by Ky Capel - Dorset Echo

Weymouth Doonan Wildcats' Jay Herne came agonisingly close to capturing the Conference League Riders' Champion-ship but had to settle for fifth place. Redcar's Benji Compton took the honours at Rye House after scoring 14 points from his five rides while Byron Bekker of Scunthorpe came second with 13. Herne, Dan Halsey (Rye House) and Darcy Ward (Boston) all scored 12 so there was a run-off for third-place, which Ward won followed by Halsey. Kyle Newman, Weymouth's second representative, failed to score in what will have been a useful experience for the 16-year-old.

Wildcats' team manager Jem Dicken was pleased with how his riders performed, despite their own disappointments. He said: "Jay came close and he's quite upset about it, not in angry way just that he really wanted to win the competition. He made one mistake in one race and it was the race that counted, but that's speedway and you've just got to move on. Sometimes he doesn't believe in himself but he could have beaten any of the riders out there if he had the rub of the green. The track was very different to what it normally is at Rye House and everyone struggled with it. Jay had a good shot but it was just not quite good enough in the end, which is unfortunate. There were a lot of Premier League riders out there so Kyle did alright. He blew his engine in one race so that'll be expensive for him. He's disappointed that he didn't score more but he's only in his first year of racing and didn't show himself up, he just wants to win races though. It's an experience for him and it was a big meeting with some top riders."

It could have been so different for Herne going into his final race of the night. The Aussie ace was on 10 points while Compton had 11 as the pair prepared to square up in heat 17. Herne made a good start and was leading the way but the Redcar rider found a way past the Wildcat on bend two of lap two and went on to take the three points on offer. Had Herne held his position he would have finished with 13, as would Compton. In the end though, Herne had to be content with a fifth-placed finish when he crossed the line behind Ward and Halsey in the run-off for third.

Full heat details are available here