CRADLEY narrowly missed out on a consolation point as they slipped to a 49-41 defeat at Lakeside on Sunday afternoon.
The Motor Market Heathens headed to the Arena-Essex Raceway with high hopes of adding to their Travel Plus National League tally.
They put in a gutsy display around the notoriously tricky circuit – but it was not quite enough as a faultless maximum from Zach Wajtknecht led the hosts to victory.
It was a strong all-around team display from Will Pottinger’s side as they ran just six last places over the course of the afternoon.
But they also accounted for just two race wins – both from impressive reserve Conor Dwyer – as the Hammers’ powerhouse top three of Wajtknecht, Ben Morley and Paul Hurry made all the difference.
Team boss Pottinger admitted they were frustrated to leave with no points to show for their efforts, although he was keen to take the positives.
“We’re slightly disappointed because we were hanging in there, but we went eight points down at the wrong time and couldn’t get it back.
“It’s a shame we couldn’t get anything, but Lakeside is a tough place to go and the lads tried their hearts out.
“We ran them close and on another day we could have got something, but we’ve just got to move on to a tough home meeting against Belle Vue tomorrow (Monday).
“There’s a concern about Ryan Burton after his crash in heat eight, it looks like he’s got an ankle injury so we’ll have to wait and see how he is feeling.”
Skipper Tom Perry top scored with a solid performance whilst Dwyer also bagged paid double figures.
But Danny Ayres experienced a tough afternoon at No.1 as he battled through the pain barrier after a crash for Redcar on Saturday night whilst Ryan Burton withdrew after crashing in heat eight.
LAKESIDE 49: Zach Wajtknecht 15, Paul Hurry 11+1, Ben Morley 11, Alfie Bowtell 8, Jamie Couzins 2, Nick Laurence 2, Alex Spooner 0. CRADLEY 41: Tom Perry 10, Conor Dwyer 8+2, Dan Greenwood 7, Danny Ayres 6, Joe Lawlor 5+3, Luke Harris 4+2, Ryan Burton 1+1.
