Rye House 59 Sittingbourne 36

A DEPLETED Sittingbourne AC Associates Crusaders Speedway team slumped to a 59-36 Conference League derby defeat at a dusty Rye House on Saturday evening.

With the in-form Chris Hunt side-lined with a broken collar-bone and Grade 11 man Nick Simmons still not recovered from an arm injury, the Kent side were always likely to struggle against a Raiders side who are strong at home.

The Crusaders' efforts were not helped when the impressive Andre Cross, given the responsibility of captaining the team for the first time, suffered an engine failure in his third outing to hand advantage to Harland Cook, who went through the card undefeated.

It dashed any hopes of a Crusaders revival, which had been on the cards after Cross and team-mate James Theobald had gained the maximum advantage from the tactical ride in heat seven, after a fall by Raiders' Daniel Halsey had caused the race to be stopped.

Another six-pointer, this time from Ricky Scarboro lifted the spirits of the vociferous followers of the Iwade-based side and, with teenager Mark Baseby pitching in with paid seven, there were positives to take away from this match.

The Kentish Speedway Crusade continues on Wednesday with Sittingbourne visiting the Wimbledon Dons. The action gets underway at the famous Stadium on Plough Lane at 7.30pm.

Sittingbourne scorers: R Scarboro 12; A Cross 10; M Baseby 6+1; J Theobald 3+1; D Andrews 3+1; W Parker 2; D Blake 0.