Redcar Bears 49 Workington Comets 44: Workington Comets somehow came back from the brink to earn a league point in defeat at Redcar, led by an inspired performance from star guest Chris Harris and former Bear Ty Proctor.

A solid start tailed off but Comets finished the meeting strongly on a track they won at earlier this season to snatch a point with a final heat 5-1.

The comeback was even more remarkable after Workington reserve James Sarjeant suffered a recurrence of his injury and only managed two rides before withdrawing from the meeting.

Harris quickly settled into his guest role with a comfortable win from the gate ahead of Jason Garrity and Ellis Perks to draw the opening heat.

Danny Ayres, who deputised ably for James Sarjeant during part of his spell on the sidelines, brought the Comet down in the second heat and was excluded.

Sarjeant showed no ill effects when he hit the front in the rerun, but Tobias Busch rounded him on the second lap and his engine blew a lap later so the returning Comets No6 could only coast to the finish behind Rob Shuttleworth to share the points.

Back on his old track, Ty Proctor showed he still knows the fastest way around Redcar’s circuit with a stylish win in heat three, leaving Jonas B Andersen and Ben Barker for dead as the draws kept coming.

And Thomas Jorgensen made it back-to-back heat winners for the visitors, although he was followed by Charles Wright and Danny Ayres for another 3-3.

Harris made it two wins from two rides in heat five but was chased by the Bears pair before the deadlock was finally broken in heat six with a home 5-1 courtesy of Jason Garrity and Ellis Perks.

An entertaining heat seven saw the lead change hands several times between Wright and Proctor before the music stopped with the Bear in control, while Busch held off Matt Williamson to stretch the home side’s lead to six points.

It rose to eight points as Redcar grabbed another 4-2 in the next heat, with Campton splitting Perks and Ayres, then 12 points as the hosts hit a big 5-1 in heat nine through Barker and Andersen.

Williamson had it all to do when Proctor was excluded from the rerun of heat 10 for wiping out Perks and the Comets No4 managed to get between the home pair to limit them to a 4-2.

The black and white helmet came out for the visitors in heat 11, with Harris the man to take on the task of hauling Workington back into the meeting.

Ever the man for the big occasion, Bomber provided a stunning win which cut Redcar’s lead to 11 points despite Campton finishing at the back.

That heat seemed to spark Comets into life as Proctor and Shuttleworth earned a 4-2 in heat 12 to reduce the deficit further.

Garrity did the business for his side in heat 13 but Harris and Jorgensen kept him honest to keep Comets within touching distance of a league point.

That point looked to slip away from the away side as the Bears gated on a 4-2 in the penultimate heat but Andersen put Williamson into the fence and was excluded from the rerun to give them a second chance.

Williamson and Shuttleworth couldn’t find a way past Busch and Comets were left needing maximum points from the final heat.

Few would have counted on them doing it but Proctor and Harris had other ideas and left the hosts speechless with a stunning display to win the last heat 5-1 and bag Workington another vital point on the road.

REDCAR BEARS 49: Jason Garrity 10+1, Ben Barker 9+1, Tobias Busch 9, Ellis Perks 8+1, Charles Wright 6+1, Jonas B Andersen 5+2, Danny Ayres 2+1

WORKINGTON 44: Chris Harris 16+1, Ty Proctor 11, Thomas Jorgensen 6+1, Rob Shuttleworth 4+1, Matt Williamson 4, Mason Campton 2, James Sarjeant 1+1

Championship points: Redcar 3 Workington 1