Speedway starlet Matt Williamson was over the moon after a paid eight-point haul helped Workington Comets to a 50-42 win against Newcastle.

The 23-year-old took charge in the reserves' race, winning ahead of his teammate Adam Roynon and Diamonds' No6 Lewis Rose in what proved to be a crucial 5-1.

He followed that up with a third place finish, a second and another third behind his teammate as Comets dug in their heels and held on to their lead.

He said: "It was one of my best performances to date I think so I was buzzing.

"No matter who you're up against, the Premier League is really hard so to get paid eight made me really happy.

"Some reserves can get six or seven points from seven rides whereas I got my points from the four rides which is a good confidence booster."

The young rider invested heavily in new equipment and training over the winter break.

After a frustrating start, he said it was nice to see that pay off in recent weeks.

"I worked hard this winter and in the first couple of meetings, although I was scoring more than last season, I still felt I had more to give", he said.

"I was putting a lot of pressure on myself in the first few meetings to make it feel like all my hard work was worthwhile.

"Now I'm a bit more relaxed and trust that the points will come."

Comets' packed calendar this weekend sees them start their Premier League campaign at reigning champions Edinburgh tonight (7.30pm start), before the reverse fixture at Workington tomorrow (7pm start).

They then travel to Newcastle for their penultimate League Cup group fixture on Sunday (6.30pm start).

A stop-start first month of the season moves into a busy period over the coming weeks but the hectic schedule doesn't worry Williamson, who insisted any time he can get on track will help him develop into a better rider.

He said: "I like being busy just to get as much bike time as I can because I'm still relatively new to the sport.

"Personally I just want to keep getting good scores, improving and being happy with my racing.

"We've won all of our home meetings and I think we've got a great team with a good set of lads.

"The chemistry in this team is brilliant, we all get along so well."

Both the Monarchs and the Diamonds have been tipped for success this season but the former stuttered at home to Berwick in the cup and Comets pushed Newcastle until the final heat in a challenge match last month.

Having had a taster of both tracks already with Workington, Williamson is confident he can help Comets put points on the board.

"I rode both of them last year and then we had Newcastle at the start of the season," he said.

"They're both tricky tracks to go to but if I can gate I'm confident I'll do well."

Williamson's bright orange Kevlar and bike have attracted a lot of attention since he joined the club last season and the reserve said he is happy to stand out from the crowd.

He said: "I came from motocross where I always rode KTM bikes, which are orange.

"When I was thinking about having a go at speedway I saw everyone was in blue or black and thought it was a bit boring so went with orange.

"It's worked out well because now everyone calls me Orange Matt and it's kind of become my trademark."