Rye House 34 Workington 56

An under-strength and under-powered Silver Ski Rockets team was overwhelmed by Workington 56-34 in Hoddesdon on Saturday night.

It was the Rockets’ second home defeat of 20 or more points this season, and the seventh highest suffered in Hertfordshire in their history.

They were always going to be up against it given the tough combination of strong opposition and the absence of World Long Track star Mathieu Tresarrieu. Enforced National League guest replacement Nathan Greaves was duly unable to contribute a point, to leave an obvious hole in Rye’s score-chart.

The Rockets’ problems ran far deeper, however, with leading lights Edwrad Kennett, Jason Garrity and Steve Boxall all suffering mechanical problems. The Comets took full advantage to systematically dismantle the home side with a powerful performance that combined sharp gating and all-round team strength. Unbeaten star Rene Bach, Mason Campton and inspired guest Kasper Lykke were the pick of their bunch, although all six visitors were paid for at least one race win.

The Rockets, in contrast, could manage only five victories in total. Three of those came in the final three races to prevent a 50-22 deficit at the time widening even further.

The one real positive from the match from a home perspective came when Stefan Nielsen took maximum man Bach all the way in Heat 8. The double British U-19 Champion was passed by the Dane on the second lap, but briefly forced his way past again and was only a couple of bike lengths adrift of his adversary at the chequered flag.

Rye House team manager John Sampford admitted afterwards, “We were always going to be on a hiding to nothing with Mathieu Tresarrieu missing and no guest facility available, but our mechanical problems really didn’t help.

“Edward Kennett brought a new engine that was set up for big tracks – he was planning to use it for the first time at Peterborough on Tuesday – but switched to it after problems with his preferred one and finally got a couple of wins.

“Steve Boxall had just got his engine back, but it was down on power, and a snapped chain didn’t help him either. And Jason Garrity blew an engine after his first win, and then experienced clutch problems on his second bike.

“I’m not going to say that we would have got a result without those problems, but they turned a very difficult match into the horror story it became.”

Rye House: Jason Garrity 9 (5 rides, inc 0 as a TR), Jason Bunyan 8+2 (5), Edward Kennett 8 (5), Steve Boxall 4 (4 rides, inc 0 as a TR), Stefan Nielsen 3 (4), Luke Bowen 2+1 (4), Nathan Greaves (guest) 0 (3)

Workington: Rene Bach 15 (5 rides, max), Josh Grajczonek 12 (5), Kasper Lykke 9+4 (5), Mason Campton 8+3 (5), Ricky Wells 8+1 (5), Simon Lambert 4+1 (5), Kyle Howarth R/R

Match Points: Rye House 0 Workington 4