Premier TrophyRye House Rockets 55 Somerset Rebels 37VETERAN Andrew Silver led the way as the Rockets had too much firepower for the Rebels last night.

Premier Trophy

Rye House Rockets 55 Somerset Rebels 37

VETERAN Andrew Silver led the way as the Rockets had too much firepower for the Rebels last night.

Hi Ho Silver continued his superb speedway comeback with an impressive paid 15 as Rye House beat Somerset 55-37 in a scorcher on Saturday.

Forget the final scoreline though. This match was full of thrills and - also literally - spills.

That the Silver Ski Rockets ultimately achieved a comfortable win was due to their all-round team work.

All six Rye stars were paid for at least one race win and the efforts of Silver and guest Josh Auty were particularly noteworthy.

Comeback man Silver continued from where he left off with paid 12 against Scunthorpe and 10 at Birmingham by delivering a superb paid 15 on Saturday night in Hoddesdon.

And the 42-year-old former international looks ever more comfortable and assertive meeting by meeting.

Auty, meanwhile, proved the ideal guest for the injured Tommy Allen with a paid 12 tally that included a simply breathtaking third-to-first display against former Elite League star Steve Johnston and Tom Brown in heat five and a spectacular blast round the outside of Cory Gathercole and Jay Herne in the next race.

Silver and Auty's achievements somewhat overshadowed a similarly fine performance from Luke Bowen, who also hit double figures and showed what he could do from the back with fine passes of Johnston in heat 11 and Emil Kramer three races later.

In the end, the winning margin could have been even greater but for falls for Joe Haines, captain Chris Neath and the luckless Robert Mear.

The Rockets opened the meeting with two consecutive 5-1s, and another from Neath and Silver over the tactically nominated Kramer in heat 10 effectively sealed the victory at 37-22 with five races to spare.

The visitors relied heavily on the firepower of Kramer and Gathercole, although Herne picked up as the meeting went on and grabbed a race win in heat 12. Biggest gun Johnston proved a disappointment on his first Premier level visit, but will be out to make amends when the Rebels return in the League in August.

The match completed the Rockets' Premier Trophy group matches.

They must now sit it out and wait for other results to see if they can yet squeeze out a top two finish to make the semi-final cut.