The Silver Ski Rockets took out their recent frustration of an unproductive Northern Tour and follow-up trip to Teesside with a ruthless display against a committed, but ultimately outpaced, Bears side in Saturday’s home return.

Tai Woffinden, Chris Neath and Tommy Allen all went through the card, while Robert Mear was only beaten in his final outing and Stefan Ekberg, riding with a heavily strapped shoulder, looked at his most comfortable since returning from a broken collarbone. Lower down, both Danny Halsey and Luke Bowen dropped their only points in uncompleted races, with Halsey falling twice and Bowen once. It all added up to a powerful in-depth display and the Rockets’ second biggest win of the season.

Bowen it was who produced the ride of the night as early as Heat 2. Run wide on the first bend by Arlo Bugeja, the Harlow native battled back to pass both Benji Compton and the Aussie to join Halsey for a 5-1.

Elsewhere, Tai Woffinden had to pass James Grieves to win Heat 12, and Chris Neath had to work equally hard to get past former World Champion Gary Havelock and take the next race, but, largely speaking, the Rockets won the first bend battles as they opened with six consecutive 5-1s and finished with ten in all.

James Grieves was the lone visiting race winner, ending Robert Mear’s maximum hopes in Heat 10. The Bears could also point to falls by Grieves and Ty Proctor in Heats 3 and 4 for lost points, but although they always gave 100% they were clearly outmatched against a relentless, power-packed display from the Rockets.

Rye House scorers:    
Stefan Ekberg    6+2 (4 rides)
Robert Mear    10+1 (4)
Tai Woffinden    14+1 (5 rides, maximum)
Tommy Allen    10+2 (4 rides, maximum)
Chris Neath    14+1 (5 rides, maximum)
Danny Halsey    5+1 (4 rides)
Luke Bowen    6+3 (4 rides)

Redcar scorers:
Gary Havelock    5 (4 rides)
Chris Kerr    3+1 (4)
James Grieves    9 (5 rides, inc 4 as a TR)
Josh Auty    3+1 (4)
Ty Proctor    3+1 (5)
Benji Compton (guest)  1 (4)
Arlo Bugeja    2 (4)

Captain’s Comments

Silver Ski Rockets captain Chris Neath had plenty to say after Saturday’s match about their blitz of the Bears, their recent Northern Tour and next Sunday’s forthcoming home return against Berwick. He also vented his frustration at the criticism levied at him over the team’s unhappiness over track conditions at Shielfield Park in the first match between the sides.

“I blew my Rye House engine up at Lakeside last night during Paul Hurry’s Testimonial meeting, and I had to bring one in tonight that I’d never used here before – in fact I’d never practiced on it here. I was a bit sceptical as to whether it would work, but it’s actually given me a dilemma because it wasn’t as quick as my normal engine on the track but it was better out of the starts.

“Words just can’t describe what Tai (Woffinden) does; he just learns and rides every time so well, and with so much fun and confidence. I was watching a repeat of Thursday’s World Cup broadcast, and his display seemed to surprise the Sky commentary team, but it didn’t surprise any of the boys in the team, because we see him ride every week and we thought he could get 9 or 10 points. He came home with 9, so we are all proud of him.

“Tommy’s max was also brilliant. He has been flying around here all year, to be honest. Maybe like myself, he needs to pick up his away form a bit, but we both know what we’ve got to do there.

“I take the credit for Stefan’s (strapped up) shoulder! My new job before each meeting is “Strap Up Man”. Seriously, though, he is a bit tender still and not in the best of conditions, but that just shows the guts and determination of the man. Robert (Mear) rode really well, too, in his return from concussion. He has been a key for us this year, and if a couple of others like myself had been doing what we should have done, we would be much higher up the Premier League table.

“Luke has also been coming along well these last few weeks, and getting his confidence up. He was magnificent at both Glasgow and Redcar, and he did it again tonight. The one I’m really pleased for, though, is Daniel (Halsey). He tries really hard every race, and he’s definitely upped his game since he came into the Rockets. Hopefully, he’s got a really good future, and will be another one off Len’s (Silver) production line.

“It was a disappointing Northern Tour. We just seem to be starting these meetings off so badly, and that was the way it was at Edinburgh and Glasgow. We always seem to do badly at Berwick, but the other two tracks on the Tour are winnable places and it’s just no good to be in that position so early in each meeting. That was the case at Redcar as well. It’s the opposite to what we are doing at home; we get out of the blocks so quickly here and we just need to translate to our travels to turn that away form around.

“We are really out for revenge against Berwick here next Sunday. We got some abuse from their supporters last week, but the truth is that we walked the track before the meeting and weren’t impressed by it, but we didn’t say anything. The Bandits’ team captain actually came into our dressing room and said that he was going to speak to the referee and wanted a track inspection. Yet I think that I am the one who’s been made the scapegoat for it. I think what supporters sometimes forget is that I’m putting across the views of six other riders and not just my own. Nobody in our team was happy with the track; I wasn’t just putting my view across but I was the one who copped all the grief for it. That disappointed me, and I think that there are one or two supporters who need to think before they speak on that matter.

“I must just say a big “thank you” for the Northern Tour to the Bradys. I’ve known Ross a long time, and he gave us full access to his workshop facilities to do our bikes and let us use his jet wash to clean our equipment after the wet conditions at Edinburgh and Berwick. So a BIG thank you to the Brady family.”