Kurri Kurri speedway rider Mason Campton is the hero of Workington after propelling the city's team into the Speedway Great Britain Championships play-off final.
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Campton led the way scoring 16 points from five heat wins and a third place in his seven rides as the Workington Comets overcame a 13-point deficit to score an amazing one-point win over the Glasgow Tigers in the two-leg semi-final.
Tipped by many at the start of the season to claim the wooden spoon, Workington has rode a wave of momentum in the second half of the season to make the play-off series and secured their spot in the final at home.
The big home crowd were in raptures as the Comets scored a 52-38 second leg victory to win 90-89 over the two rounds.
Campton was man of the moment after scoring a vital 11 points in the opening leg and has taken his form from strong to stunning the in past month.
Needing a strong start to get the crowd fired up and cut the deficit as quickly as possible, Campton delivered winning the opening two heats and the fourth as the Comets cut Glasgow’s aggregate lead to five with 3-3, 4-2, 5-1 and 4-2 heat results.
But it was in the penultimate heat with Comets teammate Rasmus Jensen excluded after hitting the fence hard that Campton dug deepest winning the heat to square the result 3-3 and give the Comets an 87-86 aggregate lead going into the final heat.
Tigers guest rider Ricky Wells won but Comets Nicolai Klindt and Ty Proctor followed him across the finish line to seal the victory by one point.
“For a team a lot of people derided at the start of the season, we’ve accidentally been lucky enough to qualify for three finals,” the Comets team manager Tony Jackson told the Workington Times and Star newspaper.
“It was a great fightback and I can’t believe we’re in the final.”
Workington has now qualified for the finals of the three major titles in the Championship League. They meet Lakeside Hammers in the Championship play-off final over two legs and the two-leg final of Championship Shield.
They then face the Scunthorpe Scorpions in Knockout Cup final, which is also staged over two legs.
The Comets qualified for the Knockout Cup final after trailing the Edinburgh Monarchs, featuring Heddon Greta’s Josh Pickering, by 28 points in the first leg.
Both Hunter riders played crucial roles for their teams and will be part of a huge summer of speedway back in Australia.
The action at Kurri Kurri Speedway club starts on Boxing Day with the Jason Crump Invitational and includes the final leg of the Australian solo titles on January 12.