The Stellar Devils put the struggles of the season behind them and won a deserved victory against Belle Vue Colts who were chasing a play-off place but failed to secure the point they needed.
Stand-in team manager Alex Harkess said: “The Devils did very well, there really was a bit of fight about them. The track was tricky obviously but it was the same for both teams. All of our side gave something, we got off to a great start and kept it going.”
There has to be high praise also for the Armadale track staff who overcame a day of very bad weather and provided a circuit that was certainly raceable. It seems the more you attacked it the better you did, which prompted home No 1 Lee Complin to say: “I liked it.”
Belle Vue were handicapped by the fact that Nathan Ablitt did not make the meeting, with three of his rides having to be left blank. His partner Jake Mulford was the Colts’ star, winning his first four heats in great style, but some of the other visitors did not come up to expectations.
Danny Phillips (14) and Lee Complin (11) were the home top scorers, both excellent, but a big round of applause has to also go to Josh Embleton who gave by far his best performance in scoring 8+3.
The Devils have moved off the bottom of the table with this result, but they need to prevent Plymouth taking all the points when they visit the south-west side on Tuesday.
That will then leave the visit of Leicester next Friday to race the Devils and a win for the Armadale team in that one would be an even greater achievement.
Armadale Devils (51): Lee Complin 11+0, Josh Embleton 8+3, Danny Phillips 14+0, Elliot Kelly 2+2, Tom Woolley 6+1, Gregor Millar 5+0, Kyran Lyden 5+0
Belle Vue Colts (36): Jack Smith 9+0, Sam McGurk 4+1, Nathan Ablitt 0+0, Jake Mulford 13+1, Harry McGurk 2+1, Archie Freeman 7+0, Freddy Hodder 1+1
PICTURE: Tom Woolley who scored six. Picture courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs
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