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Nathan Greaves takes his first heat win Image Credit: Jack Cupido

Great night for George and the Devils

NEWS Friday 7th May 2021, 11:19pm

by Mike Hunter

Team Speedway returned to Armadale after an 18 month absence and in almost all respects, the 48-42 win for the Stellar Devils against the Berwick Bullets proved to be a highly satisfactory night. The track was very good and the meeting was presented in just over 90 minutes.

It will probably be most remembered as the night that Devils' George Rothery, riding at reserve, scored 5 spectacular, fast victories, one of these being against visiting number one Leon Flint – from the back! It's hard to overstate how impressive George was.

Reflecting on the two matches against the Bullets George was very happy with his team's first two outings. "The feeling in the team last Saturday was good and I was pleased with our score, because I think Berwick are going to be the hardest team in the league to beat. Tonight the track felt a lot better than it had in practise, but I had also made a few changes which worked. I'm hoping to win a lot more races!"

That win over Flint came in heat 11 after Leon had made the start. He was riding wide and Rothery swept through with a bold inside overtake. The only downside of his night was a tumble in the next heat, but he shook that off and fittingly clinched the match victory by romping home with heat 14.

Whilst Rothery will be the most talked-about rider, there was another near-perfect performance on the home side from captain Nathan Greaves. He was dreadfully unlucky in heat 1 to lead for three laps before his machine started to misfire and he was pipped by Leon Flint.

He then won his next three heats with heat 13 his standout as he chased hard after Flint, eventually cutting under him to go ahead into the last corner, surviving a little bit of a wobble as he came into the final straight. He also survived a second bend tangle with fast-gating Ben Rathbone in heat 10 after which Greaves needed some treatment for a leg knock.

His only real defeat, other than the heat one bike problem, came in the final race when he gated slowly. He rounded the field to go into second spot but this time Flint was well clear and took the win, clinching a match point for the Bullets.

Tom Woolley was another big success for the Devils with paid 12, gating well and showing some real track craft. The third heat leader Danny Phillips only scored 4+1 but his score was affected by a first corner tumble after a very quick start in heat 11 – he will surely fill the number 5 slot admirably.

All of the other Devils scored points and helped the side to victory. For the Bullets their top two unsurprisingly were Flint and Bickley who will be amongst the leading riders in the Division. Greg Blair made a slow start but started to build up some momentum later in the night, and Kieran Douglas gave a very solid showing at reserve.

It was, as I said, a satisfactory night in almost all respects, but there were apparently some problems for those trying to connect to the Live Stream (the Stream itself worked perfectly). Our technical guys will be in touch with those affected, and are certain the problems will not be repeated in future weeks.

DEVILS 48: G Rothery 15, N Greaves 13, T Woolley 11, D Phillips 4, S Davies 2, L Millar 2, G Millar 1.

BULLETS 42: L Flint 13, K Bickley 9, K Douglas 7, G Blair 6, M Watson 3, R MacDonald 3, B Rathbone 1.