Workington Comets showed they still have fight in them with gutsy displays against Newcastle and Peterborough despite suffering a winless weekend in the Championship.

Comets were without Mason Campton and James Sarjeant at Peterborough after the pair were injured in crashes in the previous night's draw against Newcastle at Derwent Park, leaving them with rider replacement for the former and two National League guests at reserve in Ryan Terry-Daley and Jake Knight.

With that in mind it was always going to be a difficult afternoon for Workington and it started that way with 5-1s for the hosts in the opening two heats.

Ty Proctor became the first Comets winner of the night in heat three but Matt Williamson was last so the points were shared, before a Panthers 4-2 in heat four as Thomas Jorgensen split Jack Holder and Tom Bacon meant Craig Cook took a tactical ride in heat five.

A captain's ride saw Cook win ahead of Paul Starke and Ulrich Ostergaard to chip three points off the deficit, but the hosts immediately added another two points to it with a 4-2 thanks to Holder and Bradley Wilson-Dean in heat six.

Proctor continued to be Mr Reliable for Workington with a win in heat seven as Williamson struggled at the back, before back-to-back races for Jorgensen saw him notch a second in a home 4-2 and a win in a 3-3 as Peterborough pulled away.

Williamson was left on his own in heat 10 after Proctor was excluded for a first-bend fall and he couldn't put up much of a fight against Holder and Wilson-Dean as they secured a 5-1, before rain began to fall.

Cook and Proctor grabbed wins in heats 11 and 12 but their team-mates were last to share the points as the meeting rumbled towards its conclusion with the result already decided.

Another Cook win followed in heat 13, with the former Peterborough rider stylishly beating Holder and Lambert.

Williamson then capitalised on bike trouble for Ostergaard to pass him and Lambert for his first win in the penultimate heat, before a last heat Comets 5-1 made it 51-42.

Team manager Tony Jackson felt the performance deserved credit given the circumstances.

"With the team we had I thought we did really well," he said.

"It was a big effort.

"There are positives but if you look at the hard facts we've had three meetings and we've only got one point which is disappointing."

Jackson also revealed that Jorgensen had been riding through the pain barrier after a heavy fall at Edinburgh on Friday.

On Saturday, an entertaining meeting saw Comets hold a slim lead for most of the night before Campton's withdrawal and a shock 5-1 from Diamonds guest Harris and Steve Worrall in heat 13 levelled the scores and Workington were eventually held at 45-45.

A pair of draws kicked off the meeting, with Campton's knock coming in the opening race as he took out Ashley Morris and Sarjeant getting his first win as a Comet in heat two.

But a 5-1 from Williamson and Proctor gave Workington a precious four-point lead and for a long time it looked like they would just about hold on to it.

Sarjeant was wiped out in heat eight and Campton withdrew after his third ride and the Diamonds took advantage, with Comets unable to regain their lead after the visitors moved level.

Cook and Proctor continued to lead the way for Comets with 12 and paid 13 points respectively, while Jorgensen and Williamson provided steady support and Sarjeant had probably his best meeting as a Comet with a much-improved display despite picking up a knock.

