NEW signing Richard Hall enjoyed a dream debut as Cradley demolished the Isle of Wight 61-29 at Perry Barr on Wednesday.
Hall, a recent replacement for the injured Dan Greenwood, scored a 12-point maximum on his first appearance in Motor Market Heathens colours as the six-man home side brushed aside the challenge of the Warriors to move back into the National League’s top four.
And Hall was not the only unbeaten home man as Danny Ayres swept to a 15-point full house from five outings, whilst skipper Tom Perry dropped just one point to the opposition.
There were also solid contributions from the other Cradley riders, who had come under fire following a heavy defeat at Kent last week.
Reserve Conor Dwyer piled up paid-13 from a seven ride shift, taking extra outings after Tyler Govier’s meeting with his former club came to an abrupt end in Heat 2.
Govier picked up too much drive on the second bend, lifted, and came off the back of the bike, and withdrew with concerns over elbow and hand damage.
It was the second time in three weeks that the Warriors had visited Perry Barr and seen one of the home reserves withdrawn – as it also happened in their away match against Birmingham last month – but again they were unable to take any advantage from their numerical supremacy.
The visitors were limited to just two race wins, the first coming in Heat 1 when a fast-starting Ben Wilson held Perry at bay, whilst captain James Cockle fended off a hard-pressing Joe Lawlor for a consolation in Heat 12 when the gap between the sides was already 20-points.
Hall opened up with a 5-1 alongside Lawlor in Heat 3 after early leader Scott Campos fell on turn two, and he also produced one of the rides of the night to pass Connor Coles in Heat 9.
But the most spectacular action came when big guns Ayres and Perry charged from the back in Heat 13 after being out-gated by Wilson and Coles – with the Heathens in a maximum position by the second lap and Ayres clocking the fastest time of the night.
That was one of three successive 5-1s to wrap up an emphatic win and take the Heathens through the 60-point barrier at home for the first time since the opening night of the season – an identical result, now expunged, against the withdrawn King’s Lynn Young Stars.
Hall said: “I didn’t think it would go that well, it’s gone better than I was expecting and it’s nice to get a maximum in my first meeting.
“It’s also nice to get a warm welcome from the fans as well. I wanted to come and score points to help the team win, and that’s what we’ve done tonight.
“Obviously we’ve got two good heat-leaders here and now we’ve got a third so hopefully we can keep it going.”
Heathens are next in action on August 21 with the big local derby against Birmingham at Monmore, a meeting for which children will be admitted free and there will also be a special one-off appearance of popular club mascot ‘Ollie Ommer.’
CRADLEY 61: Danny Ayres 15, Tom Perry 12+2, Richard Hall 12, Conor Dwyer 11+2, Joe Lawlor 6+1, Luke Harris 5+2, Tyler Govier 0. ISLE OF WIGHT 29: James Cockle 8, Ben Wilson 8, Connor Coles 7, Scott Campos 2+1, Adam Portwood 2, Jamie Sealey 1+1, Chris Widman 1.
