Speedway: Team effort sees Potters earn one-point victory
Stoke's last-heat heroes were skipper Lee Complin and Jason Bunyan, who romped to a 5-1 over David Howe and Richard Hall to hand the Potters a 45-44 win and preserve their team's unbeaten home league record.
However, Complin was quick to share the praise with the promotion team and track staff, who worked hard to ensure the meeting went ahead as heavy rain threatened a washout.
"This was a brilliant team effort," said Complin. "I said to Robert Ksiezak before heat 13 that he could do this and he went out and beat David Howe, which really got us back in it.
"Then Tom (Madsen) rode a blinder to come off gate one in the next heat and we scored a 5-1, which took the meeting to the last race.
"There was no way we were were going to throw away victory having got ourselves into that position.
"When you hear the crowd shouting and screaming with a lap to go, it's just magical. I can't describe it.
"But make no mistake, every point was important tonight and this was a massive team effort."
Start time was delayed until 8pm as track staff, joined by several riders, worked tirelessly to dry the track out after rain during the day had left it saturated.
Times were slow at the start of the meeting, but conditions improved after half-a-dozen races and Sheffield took a grip on the meeting to lead 29-19 after eight races, with Richard Hall, Joel Parsons, David Howe and Paul Cooper showing some good touches.
Complin won the next race after race leader Josh Auty fell right in front of the Potters' skipper going in to the pits turn, and Stoke followed that up with a 5-1 from Bunyan and Jesper Kristiansen over Parsons, who retired on the last lap while in second spot, and Hall, who fell again on the pits turn and narrowly missed being hit by other riders after the red lights were late coming on.
"I just couldn't believe the race hadn't been stopped because I was struggling to get my bike up and off the track" said Hall.
Sheffield bounced back immediately in the next, but Stoke reaped some benefit in heat 12 after teenager Hugh Skidmore's inexperience showed as he fell heavily while on a 5-1 with Cooper, the Potters gaining a draw in the re-run.
Ksiezak's important victory over Howe in heat 13 got the fightback started, although Sheffield contributed to their own downfall in the penultimate race as Cooper was penalised 15 metres for exceeding the two-minute time allowance, and Hall fell as Complin and Madsen shot away for maximum points that took the score to 40-43, leaving Complin and Bunyan to complete the almost unlikely victory.
Bunyan said: "Robert (Ksiezak) did really well and Craig Branney won't have another meeting where things go against him like they did tonight.
"I thought it was great because Sheffield have been going so well and we have hardly raced in three weeks. They got going early on, but we showed that winning is all about four laps and 15 races".
Sheffield's Paul Cooper said: "We had too many falls at stupid times and a lot of machine problems which just cost us big time. We were in the driving seat for so long and then threw it away".
STOKE 45: J Bunyan 11+1, J Kristiansen 5+2, K Jakobsen 1+1, L Complin 13, R Ksiezak 8, C Branney 1+1, T P Madsen 6+1.
SHEFFIELD 44: D Howe 11, C Mills 5+2, J Parsons 4+1, R Hall 6, J Auty 4+1, H Skidmore 2, P Cooper 12.
STOKE also claimed their first away league point of the season after holding Glasgow to a 48-42 victory yesterday.
Glasgow made much of the early running and led by 10 points after heat eight.
"We started pulling points back then, but just couldn't quite do enough to get our noses in front," said Potters team manager John Woolridge.
"Everyone chipped in and we certainly didn't disgrace ourselves in getting a much-deserved point."
STOKE 42: J Bunyan 6+1, J Kristiansen 6, K Jakobsen 4+1, L Complin 10, R Ksiezak 8+2, C Branney 3+1, T P Madsen 5+1.
LATE DRAMA: Skipper Lee Complin, above, and Jason Bunyan claimed the winning points for Stoke Potters.
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