A disappointing weekend for Workington Comets had manager Tony Jackson reassessing his side’s play-offs chances.

Comets slumped to a 50-43 loss against Scunthorpe on Saturday night, with a last heat decider going the way of the Scorpions.

They then exited the SGB Championship Fours at Peterborough at the semi-final stage yesterday to cap a frustrating 24 hours.

Jackson said: “It’s been a disappointing weekend all round really. Our play-offs push was looking difficult but achievable, now it looks a bit less so.”

Comets trailed by 10 points after seven heats on Saturday and, despite racing back into contention with one race to go, they couldn’t get over the line.

“We actually won nine races but the last places killed us,” Jackson said. “I wasn’t ready for that 5-1 in heat 15, I couldn’t believe it.

“We felt very confident we could get a 5-1 when it mattered so, to not even get a 3-3, is a real kick.

“I felt Mason Campton was unfairly excluded from heat six because he insisted he was under power."

Comets performed respectably in the heats at the Fours yesterday but last places for Ty Proctor and Craig Cook effectively ended their hopes of progressing to the final.

Thomas Jorgensen showed no signs of a hangover from the previous night’s defeat as he blasted from the outside gate to win the opening heat.

A steady if unspectacular ride from Mason Campton behind Workington asset Kyle Howarth earned him second place in heat three, before Proctor trailed Scunthorpe’s Jake Allen and home rider Ulrich Ostergaard to finish third.

Cook was just edged out by Josh Auty in his first ride to come third, with Todd Kurtz winning, then Jorgensen found himself at the front again in his second ride but Chris Harris reeled in first Kyle Howarth then the Dane.

A strong ride from Campton saw him lead heat eight until Ostergaard delighted the home fans by blasting past him for the win.

With 11 points, Comets were still in with a shout of qualifying for the final but a last place for Proctor in the penultimate heat after he did well to stay on his bike during first bend benching meant the pressure was on Cook to perform in heat 10.

It wasn’t to be as Cook couldn’t get out from the worst gate and eventually retired in the re-run to confirm Comets’ exit from the competition.

Jackson said: “It just didn’t happen for our top boys.

“Mason and Thomas did their jobs. We were well-placed with two races to go.”