PLYMOUTH Devils suffered their second consecutive home when they went down 47-43 to Newcastle at the St Boniface Arena after losing to Somerset by the same score a fortnight previously.

But the real success for Plymouth was that the meeting went ahead following the extensive damage to their air fence last weekend.

Team manager Lee Trigger said: “It was brilliant that we managed to make the necessary repairs and replacements to enable us to run the meeting.

“We always knew we would have a tough battle against Newcastle, but we kept things tight throughout the meeting and there were only four points in it at the end.”

Jack Holder and skipper Kyle Newman led the way for the Devils with double figure scores, but Newcastle had the greater overall strength to secure the three away points that will keep alive their hopes of a top two finish.

Plymouth: Jack Holder 12+1 (5 rides), Stefan Nielsen 1+1 (4), Sam Simota 6+1 (4), Todd Kurtz 4+2 (4), Kyle Newman 11+1 (5). Reserves: Steve Boxall 6 (4), Ellis Perks 3+1 (4).

Newcastle: Steve Worrall 6+2 (4), Victor Palovaara 8 (5), Matej Kus 5 (4), Ludvig Lindgren 9+1 (5), Robert Lambert 10 (4). Reserves: Ashley Morris 9+1 (5), Danny Phillips 0 (3).