WEYMOUTH WILDCATS 17

EXETER FALCONS 19

WILDCATS’ co-promoter James Tresadern was relieved to announce that rider Martin French managed to walk away from a spill during their defeat against Exeter.

French, who captained the quartet of Wildcats on the night at the St Boniface Arena in Plymouth, came off the bike and fell on his head during heat five of the clash with the Falcons, who went on to claim a 19-17 victory.

Tresadern said: “In heat five, Martin French took out of the gate like a rocket and went round the outside of everybody – he was leading.

“He went into turn three and the back just slipped away from him, it spun him around and he fell awkwardly.

“Because he bounced and bashed the back of his head on the floor, they took all the necessary precautions and strapped him to a spinal board.”

After a 4-2 in the restart of that heat, and a 3-3 in the last, the Wildcats, who also named Weymouth-born Anders Rowe in their line-up at number one, were left to settle for a two-point reverse.

“Overall it was absolutely brilliant,” the co promoter added.

“There was a decent crowd there, the guys rode their hearts out and at the end of it everybody walked away – although Martin is a little bit on the sore side.

“I messaged him on Saturday morning and they have signed him off with concussion, so it’s an automatic nine-day absence from racing. He has just got a bit of a slight headache but, other than that, he is absolutely fine.”

French, along with Rowe, actually rode for Exeter in the first meeting of the night, against Plymouth.