Wildcats sunk on the island

And so they have a dozen points to pull back in Friday evening's second leg at Radipole Lane but for most of this match it looked as if that deficit would be considerably less.

At one stage the small, but vociferous band of supporters who had made the trip with them might even have harboured thoughts of a shock Wildcats' victory.

The ultra-fast 385 metre island track is over half as big again as the 223 metre long circuit the Wildcats are normally accustomed to riding each week but it certainly held no fears for them as reserves Terry Day and Jay Herne recorded a maximum heat win in the second race of the night.

That levelled the scores at 6-6 after skipper David Mason and Sam Hurst had been on the wrong end of a 5-1 in heat one.

And the sides were still locked together at 21 points apiece after seven of the 15 races had been completed with Lee Smart earning deserved applause from the good-sized crowd for a thrilling victory in heat seven over ex-Wildcat Chris Johnson.

That win for Smart was the last time though that a Wildcat would take the chequered flag until Lee himself recorded his second win of the match in the final race of the night as the home side, who had rested four of the regular team, gradually established control from the halfway point.

Three consecutive 4-2s in heats eight, nine and ten, with wins for Shane Waldron, Aussie Cory Gathercole and Kiwi Andrew Bargh, put them six points up and, after three shared heats, it suddenly went wrong for the Wildcats.

They conceded successive 5-1s in heats 13 and 14 despite nominating Terry Day for a tactical ride in the latter and also bringing in his fellow reserve Jay Herne to replace Nathan Irwin who didn't have the best of meetings.

But the Wildcats ended on a high as Smart scorched to an impressive final heat win and Terry Day picking up third place as well.

Wildcats' away boss Jem Dicken said: "We lost 51-39 but did all right until the last three heats when they hit us with a couple of 5-1s.

"All the boys did well, particularly Lee Smart who was awesome yet again. His experience at Premier League level certainly showed and he was as fast as their top boys.

"The track over here is one of the biggest around so it was quite a culture shock for our boys going from the Wessex to here but they kept it to within six points nearly all the way through and can take a lot of confidence from the meeting.

"It certainly showed we have nothing to fear in the second leg at our place on Friday."

Wildcats' chairman Phil Bartlett said: "The Isle of Wight management all congratulated us on our efforts and now, perhaps, we can show what we can really do in our home leg."

SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

Isle Of Wight ISLANDERS

Cory Gathercole 3 3 3 2* F 11+1

Shane Waldron 2* 0 3 1 6+1

Andrew Bargh 3 3 3 3 2 14

Sam Martin 1 0 1 3 5

Chris Johnson 3 2 3 3 11

Jerran Hart 0 0 0 0 0

Gary Cottham 1 0 1 X 2* 4+1

Team manager: Dave Croucher

Weymouth DOONAN Wildcats

David Mason 1 2 1* 0 4+1

Sam Hurst 0 1* 2 2 5+1

Lee Smart 2 3 2 2 3 12

Nathan Irwin R 1 R 1

Karl Mason 2 1* 0 1 1 5+1

Jay Herne 2* 2 2 1* R 7+2

Terry Day 3 1* 0 1 5+1

Team manager: Jem Dicken

Referee: Chris Gay

Ht 1: Gathercole, Waldron, D Mason, Hurst. 68.5 (5-1)

Ht 2: Day, Herne, Cottham, Hart. 73.9 (6-6)

Ht 3: Bargh, Smart, Martin, Irwin (ret). 72.7 (10-8)

Ht 4: Johnson, K Mason, Day, Cottham. 69.7 (13-11)

Ht 5: Bargh, D Mason, Hurst, Martin. 71.2 (16-14)

Ht 6: Gathercole, Herne, K Mason, Waldron. 69.6 (19-17)

Ht 7: Smart, Johnson, Irwin, Hart. 69.5 (21-21)

Ht 8: Waldron, Hurst, Cottham, Day. 71.9 (25-23)

Ht 9: Bargh, Herne, Martin, K Mason. 72.8 (29-25)

Ht 10: Gathercole, Smart, Waldron, Irwin (ret). 70.5 (33-27)

Ht 11: Johnson, Hurst, D Mason, Hart. 68.8 (36-30)

Ht 12: (re-run tapes) Bargh, Smart, Herne, Hart. Cottham (ex-tapes)70.0 (39-33)

Ht 13: Johnson, Gathercole, K Mason, D Mason. 68.9 (44-34)

Ht 14: Martin, Cottham, Day (TR), Herne (ret). 72.3 (49-35)

Ht 15: Smart, Bargh, K Mason, Gathercole (fell, rmtd). 70.2 (51-39)