AN AFTERNOON of splendid racing in front of the largest crowd of the 2007 season saw the Sittingbourne Spray-Tex Crusaders clinch their biggest Conference Speedway League win for more than 11 years.

Sunday's 10-point win over Rye House Raiders was especially pleasing as it came as the second part of a double-header - the first of which was lost.

It was heat 10 that proved decisive. Robert Mear was chasing Crusaders' hugely impressive youngster Jerran Hart when he slid out just seconds after team-mate Kye Norton had lost power.

That 5-0 award put the home side four points clear and when Mark Baseby went from last to first to win the next race, Sittingbourne had confirmed there would be no slipping up.

It was left to the splendid Harland Cook to seal victory in the penultimate race, partnered home to rapturous acclaim by Aaron Baseby.

Earlier, Crusaders had been level with Weymouth after eight heats, but a mid-meeting collapse saw them trailing by eight points at the end, despite more heroic efforts from 16-year-old Hart.

Plymouth and then Boston provide the opposition at the Old Gun Site this weekend. The action gets underway at noon on Sunday.

Results and scorers:

Sittingbourne 43 Weymouth 47
Hart 12; Cook 10; M. Baseby 8; A. Baseby 5; Dean Felton 4; James Theobald 2; Warwick 2.

Sittingbourne 49 Rye House 39
M. Baseby 14; Hart 12; Felton 10; A. Baseby 5; Cook 4; Warwick 3; Reynolds 1.