CRADLEY held their nerve to progress through to the Knockout Cup Semi-Finals.

Anchor Logistics Heathens beat the Isle of Wight 46-44 in a tense affair at Monmore, sealing a ten-point aggregate victory.

The hosts were always going to find things tough after teenage talent Tom Brennan broke his leg in three places at the weekend - and certainly made hard work of things throughout the second leg.

Plenty of drama occurred early doors, most alarmingly for the hosts when Danny Halsey wiped out team-mate Luke Harris in Heat Three in the first of three successive falls in a nightmare start for the ex-Mildenhall man.

And the Heathens nerves were jangling a little with seven races gone when the Warriors led on the night and were within just four-points on aggregate.

But young reserve duo Harry McGurk, who only turned 15 recently, and Tom Spencer stepped up to the plate superbly in the eighth to record a crucial sole maximum of the night.

Captain Max Clegg’s ability to win races also proved important as he inspired his team-mates to get over the line with Harris and Halsey also coming to the party to take the chequered flag in the latter stages.

Team boss Will Pottinger said: “It goes without saying that it was a lot closer than what we would’ve liked.
“We did our best to throw it away at times but to say we were without one of our top riders, I thought there were some encouraging signs again, particularly from the two reserves.
“But with the circumstances with Tom coming into this meeting, we’ve got to be satisfied to get the win on the night and more importantly we’ve progressed on aggregate which was our main agenda.”

Cradley head to Plymouth next Friday (May 31) before hosting Belle Vue at Monmore on Monday, June 3 (7.30).

CRADLEY 46: Max Clegg 16, Luke Harris 11, Tom Spencer 9+2, Harry McGurk 5+1, Dan Halsey 4+1, Lewis Whitmore 1, Tom Brennan R/R.
ISLE OF WIGHT 44: Georgie Wood 11, Ben Morley 10+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 8, Chad Wirtzfeld 6+3, Danno Verge 6, Chris Widman 3, Connor King 0.