Somerset Rebels 49 (92) Stoke Potters 43 (95) - IN a tight, close fought and tense match, the Somerset Sharp Rebels bowed out of the Young Shield quarter-final against a battling Stoke Easy Rider Potters side.

Somerset Rebels 49 (92)

Stoke Potters 43 (95)

IN a tight, close fought and tense match, the Somerset Sharp Rebels bowed out of the Young Shield quarter-final against a battling Stoke Easy Rider Potters side.

The Rebels had come into the match with a nine-point deficit, following a superb performance at Loomer Road the previous Saturday, giving them a chance for this home leg.

The opening four heats of this renewal were all shared, with Jason Bunyan taking the opening heat after coming from behind a fast starting Simon Walker, with a neat inside move on the opening bend of lap two. Steve Johnston took an easy third place to share the points.

Justin Sedgmen took the win in heat two, and the returning Emil Kramer won heat three. The Potters made it two heat wins from four races when Tom P Madsen took heat 4 from Cory Gathercole.

The Rebels finally broke the deadlock in heat 5 as Emil Kramer added his second win of the night. Jari M�kinen pulled clear of Jesper Kristiansen to take a good third place.

In the following heat the Rebels repeated the dose, with Steve Johnston taking the win and Simon Walker was all over Ksiezak's back wheel for the whole race, switching in and out to find an opening that never came.

The Rebels extended their lead to eight points as they took their only 5-1 advantage of the night in heat 7. Gathercole and Justin Sedgmen giving the Rebels a full house. Simon Walker took his customary heat 8 win with Sedgmen bringing up the rear.

The Potters had been stung by three quick heat advantages, but had stemmed the flow in heat 8, and held the Rebels for the next four heats, taking them to heat 12 without any further loss.

Heat 13 saw the Rebels extend their lead to 10-points with Steve Johnston coming over the top of Jason Bunyan on the opening turn to stop the Milton Keynes racer's run. The two-point advantage was enough to give the Potters a tactical ride, but not enough to give the Rebels any breathing space.

Complin was chosen to be the wearer of the 'Black and White' and he flew from the gates to lead from Emil Kramer at the opening turn. Madsen repeated his heat 8 move, once again nipping up the inside of Sedgmen on the third turn to turn a shared heat into a Potters advantage, and reducing the deficit back to eight points.

So the whole tie had come down to a last heat decider, with the Rebels now needing a heat advantage to progress to the next round.

Steve Johnston and Emil Kramer were nominated for the Rebels, with Jason Bunyan and Tom P Madsen taking the track for the Potters. Madsen continued with his great nights work as he flew from the traps to lead. The Rebels despair was completed when Bunyan came with a late inside run to take third, giving the Potters a final heat advantage to take the tie an aggregate margin of just three points.

The top scorer on the night was Emil Kramer with 11-points. His performance was superb, especially as he is still not fully fit following his aggravated back injury.

The six-point victory preserved the Rebels unbeaten home record, but having won every home match was no consolation for going out at this stage of the Young Shield.

The season will now close with a challenge, probably on October 16, details of which will be released later.

With just the challenge to come the fans thoughts will now turn to next season, and soon the speculation will start as to how the 2010 Rebels will fare, and who will be in the line up.