FIRED-UP Wolverhampton stormed back to winning ways in untroubled fashion beating reigning Premiership Champions Swindon 52-38 at Monmore Green.
The visitors arrived in the Midlands below strength with French star David Bellego ruled out with a scaphoid injury and young British star Zach Wajtknecht forced to miss the clash through concussion.
But desperate to display an instant response following last week’s first home league defeat of the year at the hands of Somerset, the Parrys International Wolves were in ruthless mode against the side who pipped them to the title last season.
They got off to a dream start when local lad Ashley Morris and No.1 Jacob Thorssell flew away from the start to open with a 5-1 maximum.
And they looked set to extend their advantage in the second heat as they sat on a 4-2. But returning Cameron Heeps got out of shape on bend two of the third lap and was passed by guest visiting reserve Connor Mountain. But the race was eventually awarded as a 4-2 in Swindon’s favour when Nathan Greaves took an awkward tumble on bend three of the same lap, sustaining a hand injury in the process which would rule him out the rest of the meeting.
But in-form Aussie Sam Masters took the chequered flag in classy style away from the tapes in Heats Three and Five as returning star Kyle Howarth raced to a third and a second place respectively to give him some much needed support.
And up stepped Heeps making amends from his earlier error by taking the chequered flag in the fourth before battling to a key contribution of 13+2 from the reserve berths as he took his full quota of seven rides.
Wolves moved to 12 in front by the time they got to heat eight and despite disqualifications for Morris, who touched the tapes, and Howarth in the ninth after a bend four spill, Heeps and Masters ensured their lead remained in tact.
While Morris made another impressive gate to win the tenth, it was skipper Rory Schlein who came up with the key ride of the night in Heat 11. He got the better of his opponents in the opening bends to deny them a heat advantage after the Robins brought Troy Batchelor in as a tactical substitute alongside No.1 Nick Morris.
And not only did that visiting duo make the fixture appear closer than it actually was with 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15, they also ensured Masters missed out on a full maximum in the final race of the night for the third time in four meetings.
While it was a solid team performance, one relieved man was reserve Heeps who admits he’s been riding way below his capabilities in the early stages of his Wolves career.
“The rest of the boys needed me to start chipping in and hopefully I can build on this going forward,” Heeps said.
“I know I should’ve been doing better than I have been, but tonight reminded me of what I can do.
“It was a good win for the team as well which is the most important thing against a solid Swindon side.”
Parrys International Wolves are back at Monmore next Monday (July 23, 7.30) when Belle Vue are the visitors.
It sounds simple, but sometimes we can all forget to step back and look after our own wellbeing.
