DANNY Ayres wowed the crowd by winning heat four without a saddle – but his late troubles in the 46-43 defeat at Leicester proved a bigger pain in the backside.

The Heathens number five, who also represents the Lions in the Premiership, had scored eight from three rides but locked up in heat 13 before a mechanical fault caused him to miss the two minutes in a last-heat decider.

Ayres went off 15 metres but could not catch up as Josh Bates, the reserve who rode at number one for the much-changed hosts, led Matt Williamson in the only 5-1 of the night to secure the Ivor Brown Memorial Trophy.

Looking back on his battle without a saddle, Ayres said: “I have never had anything like that before. I think that was where the motocross came into it but when I looked round, I saw I was still winning.

“I am a racer and I don’t give up. It was a good one to win, I just hate going away from a meeting feeling a bit frustrated.

“Doing the talking afterwards is the difficult part. In speedway, you have big highs and lows and lately, I have had some massive highs.

“I really hate ending meetings like that, it was sad. My brain is everywhere at the moment, trying to analyse things but I have to try to take the positives.

“Even Batesy (Damien Bates, Leicester promoter) said I have come along well and was on the pace but I don’t want to let anyone down.

“The bike let me down in heat 15, I snapped the cable going to the spark plug and I couldn’t jump on the spare bike because I had broken the seat.

“These meetings help to build your confidence and make you feel like a proper team player. I love having the pressure of the boys relying on you to go out there and do a job but we will go home, analyse everything and come back stronger.”

Next up for the Heathens is a trip to the Isle of Wight in the National League on Thursday, May 18.

LEICESTER 46: Josh Bates 15, Matt Williamson 11+1, Richard Hall 7, Kyle Bickley 7, Tom Woolley 4+1, Chris Widman 2+1, Luke Woodhull 0.

CRADLEY 43: Tom Perry 11, Dan Greenwood 9+2, Max Clegg 8, Danny Ayres 8, Joe Lawlor 6+2, Ben Woodhull 1, Conor Dwyer r/r.