Cradley apologise for last home meeting

Their Knockout Cup Final first leg with Eastbourne at Perry Barr was abandoned after 10 heats with the scores level at 30-30, which means the result stands going into Saturday's second leg.

A club statement said: "There were several aspects which were, in our opinion, handled badly although some of which were taken out of our hands.

"But, as a management team, ultimately we have to take responsibility.

"We would like to offer our sincere thanks to all supporters who were patient during track work, as well as the riders for giving it their all in less than ideal circumstances.

"We wish both teams good luck on Saturday at Arlington Stadium and hope the travelling Heathens fans making the journey enjoy the evening whatever the result."

Heathens staged a dramatic comeback from being eight points down to ensure they go into Saturday's second leg tied.

Perry Barr's track curfew meant only 10 heats could be run, in what was an incident-packed night. The region was hit by torrential downpours of rain 48 hours prior to the meeting.

Conditions were far from ideal as track staff repeatedly sent out machinery to try amd make the conditions better for the two teams.

Spills and falls played their part in a number of heat outcomes and both sets of riders deserve plenty of credit for just attempting to race initially.

In a meeting that constantly swung from one way to the other, it looked as though the Heathens were going to get off to the best possible start.

Skipper Max Clegg and guest Danny Ayres sat on a 5-1 maximum for the first two laps of the opening race.

However, Clegg struggled to find a racing line that suited him and was eventually passed by both Eastbourne riders for a share of the spoils.

Tyler Govier and guest reserve Jack Smith missed the gate on a night where making a good start was imperative and found themselves on the receiving end of a 5-1 to give the visitors an early lead.

Heat three saw the hosts bounce back instantly with a 5-1 of their own.

Cradley Heathens 30: Danny Ayres 9, Arron Mogridge 8+3, Max Clegg 6, Matt Williamson 4, Jack Smith 2+1, Tyler Govier 1.

In-form Arron Mogridge held off the Eastbourne duo to collect a paid win while Ayres made it two out of two at the front.

Matt Williamson looked comfortable in the lead in heat four, but a spill on bend four gifted the Eagles their second maximum heat advantage of the night.

An exclusion for Ayres after falling in the fifth saw Eastbourne pull six points clear on the night.

Mogridge combined for his second 5-1 of the meeting for Cradley, this time with a fired up and much more determined Clegg.

However, Eastbourne would extend their lead further going into the interval with two more heat advantages.

Williamson missed the gate, but gave it his all to work his way into second. But a mistake coming out of bend four saw him re-passed by Marc Owen as Eastbourne secured their third 5-1.

Heat eight was awarded as a 4-2 to the Eagles after Tyler Govier came to grief while in third place.

As he slid off, Eastbourne's Richard Andrews had nowhere to go and ploughed straight into the Heathens No 7. Govier was withdrawn from the meeting with suspected broken ribs.

But back-to-back 5-1s saw the Heathens snatch a draw at the death in what could potentially be the club's final ever home meeting, due to the current promotion stepping down.