Lee Smart took the replacement ride and held off Pavel Odnrasik until the last lap, when he left a gap on the inside which the Czech was quick to exploit. Smart's night didn't get any better in the next heat, as his chain exploded entering the home straight. The debutante Barker had nowhere to go, and ploughed into the back of Smart, whilst trying to lay the bike down. Barker took third place in the re-run though, with a 4-2 heat win. Under pressure Barker was in the wars again later. He was taken to hospital after a coming together with Ritchie Hawkins on the opening bend in heat seven. The Falcons won the re-run 5-1 after Paul Fry, who had lead the original running, received a big elbow from Barker's replacement, Lee Smethills. After heat seven, the Rebels found themselves 14 points down, but hit back in heat eight with a 5-1 from Ritchie Hawkins (in for Smith), and Jason King. They were still under pressure when Glenn Cunningham came out in heat nine on a tactical, but this only softened the blow as the Falcons took the first two places for a 5-2. This was swiftly followed up by the home side registering a 5-1 in the next heat, leaving the Rebels trailing 39-22. The wrong end of defeat Mick Bell then threw in skipper Magnus Zetterstrom who made another lightning start to beat Seemond Stephens in 67.68 seconds. The Rebels came back with two 2-4 heat wins in the final heats. The team gave their all, but on a track where gating is now at more of a premium than ever, they were always under the cosh. However, they never gave up, and ended the night on the wrong end of a 54-40 defeat, which could have been a lot worse. | 
