Courage earns praise from Sampford.

Rye House boss John Sampford sang the praises of reserve Chris Courage after the 19-year-old produced the ride of his career to see off Rebel heat leader Neil Collins in the crucial heat fourteen of the Rockets' victory over Somerset at the weekend.

The result was a key part of Rye's 16-point victory over the Rebels which gives them a good cushion before the second leg which takes place at the Oak Tree Arena on Friday.

Courage was left as the lone Rocket against two vastly-more experienced men - Collins started racing before Courage was even born - after his partner Nigel Sadler was excluded for bringing down the safety fence. Courage not only made a second electric gate in the rerun but also rode a calculated four laps to close the door on the two Rebels.

Sampford said: "The race of the day had to be Chris fending off Collins and Bishop. To be winning the heat and have it stopped and then go out and do it all again was a fantastic effort. I would like to have taken 20-points down there but you can't have everything. I was pleased that Brent Werner was able to stop the tactical substitution ride of Mario Jirout in heat eight, that's why we put him there. And Nigel Sadler and Scott Swain's team riding and David Mason's pass of Malcolm Holloway were all key moments."

But things turned full circle for Courage as he picked up an injury riding for Rye's defeated Conference League side at Buxton on Sunday. Sampford commented: "It was a shame when Chris had to pull out as that meant we missed out on three possibly four rides from him which we then had to cover. Once again it was an away win we missed out on through no fault of our own."

"Simon Wolstenholme was riding against doctors orders after losing nearly half a stone this week with a viral infection. He only rode because he knew what a struggle we had getting seven fit riders."