COVENTRY Storm have moved back up to second position in the National League table after taking a maximum six-point haul from Friday’s double-header at Brandon.
The City Gearboxes Storm raced to an emphatic 65-27 win over Buxton in the night’s first meeting before seeing off Devon 41-22 in a match curtailed five races early due to the curfew after a delay due to heavy rain and fence repairs.
The Storm had two 15-point maximum men against the Hitmen, with skipper James Sarjeant and mid-season signing Luke Priest both going through the card from five rides, whilst Oliver Greenwood chipped in with a paid maximum from four outings.
They went 19-5 ahead after four races before Priest defeated Tony Atkin when the visiting skipper was going for double points in Heat 5, and three 5-1s then followed in the next four races.
Heat 12 provided the best action of the match with Adam Extance hitting the front for the Hitmen, and although Martin Knuckey fell having almost made it around the outside on turn two, Priest produced a burst of speed going into the last lap to take the lead himself.
Buxton had to wait until Heat 15 for their sole race win, taken by 48-year-old veteran Atkin in fine style as he rounded Ryan Terry-Daley on the last lap in a race where the Storm sent out their reserves.
Rain began to fall just before the Devon match, and there was a delay after Heat 1 after Demons guest Adam Sheppard came down exiting turn two on the final lap and required treatment before unfortunately being withdrawn with a shoulder injury.
During the resultant fence repairs, the rain became much heavier and conditions were tricky for much of the match although there was still a sprinkling of good racing.
Sarjeant lost his unbeaten run for the night in Heat 4 as despite a fine ride to pass Luke Chessell on the third lap, the Devon man responded superbly with a spectacular burst off the final bend to take the flag.
With visiting guest No.1 Josh Bates scoring well, it was a closer contest than in the earlier meeting, but after Bates had won a tactical ride in Heat 5 the Storm collected 14 points from the next three races, Chessell falling in Heat 7 having just been overtaken by Sarjeant.
Chessell was again in the action in the last race of the night, as his tactical ride almost saw him go around Terry-Daley and partner Sam Chapman on the last bend, only to clip the edge of the fence and drop to the back.
Dan Greenwood top-scored for the Storm with paid-10, Oliver Greenwood was unbeaten again from three rides, whilst Bates and Chessell were very competitive for the Demons and Chapman also showed up well on his first Brandon appearance.
Storm boss Laurence Rogers said: “That was job done, the boys got stuck in and did well in tricky conditions in the second match.
“The aim was to get six points from the meetings and cement our place in the play-offs, and I’m pleased with all of the riders.
“The boys covered superbly for Stefan (Nielsen) with the rider-replacement rides, and it wasn’t a bad performance from Luke Priest as a 4.75 rider to score a 15-point maximum!â€
The Storm are next in action on Sunday September 7 when they visit Buxton and Stoke on the same day, and permutations for play-off places should be clearer by that stage.
COVENTRY 65: Luke Priest 15, James Sarjeant 15, Ryan Terry-Daley 10, Oliver Greenwood 9+3, Martin Knuckey 8+3, Dan Greenwood 8+3, Conor Dwyer 0, Stefan Nielsen r/r BUXTON 27: Tony Atkin 13, Adam Extance 6+1, Stefan Farnaby 4+1, Ryan Blacklock 3, Tom Woolley 1, Cameron Hoskins 0, Liam Carr r/r National League points: Coventry 3 Buxton 0
CITY GEARBOXES STORM 65 Oliver Greenwood 2* 2* 3 2* = 9+3 Stefan Nielsen Rider Replacement Luke Priest 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 Dan Greenwood 1 1 2* 2* 2* = 8+3 James Sarjeant 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 Ryan Terry-Daley 3 1 1 3 2 = 10 Martin Knuckey 2* 2* 3 0 1* = 8+3 Conor Dwyer 0 = 0
BUXTON 27 Tony Atkin 1 4^ 2 2 1 3 = 13 Tom Woolley 0 0 0 1 0 = 1 Adam Extance 2 0^ 1* 2 1 = 6+1 Liam Carr Rider Replacement Ryan Blacklock N 1 2 0 0 = 3 Stefan Farnaby 1 1 1 0 1* = 4+1 Cameron Hoskins 0 0 0 F = 0
COVENTRY 41: Dan Greenwood 8+2, Oliver Greenwood 8+1, James Sarjeant 8, Martin Knuckey 7+1, Luke Priest 6+2, Ryan Terry-Daley 4+1, Stefan Nielsen r/r DEVON 22: Josh Bates 11, Sam Chapman 4, Luke Chessell 4, Tyler Govier 2, Conor Dwyer 1, Adam Shepherd 0, James Shanes r/r Abandoned after 10 heats due to curfew – Result STANDS National League points: Coventry 3 Devon 0
CITY GEARBOXES STORM 41 Oliver Greenwood 3 2* 3 = 8+1 Stefan Nielsen Rider Replacement Luke Priest 1 3 1* 1* = 6+2 Dan Greenwood 2* 2 2* 2 = 8+2 James Sarjeant 2 3 3 = 8 Ryan Terry-Daley 2* 1 1 = 4+1 Martin Knuckey 3 1* 3 = 7+1
DEVON 22 Josh Bates 2 6^ 3 = 11 Adam Sheppard F = 0 Sam Chapman 0 2 2 = 4 Luke Chessell 1 3 X 0^ = 4 James Shanes Rider Replacement Conor Dwyer 0 0 1 0 0 = 1 Tyler Govier 1 0 R 1 = 2
