Workington Comets duo Ricky Wells and Claus Vissing narrowly missed out on a semi-final berth in the Premier League Pairs despite a respectable showing at Somerset.

Wells and Vissing racked up 17 points in their group between them but it wasn’t enough to secure a seventh Pairs title for Workington as the hosts went without a last place to win their group on 26 points with Glasgow second on 18.

It was Somerset who would go on to win the title in their fourth final in a row, former Workington star Josh Grajczonek and Rohan Tungate powering round ahead of Edinburgh’s on-fire Sam Masters and Ryan Fisher.

Workington manager Tony Jackson said: “It could have been better but that’s the way it goes.

“It’s always close because there are 10 good pairings there and the lads gave it a good go.

“Gates one and three were a big advantage and unfortunately we got Somerset on the race when we had them.

“Ricky did better than he has in last few visits here which bodes well for when we’re back here in the Premier League.

“Every race was like a heat 15 so it’s been an alright meeting but there hasn’t been a lot of passing.

“There were plenty of Workington fans here though and the weather’s been pretty good.”

Comets’ daunting opening heat against the Glasgow didn’t go as planned, with Wells going through the tapes and forced to start with a 15-metre handicap in the rerun. Ex-Comets skipper Richard Lawson sprinted away from the start while Vissing gave Aaron Summers a hard time for two laps before the Tiger pulled clear.

The pair made up for their bitter first heat by putting Peterborough to the sword despite the tenacious Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen’s best efforts, leaving Comets in a strong position to qualify from their tough group.

But a below par third heat saw Vissing wind up last against the home side while Tungate rocketed up the inside of Wells behind Grajczonek to put Comets’ progression in jeopardy.

The West Cumbrians needed maximum points and other results to go their way to clinch second place in the group, and Vissing did his best in a daredevil battle with Newcastle’s Matej Kus. The Comet came out on top and his teammate almost followed through on the line but it wasn’t enough as Workington bowed out of the competition with their heads held high.