An action-packed meeting, with great racing, controversy and incident, was marred by a spectacular heat five crash, which saw Rebels' favourite Paul Fry withdraw from the meeting after being taken to hospital with concussion. Controversy was prevalent from the start, with Ashley Jones being the first rider to hit the deck after Jamie Smith drove under him on the first bend. Smith was excluded for his part, while Jones displayed his frustration by confronting the Somerset rider on the track. In the rerun, Magnus Zetterstrom produced a lightning start to win the heat, leaving the Stars' number one Tomas Topinka in his wake. It was at reserve, however, that the Norfolk side looked the stronger, as their young Australian duo of Trever Harding and Troy Batchelor raced to a 5-1 in heat two. The reliable home pairing of Fry and Ritchie Hawkins fought straight back with a 4-2 in heat three, whilst Glenn Cunningham looked fast in heat four to take the win. The Stars' pairing took the second and third places to keep them two points in the lead, going into heat five. A struggle for the Rebels It was from heat five onwards that the Rebels struggled. Fry, whilst leading, found too much grip exiting the pit bend and hit the fence, catapulting man and machine down the straight and into the path of Hawkins, who eventually got up and took his place in the rerun. Somerset battled hard from heat eight to 12 to take all of the race wins, but with the King's Lynn riders dominating the minor positions, they still led 37-35 going into the last three heats. A heat 10 incident involving Smith and Jaros enlivened the vocal crowd against the referee. He excluded Smith, who was taken off by the hard-riding Star team member in an exciting battle. Smith was visually unhappy by the move, and after dusting himself down, he confronted Jaros on the track before running the length of the track to again vent his frustrations on his rival in the pits. The controversy continues By heat 13, the atmosphere in the stadium was at fever pitch as the controversy continued, this time between the King's Lynn heat leader, Oliver Allen, and the Rebels' skipper, Zetterstrom. An epic battle ensued, but as both riders entered a tight third bend, Allen, who was on the outside, came off and was excluded. With only two points between them going into the last two heats, the Rebels were dealt their final blow in heat 14. Their two reserves, Jason King and Lee Smart, could not catch the King's Lynn duo of Kevin Doolan and Batchelor, who produced a match winning 5-1. A 4-2 win in heat 15 to the Rebels reduced the Stars' victory to just four points, but without Fry, the home side were always going to struggle against a promising King's Lynn side. Although the Somerset side relinquished their Premier League points, the Rebels' fans can be heartened by the way their side battled adversity in an exciting meeting. Once again, the Oak Tree Arena produced some tremendous action, which, coupled with a fair amount of controversy and an electric atmosphere, is sure to win over the many new fans who attended. | 
