Plymouth staged a grandstand finish in the play-off semi-final against Weymouth at the St Boniface Arena on Friday evening to maintain their 100 per cent home record this season with a 46-44 victory.

In a closely contested meeting the visiting Wildcats opened a surprise six-point lead after heat 10 and retained that advantage for the next three races.

But the Devils hit back to win on the night by taking maximum points from the final two heats.

Kyle Hughes and Paul Starke finished ahead of Tim Webster and Karl Mason in heat 14 to set up a last heat decider.

Mark Simmonds made the gate in the final race with former Plymouth rider Lee Smart leading Tom Brown for a 4-2 that would have earned Weymouth a draw on the night. But Smart overdid things while trying to catch Simmonds and fell, causing the race to be stopped.

In the re-run Simmonds and Brown took the honours from Weymouth’s Jay Herne to give Plymouth a dramatic two-point win on the night.

It left the tie delicately poised the deciding leg at Weymouth’s Wessex Stadium on Saturday evening (October 11) when the Devils were due to track an unchanged side.

Plymouth:
Mark Simmonds 14 (5 rides), David Gough 0 (3), Tom Brown 12+2 (5), Kyle Hughes 7+1 (4), Seemond Stephens 7 (4). Res: Jamie White-Williams 1 (3), Paul Starke 5+2 (6).

Weymouth:
Lee Smart 7+1 (5), Matt Wright 7+2 (4), Andrew Bargh 6+1 (4), Karl Mason 5+1 (4), Jay Herne 8+1 (5). Res: Brendan Johnson 6+1 (4), Tim Webster 5+2 (4).