Workington Comets boss Tony Jackson was left dejected after his side were dumped out of the Knock Out Cup by a 44-46 home defeat to Somerset on Saturday.

Comets needed to overcome a 14-point gap from the tie’s first leg but a bad start left them with a mountain to climb and their unbeaten home streak, stretching back to September 2014, was ultimately ended.

Jackson said he was disappointed with the manner of his team’s elimination despite their opponent's quality.

“Once it became a 14-point margin it was always going to be tough but we made such a bad start tonight,” he said.

“Then after the mechanical problems in heat three we were on the backfoot.

“Mason [Campton] was on his spare bike and couldn’t seem to get it going at all until the end.

“Matt Williamson and Adam Roynon really came good but it wasn’t enough.”

Somerset had been tipped to struggle in pre-season but Jackson gave them credit after Paul Starke in particular made a big contribution to down his side.

He said: “Fair play to them, they’ve beaten everybody and had some big wins already.

“We had too many last places while they were scoring points throughout.

“There was some good racing but we just had too many inconsistent riders tonight.”

Ricky Wells, who has so often been Comets’ leading light, had a quiet night and Jackson said the skipper was still feeling the effects of the illness which ruled him out of the first leg.