Dudley Heathens beaten on the road

King's Lynn 48 Dudley Heathens 41

Veteran captain Jon Armstrong gave arguably his best performance of the season for Dudley Heathens.

The 36-year-old was beaten only once as the Heathens failed by the slimmest of margins to take a point at Saddlebow Road last night – the same fate that befell Wolves against King's Lynn's senior side recently.

It was the first National League match of the season to bring Dudley no reward, but they remain top of the table.

The absence of Kyle Newman, on Elite League duty with Poole, proved too much for them to cover with rider-replacement in their fourth match in six days.

Although the home side clinched victory with a heat to go, Dudley had a shot at a point only for Kyle Hughes to take the final race.

Team manager Will Pottinger said: "I was particularly pleased to see 'Armo' back on form, he was awesome for us.

"I think anyone with any knowledge of the sport will admit we would have got something out of it if we had Kyle with us.

"Darryl Ritchings also gave a positive display on his first visit to the track and Tom Perry looked more like the rider we know he can be.

"We have to take the positives from the performances of the young riders and hope we can get something at the Isle of Wight next Tuesday, when we will be back to full strength."

By Tim Hamblin