COVENTRY Storm moved six points clear at the top of the National League with an emphatic 55-37 win at Stoke on Saturday.
The Storm’s second victory on the road puts them in a strong position to reach the play-offs, as they continue to put points on the board in their first season at this level.
And this was arguably their most impressive display yet, with the win secured using the rider-replacement facility for unavailable No.1 Robert Branford – and Stoke went into the meeting unbeaten in five home outings.
Joe Jacobs and James Sarjeant – after breaking the tapes in his first ride – put in dominant displays, and there was a terrific return to action for Oliver Greenwood who picked up paid-12 on his comeback from a broken wrist.
And the Storm’s exciting reserve combination was also in full effect with Luke Crang winning two races on his first appearance at Loomer Road, whilst James Shanes can be proud of scoring paid-10 on his debut, scoring in each ride and sharing in two Storm 5-1s.
Martin Knuckey was the unlucky man to miss out in terms of scoring major points, although he would have picked up more than the one he was awarded in Heat 5 after being brought down by Ben Reade, had he not fallen on two other occasions.
Track conditions proved tricky in the early stages, and the Storm found themselves four points down after three heats, not helped by skipper Sarjeant’s 15-metre penalty in Heat 3, but remarkably the Potters would add just one more race win in the remaining twelve heats.
Jacobs and Shanes brought the scores level with maximum points in Heat 4, whilst the next heat saw the Storm awarded a 4-2 when Reade got out of shape on the final bend and hit Knuckey, who was passing on the inside, as he tried to recover.
But it was Heat 6 which really sent belief flooding through the Storm pits, as Crang and Jacobs shot away to leave home No.1 Lee Smart mired at the back, and although he passed his team-mate there was no catching the visiting duo.
The Potters were still in touch after Heat 8, helped by a 5-1 after Shanes had touched the tapes, but two Storm 4-2s saw them extend their lead to eight points with Sarjeant neatly pouncing on an error from Smart to win Heat 10.
Crang and Greenwood extended the lead to twelve with a 5-1 in Heat 11, and it would have been all over in the very next race but for Crang taking a heavy tumble on turn four when he and Sarjeant held a clear 5-1 position over Reade, who was going for double-points.
With the Storm rider thankfully unscathed, Sarjeant duly won the re-run to take his side closer to victory, and Jacobs added a classy win over Smart in Heat 13 to make sure of success on the night.
It was then about confirming the maximum four league points, and Greenwood and Shanes did just that in an awarded Heat 14 when Potters skipper Luke Priest fell, whilst Sarjeant got the better of Smart to win Heat 15 after a lengthy delay following a crash which left Reade with a leg injury.
Storm boss Laurence Rogers said: “What a performance – we look like a strong team now, and we’ve got two great finds at the bottom-end in Luke and James.
“Martin had a rough one tonight, he was bundled into the fence and his arm is hurting, but he’ll bounce back, and Olly made a great comeback and proved a few critics wrong perhaps.
"Also a big thanks to Ryan Terry-Daley for coming along to be No.8 for us, and I do very much appreciate him doing that.
“Getting all four points here was very important to us, it puts us on 13 and it’s a good lead at this stage of the season. Other clubs have been busy racing in the National Trophy, but we’ve got the points on the board.â€
STOKE 37: Shaun Tedham 10+1, Lee Smart 10, Ben Reade 9, Luke Chessell 3, Luke Priest 3, Lee Geary 2+1, Kyle Hughes 0.
COVENTRY 55: Joe Jacobs 14+1, James Sarjeant 13, Oliver Greenwood 11+1, James Shanes 8+2, Luke Crang 8+1, Martin Knuckey 1, Robert Branford R/R, Ryan Terry-Daley (no.8) dnr.
STOKE 37 Lee Smart 3 1 2 2 2 = 10 Luke Chessell T 0 3 F = 3 Ben Reade 3 X 2 4^ X = 9 Luke Priest 1 2 R X = 3 Kyle Hughes R N N = 0 Shaun Tedham 1 3 2 2* 1 1 = 10+1 Lee Geary 0 1 0 1* = 2+1
COVENTRY 55 Robert Branford Rider Replacement Martin Knuckey R 1 0 = 1 James Sarjeant 0 3 1 3 3 3 = 13 Oliver Greenwood 2 3 1 2* 3 = 11+1 Joe Jacobs 2 3 2* 3 3 1 = 14+1 Luke Crang 1* 3 1 3 X = 8+1 James Shanes 2 2* 1 1 2* = 8+2