Sunday night’s clash at Brough Park should have been the second leg, but Saturday’s Derwent Park staging was washed out.
A really heavy shower in late afternoon, which had followed three days of steady, intermittent rain, left the track in an unraceable condition – a situation agreed by riders, management and referee.
The Knockout Cup tie also doubles as the challenge for the Ian Thomas Memorial Shield, in memory of the man heavily involved with both clubs.
April 22 had been allocated for a league match between the two clubs, but that will now be pushed back to a later date.
Team manager Tony Jackson said: “We said before the meeting we did not want to have to make up 10 or more points in the second leg.
“The fact that we restricted the lead to eight gives us every reason to be optimistic about the second leg.
“It might have been a little better even as we had Rob Shuttleworth excluded in the second after tangling with Connor Coles.
“A few people thought he was very unlucky, but I’ve always said it can be down to angles when you view incidents like that and referee Stuart Wilson obviously gave what he saw.
“I was pleased for our other reserve Matt Williamson, who had never scored a point at Newcastle before, but this time came away with seven points, which was good.
“Generally, we were happy with the performance and the team have it in them to make up the deficit around Derwent Park in three week’s time.”
Workington had relied heavily on No.1 Craig Cook, who scored 13 from his five rides, which included three firsts and two seconds.
His victory in heat 13 was the ride of the night. Third off the start, he went round Newcastle’s No.1 Robert Lambert on the third bend of the first lap and then inside Steve Worrall on the fourth bend.
It was sensational stuff from the Workington skipper, but Worrall got his revenge in the defining last heat of the night when he gated best and, this time, Cook was unable to get to him.
Newcastle managed a 4-2 from the final heat as Lambert beat Thomas Jorgensen for third which gave Newcastle eight points to defend when they visit Derwent Park for the second leg.
It ended a run of four straight 3-3s, which suggested Comets might have Newcastle pegged at plus six for the return in west Cumbria.
Workington had actually taken the lead in the first heat when a re-run was needed.
Ex-Workington rider Ashley Morris slipped off on the first bend and was excluded. Cook exploded from the tapes to win it, but the Comets were denied a 5-1 when Lambert got round Mason Campton on lap three.
It was Shuttleworth’s turn to be excluded from the reserves race after appearing to be clipped by Coles. But Williamson rose to the occasion to win the re-run from Dan Phillips and Coles.
Newcastle managed only two 5-1s in the meeting, the first in heat three after mistakes by both Ty Proctor and Adam Roynon, let Ludvig Lindgren and Lewis Rose race clear.
The next two heats were shared before Newcastle increased their advantage. Lambert raced well clear and Morris slipped past Williamson on lap three to get third behind Thomas Jorgensen.
Workington’s second-heat advantage followed in heat seven when Proctor won easily with Roynon taking advantage of a wobble by Coles to get third behind Worrall.
Two more shared heats kept the Comets on the Diamonds tail, only two points down until their hosts’ second 5-1 in heat ten stretched the led to six.
Four more 3-3s kept Workington right in the contest and even the 4-2 in the last has not dented optimism ahead of April 22.
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