A severely depleted Arena Essex were thrashed 62-30 by title chasers Wolver-hampton last night in their Elite League clash at Monmore Green.
With Greg Walasek serving a seven-day sickness absence and Josh Larsen missing having sustained further damage to his recent foot injury, the Hammers then lost the services of Dean Barker after his third ride when he suffered slight concussion after crashing.
The visitors were forced to draft in Premier League riders Steve Masters and Tomas Topinka and although Masters proved totally out of his depth, reserve Topinka battled well for his seven points that included a heat win.
Trailing 17-7 after four heats, team manager Ronnie Russell utilised the tactical ride facility in heat five but Mark Loram was unable to capitalise, finishing second in a shared heat despite having taken an early lead over Sam Ermolenko only to see the American storm back.
Barker hit the fence heavily in heat eight and took no further part in the meeting as the Hammers slipped 18 points into arrears.
Paul Hurry was given a tactical ride in heat 11 but was unable to get amongst the points and although Mark Loram split the home pair, the 4-2 advantage for the Wolves was sufficient to guarantee them victory with four heats still to be raced.
The Hammers conceded another two maximums in the next three heats before Loram claimed a consolation heat win in heat 15 to provide him with his first success of the night at the fifth attempt.
Published Tuesday August 17, 2004
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