MATCH REPORT: Comets outpace the champions
The run of glorious Harbourside weather was once again matched by the Comets run of league victories as they completely outpaced 2017 champions Newport who were well down on fire power. Once again the opening pairing of Dean Hook and newly crowned Welsh Open Champion Fraser Garnett provided a powerful unbeaten spearhead and a great display of team riding appreciated by another healthy crowd.
Ben Mould drew the applause in heat 2 after a first bend misjudgement saw him trail by a quarter of a lap only to reel in his opponents and join his partner Jay Briggs for a 7-3. However he was less fortunate in heat 11 when he snapped a crank arm at the start – a costly break and a premature – not to mention painful – end to his race.
Greg Gluchowski was back in the saddle for his first match of the season having missed 2017 altogether but it looked like he had never been away. The same could be said for Ben Donohue who was unbeaten by an opponent after his first race. The lure of the shale for both these riders is seemingly too great to resist!
SLIDESHOW: Photos from the action by Graham Robins
Chris Davies and Adam Bennett battled hard for the Stars who were without Mark Carmichael and their two Polish signings but fair play to the seven riders who did turn out knowing that the Comets were tooled up ready for a tougher encounter. Lastly, a special word of praise for 14 year old Nathan Goulden, drafted in for his senior Comets team debut, he took the opportunity with both hands reeling off three race wins for the hosts which drew the loudest cheers of the day.
POOLE 116
Fraser Garnett 18+2, Dean Hook 17+3, Dawid Bas 16, Ben Mould 14+2, Greg Gluchowski 14+2, Jay Briggs 14 +1, Nathan Goulden 13, Ben Donohue 10+3.
NEWPORT 63
Chris Davies 13+1, Joe Lewis 11, Adam Bennett 11, Dan Bock 9+1, Jim Collier 7, Steve Clarke 6, John Brosnan 6