Cradley 52, Coventry 42

CRADLEY Heathens gave themselves a narrow advantage over Coventry with victory in the first leg of the National League Grand Final.

The Heathens had to fight hard for their win against a strong Storm outfit at Monmore tonight.

The home side also had to negotiate the final part of the meeting without star man Steve Worrall after he was stood down by medical staff after suffering a wrist injury following a crashing fall in heat 10.

The contest had earlier got off to a perfect start when Worrall and Nathan Greaves flew home to record a Cradley 5-1 in heat one.

Max Clegg and Tom Perry achieved the same feat in heat three as Cradley looked to turn the screw early.

However, Coventry remained well in the match as heats two, four and five were all drawn before the visitors cut the lead by claiming a 4-2 win in heat six, the impressive James Sarjeant coming home in front.

Cradley hit back though by securing maximums in the following two heats.

The best of those came in heat seven when Paul Starke got the job done from the front as team-mate Matt Williamson came out on top of a brilliant battle with Stefan Nielsen.

The same outcome followed in heat eight but thi time in crazy fashion.

The heat saw all four riders hit the deck before the Heathens came home in front.

Firstly, both Storm riders slid out on the first lap before Cradley's men followed suit on the last. Thankfully the Heathen duo had built up enough of a lead to remount and make the line.

But still Coventry would not lie down. They came back into the match in a dramatic heat 10. Firstly, Worrall crashed out at the first bend after being clipped by Nielsen.

With him stood down, Coventry took full advantage as Greenwood followed Neilsen to the line for their first 5-1 of the night.

Another Storm maximum in heat 13 cut the scores to just six with two races to go.

However, victories for Tom Perry and skipper Starke managed to extend Cradley's first leg advantage to 10.

Heathen's fans will now be sweating on the fitness of Worrall with a host of season-defining contest on the horizon - starting with tomorrow night's trip to King's Lynn for the first leg of the Knockout Cup Final.

CRADLEY 52: Paul Starke 13, Max Clegg 11+1, Matt Williamson 9+2, Tom Perry 8+1, Steve Worrall 5, Danny Phillips 4+1, Nathan Greaves 2+1.

COVENTRY 42: James Sarjeant 14, Stefan Nielsen 9, Simon Lambert 8+1, Martin Knuckey 6+2, Dan Greenwood 4+1, Ryan Terry-Daley 1, Luke Priest 0.