Newcastle Diamonds proved too sharp for Workington Comets as the West Cumbrians went down 62-29 on the road at Brough Park.

With no Craig Cook, Thomas Jorgensen or Matt Williamson due to illness and injury, plus the usual hole at No7, Comets were forced to rely on three guests and rider replacement as they aimed to earn some late season joy.

Heat one didn’t go to plan as Robert Lambert and Ashley Morris earned a 5-1 ahead of Comets guest Aaron Summers as James Sarjeant packed up.

Sarjeant recovered to win heat two but Ben Hopwood and Alfie Bowtell gave chase while Comets’ stand-in Ryan MacDonald fell to share the points.

And the hosts hit another 5-1 in heat three through Ludvig Lindgren and Stuart Robson, with Mason Campton third and another Workington guest, Max Clegg, at the back.

Ty Proctor battled his way between Steve Worrall and Alfie Bowtell in heat four to limit the home side to a 4-2, before Lindgren and Robson produced another 5-1.

Sarjeant couldn’t catch Lambert in heat six and Proctor wound up last before eventually retiring as the meeting already began to get away from Comets.

A 4-2 from Worrall and Hopwood followed in heat seven as Campton split the pair, before another home 4-2 as Morris beat Proctor and Bowtell capitalised as Sarjeant retired.

Lindgren and Robson got another 5-1 in heat nine, then Campton and Clegg stopped the run of Newcastle heat advantages by following Lambert in heat 10.

Summers couldn’t get near Worrall in heat 11 and Hopwood got the better of Campton for a Diamonds 4-2, before Comets picked up their first heat advantage of the night with a 5-2 from Campton and Sarjeant as the latter took a tactical ride.

Lambert and Worrall were untroubled for a 5-1 in heat 13 as the result of the meeting was a mere formality, and heat 14 looked ominous as Sarjeant was due to start from 15 metres for jumping the start but was excluded for missing the two minutes.

Clegg managed to edge between Lindgren and Hopwood in the rerun to make the score 57-28 with one heat to go.

Lambert and Worrall rounded off a resounding home victory with a 5-1 in the final heat, with the former sealing his maximum and the latter earning a paid max while Comets faced the prospect of a miserable trip back across the A69.