Heavy rain during the afternoon in the locality reduced the size of the crowd but those that ventured forth were delighted to witness an emphatic Arena success against Exeter on Friday despite the makeshift appearance of the home line-up.

The Hammers drafted in Paul Clews and Wayne Carter to bolster a side hit by injury to Troy Pratt and denied the services of Matt Read and Roger Lobb who were scheduled to be involved in the British Under 21 Final.

Exeter opted to use the rider replacement facility for the injured Peter Jeffery.

The star performance of the night was provided by home rider Leigh Lanham who completed an impressive maximum against his former club without being asked any serious questions.

Only Michael Coles could provide any serious threat to the home side who were well served by guest Wayne Carter, deputising for broken collar bone victim Troy Pratt although Mark Simmonds battled hard and deserved more than his nine point tally.

Colin White reeled off three heat wins in his opening rides but Michael Coles became the first opponent to beat White in three meetings around the Purfleet race strip when he finished ahead of the Hammers skipper in the last race.3

Lanham set his stall out with a trap to line opening heat win before colleagues Gary Corbett and John Wainwright doubled up for an untroubled heat two maximum.

Carter gated impressively in the next but drifted on the pits turn allowing Coles to grab the initiative.

The teams swapped 4-2's before Simmonds briefly led Lanham in heat six.

However, the Arena number one eased around his opponent on the second lap to quickly settle the issue and create a six point lead for his side with Arena leading by six points, 21-15.

The emerging Corbett was the victim of first bend bunching on the first turn in heat seven but was quickly on his feet.

The re-run saw him again denied room and he was forced to check but then set off in hasty pursuit to claim a gallant point with White unchallenged at the front as Arena stretched their advantage to eight points.

Coles was drafted in as a tactical substitute, and the move paid dividends as he combined with Graeme Gordon for a heat advantage with Carter splitting the pair after a great scrap for the minor honours.

The Exeter rider made ground each time down the straights only to be forced wide by Carter's inside advantage.

Simmonds jeopardised his team's chances of reducing the leeway when he earned an exclusion in heat nine after touching the tapes.

The resultant reserve pairing was easy prey for the Hammers guest duo who collected a facile heat maximum as Arena extended their advantage to 32-22.

Two drawn heats then ensued before Lanham and White carved out a totally dominant heat 13 maximum to guarantee the Hammers win with the home side holding a 47-31 lead.

Clews, who became increasingly more at ease as the meeting progressed won the penultimate race in style while tactical substitutes Gordon and Corbett battled throughout the four laps for the second place.

The home reserve held the advantage early on but was nudged out, literally, by the Falcon's rider.

Corbett reclaimed second only to be relegated to third when Gordon dived inside. Splendid speedway.

Lanham completed his maximum in the last, no doubt enjoying the milestone even more against his former team mates as the Hammers wrapped up a satisfying and confidence win.

Tonight (Friday), the Hammers entertain Newport in a Premier National Trophy fixture with the action at the Purfleet Raceway commencing at 8pm.

On line for a maximum . . Arena Essex's Leigh Lanham scored his first full 15 point maximum of the season in Friday's match against Exeter.

Picture: MATT SPRAKE.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.