AUSSIE skipper Craig Watson and Danish import Mads Korneliussen blasted a last-heat, 5-1 maximum to secure a share of the spoils for the Wasps at Haley Stadium yesterday.

And the point was enough to take the Wasps off the bottom of the Premier League table aboveNewcastle Diamonds, who later lost 51-43 at home to Berwick Bandits.

A 14th heat 5-1 from visiting pair Jason Bunyan and former Wasps Krister Marsh had put the Islanders in the driving seat going in to the meeting's final heat at 44-40.

Because Bunyan had won four of his previous five races and Boyce had recorded two victories and had also secured runner-up spot on another two occasions, the odds were stacked against the Newport duo landing a maximum.

However, from the moment the tapes flew up, Watson, crowned Premier League Champions Chaser at King's Lynn last Wednesday, and Korneliussen soared away to leave their rivals trailing in their tyre marks and dust tracks.

Oh, how Wasps' faithful rose to the occasion and roared their heroes home to secure the point which stretches Newport's unbeaten home record to four wins, a draw and only one defeat.

Newport found themselves six points down at 18-12 and the end heat six, but determined riding by Korneliussen and talented reserve Carl Wilkinson to land a seventh-heat 5-1 and then Wilkinson again in the next race reduced the arrears to just two points.

Wilkinson's scrap with Bunyan in that the eighth heat saw the lead changed hands three times before the Newport reserve finally gave way to the former Reading Racer.

The home side, with Pavel Ondrasik and Kristian Lund landing a 5-1 and Watson and Wilkinson a 4-2, soon held a 35-31 advantage and looked good with just three heats remaining.

But a disastrous race from Ondrasik and Wilkinson against Bunyan and Dane Ulrich Ostergaard, who took the heat 5-1, and a 3-3 draw between the Korneliusen and Watson duo against the Islanders' Craig Boyce ! and Ostergaard, meant a tie-up at 39-39 with two races left.

The easy success for the Islanders in the penultimate heat only served to set up the high drama of the meeting's final race won in such tremendous style by Watson and Korneliussen. While Watson took the honours with yet another 15-point maximum, a mention in despatches must also go to Wilkinson, who took the daunting task of having to compete in seven heats in such warm conditions in his stride and his final tally of paid 11 was as vital as his skipper's 100% record.

Newport Wasps: Mads Korneliussen 9+1(5); Rider replacement for Tony Atkin; Pavel Ondrasik 3+1(4); Kristian Lund 8(5); Craig Watson (c) 15(5); Carl Wilkinson 9+2(7); Barrie Evans 1(4). Isle of Wight Islanders: Craig Boyce (c) 11(5); Glen Phillips 4+1(5); Jason Bunyan 14(6); Rider replacement for Sebastian Tresarrieu; Ray Morton 1(3); Ulrich Ostergaard 7+2(6); Krister Marsh 8+2(5)