THIS Hayley Stadium defeat and Mildenhall Fen Tigers' 54-39 home win over Berwick Bandits yesterday evening means there will be no place for the Wasps in the Young Shield play-offs.

However they can still bring in silverware for the first time for eight years and they travel to face Somerset Rebels on Friday in the first leg of the British Premier League Knockout Cup.

The return leg will take place at Newport on Sunday, October 7, although the Wasps will have to snuggle up to Lady Luck if they are to reach the end-of-season final.

She simply refused to smile on the Wasps during this meeting which began in poor weather conditions, resultingin many a crash during the opening half of the meeting.

However the difference between the sides was that whenever a visiting rider took a tumble, his race colleague took the chequered flag while every time a Wasps man crashed, it cost his side much-needed points.

During four particular heats, the Wasps twice led 5-1, once 4-2 and another 3-2 - yet track mishaps meant instead of taking that quartet of races 17-5, they actually lost them by 8-14.

The Wasps were minus Aussie ace Tom Hedley after his nasty crash at Sheffield on Thursday which left him in hospital with concussion.

And with skipper Tony Atkin feeling the effects of a last-heat crash while guesting for the Bandits at Mildenhall on Saturday, the home side was effectively down to just five riders.

"Tony Atkin put himself through the pain barrier for the team," said Newport promoter Tim Stone.

"He only rode because we couldn't find a suitable replacement and he took to the track only after taking painkillers."

Atkin's bravery was matched by all on a day when the wet weather made life extremely difficult - especially between bends three and four.

However there was never a chance of this being called off and credit must go to each and every rider for performing so heroically and ensuring a highly entertaining couple of hours for watching fans in such poor conditions.

The Islanders, who included Australia's double Welsh Open champion Chris Holder, took chequered flags in seven of the first eight heats to lead 27-18.

However successive 5-1 maximums, first from Pole Sebastian Truminski and Atkin and then another Pole, Michal Rajkowski, and Chris Schramm, put the Wasps right back in the picture at 28-29.

But the visitors resumed control to win four of the final five races, two by 5-1, to actually clinch their win with a heat to spare.