COVENTRY Storm completed an excellent weekend’s work with a resounding 38-22 win at Stoke on Saturday.
Two wins in the space of 24 hours have propelled the City Gearboxes Storm up to third place in the Travel Plus National League table, as they collected all four points on offer at Loomer Road in a meeting abandoned after Heat 10 due to track conditions, with the result standing.
Ryan Terry-Daley enjoyed a sensational return to his home track of 2015 as he struck a paid maximum from three rides, Conor Dwyer kept up his fine run of form as he dropped just a point from his three outings and points elsewhere were in plentiful supply too.
Conditions were tricky from the start after a downpour in the build-up to the meeting, and with rain again falling during Heats 9 and 10 and the result in no real doubt, proceedings were abandoned at that stage.
The Storm got off to a flyer with a 5-1 in Heat 1 from Dan Greenwood and Dwyer after home No.1 Ben Wilson had failed to beat the two-minute time allowance, and then fell after moving past his team-mate from the handicap.
The lead was extended in Heat 3 as Terry-Daley took the scalp of home skipper Tony Atkin, and they moved ten points clear with a Heat 6 5-1 from guest Danny Ayres and Jamie Halder, with Wilson withdrawing from the meeting due to broken fingers.
Another maximum advantage would have followed in Heat 7 only for captain Martin Knuckey to fall on the third lap, but Dwyer and Callum Walker collected a 4-2 in Heat 8 to put the Storm in complete charge at 30-18.
After a shared Heat 9, Coventry confirmed their supremacy when Knuckey and Terry-Daley raced clear of Shaun Tedham and Joe Lawlor for their third 5-1 of the evening, and that turned out to be the final action.
Manager Laurence Rogers said: “We went there for the points obviously, but it wasn’t good speedway and I actually asked the referee after Heat 4 to consider calling it off.
“The track had been heavily watered during the afternoon, and then when the rain came it was getting dangerous and riders couldn’t turn. They did some remedial track work, but it never really improved – we got to Heat 10 but it perhaps could and should have been called off earlier.
“But our boys were tremendous. They got on with it and they scored all the way through the order right down from Ryan’s paid maximum and Conor only dropping one point, so it’s been a very good weekend for us.â€
STOKE 22: Tony Atkin 8, Joe Lawlor 6, Shaun Tedham 4, Josh Bailey 3+1, Ryan MacDonald 1+1, Ben Wilson 0, Chris Widman 0. COVENTRY 38: Ryan Terry-Daley 8+1, Danny Ayres 8, Conor Dwyer 7+1, Jamie Halder 5+2, Dan Greenwood 4+1, Martin Knuckey 4, Callum Walker 2+1. Abandoned after Heat 10 (track conditions) – Result stands
