Both teams were without their number one rider. Stuart Robson (Rye House) had a continuing shoulder injury, and Magnus Zetterstrom had a groin strain which he had picked up against Exeter. Zetterstrom's place in heat one was taken by Paul Fry, who soon found out how difficult conditions were going to be. After a good start, Fry led into the first bend, but the greasy track meant he couldn't hold a tight line. He ran wide, collecting the two riders on his outside, who both fell. In the restart, all four riders negotiated the first turn without mishap. Fry went on to record an easy win, followed home by the two Rockets. Further incidents The reserves' heat was also full of incident, again mainly due to the track conditions. Simon Walker made a quick start, followed by Steve Boxall. Chris Mills swooped past Boxall, going down the back straight to join his partner at the front. On the second lap, Tommy Allen fell, and then Boxall suffered an engine failure and coasted off the track into the pit area. With the race at his mercy, Walker then fell coming off the final turn and got stuck under the fence, leaving Mills to take the win. Walker eventually pulled his bike out and, with the engine still running, rode home for second. In the meantime, Boxall appeared back on the track attempting to push home for third place. However, he was soon excluded for leaving the track, leaving the Rebels with a 5-0 win and a 3-8 lead. Rockets take the reins In the next heat the tables were turned, and from this point on, the Rockets took over the reins, leaving the Rebels to pick up scraps. It was heat 11 before they eventually got a shared heat, and even their efforts in tactical rides only produced two extra points. The Rebels were struggling without their second strings producing their normal returns, and were further handicapped when they lost Simon Walker in heat nine. Firing out of the outside gate, Walker easily led Brent Werner, with Glenn Cunningham, on a tactical, pressing hard for second. Running into the fourth bend, Walker slid into a huge lock-up, and almost came to a standstill at 90 degrees across the track. Werner had no chance of avoiding him, and T-boned the hapless Walker, sending him crashing to the floor. He was down for several minutes, eventually getting to his feet, but had to be helped back to the pits. The doctor saw him for quite a while afterwards, before he withdrew from the meeting. In the rerun, Werner and King shut out Glenn Cunningham at the first turn to take maximum points. A successful season Eventually, the newly-crowned Premier League champions won 60-31, over the Somerset Rebels. The large contingent of travelling Rebels' fans were not downhearted, despite the result. They enjoyed the evening immensely, swapping banter with the Rockets' fans, and joining in the home fans celebrations with enthusiasm. So ended the most successful season enjoyed by any Rebels' squad since their entry to the Premier League. They brought home the Premier League Fours Championship, supplied the Premier Champions Chase winner, and took the runners-up spot in the Premier League Pairs, giving the fans some memorable nights in the process. | 