SATURDAY

Workington Comets 45

1. Craig Cook – 3, 3, 3, 1, 2 = 12

2. Mason Campton – FX, 1, 2 = 3 WITHDRAWN

3. Ty Proctor – 2*, 3, 2, 3, 1* = 11+2

4. Matt Williamson – 3, 0, 1*, 2 = 6+1

5. Thomas Jorgensen – 2, 3, 3, 0 = 8

6. James Sarjeant – 3, 1*, R, 1, 1* = 6+2

7. Tom Woolley – 0, 0, 0 = 0

Newcastle Diamonds 45

1. Chris Harris – 2, 2, 2, 2*, 3 = 11+1

2. Ashley Morris – 1*, 1*, 3, 1* = 6+3

3. Stuart Robson – 1, 2, 1*, 2 = 6+1

4. Ludvig Lindgren – 0, 1*, 2, 3 = 6+1

5. Steve Worrall – 3, 2, 3, 3, 0 = 11

6. Ben Hopwood – 2, 0, 0, 1* = 3+1

7. Alfie Bowtell – 1*, 1, FX, 0 = 2+1

HEAT BY HEAT

HEAT 1 (RERUN) – Cook, Harris, Morris, Campton (fell excluded) – 63.2, 3-3

HEAT 2 – Sarjeant, Hopwood, Bowtell, Woolley – 64.7, 3-3, 6-6

HEAT 3 – Williamson, Proctor, Robson, Lindgren – 64.4, 5-1, 11-7

HEAT 4 – Worrall, Jorgensen, Bowtell, Woolley – 63.3, 2-4, 13-11

HEAT 5 – Proctor, Harris, Morris, Williamson – 63.1, 3-3, 16-14

HEAT 6 (RERUN) – Cook, Worrall, Campton, Hopwood – 62.5, 4-2, 20-16

HEAT 7 – Jorgensen, Robson, Lindgren, Woolley – 64.4, 3-3, 23-19

HEAT 8 – Morris, Campton, Sarjeant, Bowtell (fell excluded) – Aw., 3-3, 26-22

HEAT 9 – Worrall, Proctor, Williamson, Hopwood – 64, 3-3, 29-25

HEAT 10 – Cook, Lindgren, Robson, Woolley – 64, 3-3, 32-28

HEAT 11 – Jorgensen, Harris, Morris, Sarjeant (retired) – 65.1, 3-3, 35-31

HEAT 12 – Proctor, Robson, Hopwood, Woolley – 65, 3-3, 38-34

HEAT 13 – Worrall, Harris, Cook, Jorgensen – 65.1, 1-5, 39-39

HEAT 14 – Lindgren, Williamson, Sarjeant, Bowtell – 66.3, 3-3, 42-42

HEAT 15 – Harris, Cook, Proctor, Worrall – 64.7, 3-3, 45-45

SUNDAY

Peterborough Panthers 51

1. Jack Holder – 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 1 = 15

2. Bradley Wilson-Dean – 2*, 1, 3, 2* = 8+2

3. Paul Starke – 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 0 = 10

4. Ulrich Ostergaard – 1*, 1*, 1*, 2, R = 5+3

5. Chris Harris R/R

6. Simon Lambert – 3, 1*, 1*, 1*, 2 = 8+3

7. Tom Bacon – 2*, 1, 1, 1* = 5+2

8. Ben Rathbone

Workington Comets 42

1. Craig Cook – 1, 6^, 3, 3, 3 = 16

2. Mason Campton R/R

3. Ty Proctor – 3, 3, FX, 3, 2* = 11+1

4. Matt Williamson – 0, 0, 0, 1, 3 = 4

5. Thomas Jorgensen – 2, 2, 2, 3, 0 = 9

6. Ryan Terry-Daley – 0, 0, 0, 0, R = 0

7. Jake Knight – 1, R, 0, 0, 1 = 2

HEAT BY HEAT

HEAT 1 – Holder, Wilson-Dean, Cook, Terry-Daley – 61, 5-1

HEAT 2 – Lambert, Bacon, Knight, Terry-Daley – 62, 5-1, 10-2

HEAT 3 – Proctor, Starke, Ostergaard, Williamson – 60.5, 3-3, 13-5

HEAT 4 – Holder, Jorgensen, Bacon, Knight – 61.4, 4-2, 17-7

HEAT 5 – Cook (tactical ride), Starke, Ostergaard, Williamson – 60.9. 3-6, 20-13

HEAT 6 (RERUN) – Holder, Jorgensen, Wilson-Dean, Terry-Daley – 61.3, 4-2, 24-15

HEAT 7 – Proctor, Starke, Lambert, Williamson – 62.2, 3-3, 27-18

HEAT 8 – Wilson-Dean, Jorgensen, Bacon, Knight – 62.4, 4-2, 31-20

HEAT 9 – Jorgensen, Starke, Ostergaard, Terry-Daley – 61.7, 3-3, 34-23

HEAT 10 (RERUN) – Holder, Wilson-Dean, Williamson, Proctor (fell excluded) – 63, 5-1, 39-24

HEAT 11 – Cook, Ostergaard, Lambert, Knight – 63.8, 3-3, 42-27

HEAT 12 – Proctor, Starke, Bacon, Terry-Daley (retired) – 65, 3-3, 45-30

HEAT 13 – Cook, Holder, Lambert, Jorgensen – 61.9, 3-3, 48-33

HEAT 14 – Williamson, Lambert, Knight, Ostergaard (retired) – 63.7, 2-4, 50-37

HEAT 15 – Cook, Proctor, Holder, Starke – 62.5, 1-5, 51-42