SPEEDWAY
WIGHTLINK Islanders were taught another harsh lesson by National League leaders Dudley Heathens on Tuesday night.
The hosts maintained their unbeaten record in some style, defeating the Islanders 68-22.
Though the score was one-sided, luck certainly wasn’t on the side of the Islanders, who battled hard throughout but were dealt a bad hand all night.
Paul Starke, despite losing the protective steel from his riding boot sole, which he uses to slide the bike around the circuit, was the Islanders’ top scorer with nine points. Skipper Danny Warwick contributed five.
Meanwhile, the Islanders were dealt a blow as Aaron Baseby, on loan from Mildenhall Fen Tigers, was recalled by the Tigers with immediate effect.
The club’s co-promoter Michael Lee said: "I made no secret of the fact I was gutted when we couldn’t fit Aaron in at the start of the season. We agreed he could join the IW on condition that if we needed to recall him we could."
The previous week, the Islanders put in a great performance to defeat Mildenhall 55-39 in the National Trophy last week.
Despite late rain making the track wetter than it should be, the match went ahead, and the Islanders raced into the lead and held an 11-point advantage after six heats.
Mildenhall used their double-points gamble twice but despite this, Islanders never looked in danger of being defeated, as skipper Danny Warwick won all his five races for a perfect night.
However, four days later, they let a 34-32 lead slip at Rye House Raiders, losing 50-40 and coming away with no points at all.
At the meet, Mark Baseby and Paul Starke suffered falls in the process but both were unhurt. Starke was top man with 12 points from seven rides, with Ben Hopwood scoring eight points from five rides.
The Islanders are next in action on Tuesday, when they host Stoke at Smallbrook, again in the National Trophy.