shared heat, then heat eleven Elkins after battling into first position from Westacott slid off on turn four on the third lap causing the race to be stopped and awarded to Westacott from Candy and Barnett, the difference now down to a four point advantage. Irwin produced a good ride in heat twelve to keep the scores level from Minall and Mallet.

Heat thirteen saw the Mavericks close the gap by another two points with Peglar leading the way from Courage and Legg with Elkins retiring. The penultimate heat fourteen was a shared event Westacott coming out on top from Warwick and Gledhill. To the final heat for a last heat decider with the spoils of victory up for grabs. Newport winning the toss and taking gates two and four saw Peglar win from Courage who came through to grab the all important second position to ensure the meeting points were shared on the last lap from Westacott.

A fair ending to a competitive match in terrible conditions, credit to both teams for getting on with the job in hand and entertaining the supporters braving the cold wind and rain all afternoon.

Next meeting is Friday night with the Wessex Rosebowl Individual start time 7.30pm. In between times Chris Courage travels to Wimbledon on Wednesday to take part in the Tommy Jansson Memorial Shield which celebrates the all too brief career of the young Swedish rider who sadly passed away in a track crash back in 1976 aged just 24. Tommy was one of the best riders in World Speedway at the time of his accident and had ridden with much distinction for the Dons since 1972, captaining the side in his final season.

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