Wasps fourth win simply spectacular – Wasps 51 Somerset 42

This time it was nearest rivals Somerset who were put to the sword at Queensway Meadows Stadium, where Swede Nilsson and Canadian Legault both recorded double-figure scores from five rides.

Skipper Leigh Lanham and teenage reserve Todd Kurtz each managed nine, although South Wales Argus columnist Craig Watson had a tough afternoon.

First finished last after falling, and then remounted in the meeting’s opening heat and later was caught out at the start of race eight.

The popular Australian, Newport’s highest all-time league points-scorer, appeared taken aback when match referee Dave Watters fired the tapes.

However, whatever the reason for Watson’s demise certainly motivated him to come out and win his next race in magnificent style.

The meeting also produced what for many observers was the venue’s most thrilling race in its 13-year history.

By the end of the epic, four-lap encounter between winner Legault and the man he pipped to the chequered flag, Aussie Cory Gathercole, the pair had received a standing ovation, and rightly so because their duel was indeed breathtaking.

Another highlight came in heat nine, when Nilsson’s oh-so-late lunge to the line edged him past Somerset’s Shane Parker, who he’d patiently stalked around the tight 285-meter track.

This was a topsy-turvy encounter in terms of the scoring, with at one point Darlows Wasps throwing away a healthy-looking 13-point into a one-point deficit in the space of just two races. That came when German Christian Hefenbrock won race seven as a tactical rider, doubling his points total, and then a 5-1 maximum win for former Wasps James Holder and Richie Hawkins. However, the home side soon re-grouped and despite 4-2 losses in heats 13 and 15, there were a trio of 5-1s to ensure Darlows Wasps remain well and truly on course to qualify for the end-of-season Jack Young Shield play-offs for those clubs finishing between five and 12.

Newport Darlows Wasps 51: 1 – Leigh Lanham 9(4); 2 – Craig Watson 5(4); 3 – Kim Nilsson 10(5); 4 – Kyle Legault 10(5); 5 – Robin Aspegren 6(4); 6 – Alex Davies 2(3); 7 – Todd Kurtz 9(5).

Somerset Rebels 42: 1 – Cory Gathercole 14(5); 2 – Ritchie Hawkins 3(4); 3 – Christian Hefenbrock 10(5); 4 – Sam Masters 4(4); 5 – Shane Parker 6(4); 6 – James Holder 5(5); 7 – Kyle Howarth 0(3).

* Darlows Wasps are next in action on Friday, when they are scheduled to host British Premier League rivals Rye House Rockets at Queensway Meadows Stadium – tapes up at 7pm.

* Table-topping Newport Wessex Bus Hornets are also at home at the weekend, entertaining Weymouth Wildcats in a National League fixture – tapes up at 2.30pm.

* Newport Hornets skipper Tony Atkin failed in the defence of his share of the National League Pairs’ Championship on Saturday, when Plymouth Devils duo Nicki Granz and Mark Simmonds travelled home with the silverware.

North Walian Atkin lifted the trophy alongside New Zealander Grant Tregoning on the Isle of Wight in 2009, and he and another Antipodean riding partner, Aussie Todd Kurtz, were among the pre-meeting favourites on their home track.

However, when Atkin fell at bend two of heat 17’s first lap, it meant the 7-2 maximum needed against Bournemouth Buccaneers duo James Brundle and Kyle Howarth to take Newport into the final, was impossible to achieve.

In their three previous qualifying heats Kurtz had taken two chequered flags and gained a second place in another, while Atkin posted a trio of thirds.

In the final, Glanz, who spent the 2006 campaign with the then-Mavericks, and Simmonds defeated King’s Lynn’s Simon Lambert and Adam Lowe fairly comfortably and the winners accepted the trophy, which has spent the last 12 months in the custody of Newport. National League Pairs’ Championship. 20-heat qualifiers.

Group A: 1 – Plymouth 24; 2 – NEWPORT 19; 3 – Bournemouth 17; 4 – Dudley 16; 5 – Isle of Wight 14.

Group B: 1 – King’s Lynn 23; 2 – Weymouth 20; 3 – Scunthorpe 17; 4 – Buxton 21; 5 – Rye House 9.

Final: 1 – Plymouth, 61.34 seconds; 2 – King’s Lynn.