NEWPORT HORNETS 58 WEYMOUTH WILDCATS 36

STAND-IN team manager John Adams paid tribute to Wild-cats’ skipper Tom Brown after the latter bowed out of speedway in yesterday’s 58-36 National Trophy defeat at Newport.

On his final appearance in a Wey-mouth jacket, Brown notched eight points in his native Wales as the Cats brought the curtain down on a forgettable campaign.

And ex-Mildenhall chief Adams, who was drafted in to oversee proceedings due to the unavailability of regular team boss and outgoing chairman Phil Bartlett, said: “Tom was a bit emotional at the end and begged me to put him in race 15 for his last ride in a Weymouth jacket.

“He gave 100 per cent all meeting and letting him ride the final race was a fitting tribute to all that he has given to Weymouth and speedway in general. The sport will miss him.”

The Cats’ afternoon got off to the worst possible start, losing the opening heat 4-2 and seeing Brendan Johnson crash out with a suspected broken wrist, which forced him to withdraw from the meeting.

Adams added: “It was unfortunate that we lost Brendan so early. He damaged his wrist but I’m not too sure how bad it is yet.

“Losing him put extra pressure on the reserves but they coped with it. Overall it was a decent performance and under the circumstances it wasn’t that bad a result in the end.”

Following Johnson’s fall, the Hornets opened up a 14-point gap by the end of heat six.

Weymouth then took advantage of the tactical ride facility, earning their first race victory thanks to Brown, donning the white and black helmet, finishing second with team-mate Karl Mason in third.

However, the Welsh outfit rallied once more, including back-to-back 5-1s.

It was not until the Wildcats’ second tactical ride – in heat 11 – that the deficit was reduced again but despite another 5-3 in their favour, Newport were almost out of sight at 45-25.

The Hornets collected their sixth maximum of the afternoon thanks to James Cockle’s exclusion in the first attempt at staging race 13, before the Cats responded with an impressive 4-2.

Karl Mason (7+1) claimed the visitors’ maiden chequered flag while Gary Cottham (8+1) came home in third.

Cockle (10) repeated the trick in the final contest but it proved mere consolation as a hugely disappointing season finally came to an end.

The defeat confirms a second-from-bottom finish for the Wildcats while Newport climb into the runners-up spot.