SPEEDWAY rider Marc Owen suffered a suspected broken ankle as Rye House’s Cobras crashed out of National League Championship play-off contention on Saturday night.

The Kart Raceway Cobras’ hopes of qualification for the National League play-offs came to an end as they became the second Rye House team in one night to fall to Newport opposition, losing 44-37 to the Hornets.

Worse still, they lost Marc Owen with a suspected broken ankle in a frightening heat 14 spill.

The 16-year old, who had only recently returned to the saddle after nearly two months out with a broken collarbone, tangled with the Hornets’ Jamie White-Williams, with the pair heading through the first bend safety fence at high speed.

White-Williams was temporarily knocked unconscious by the impact, and both riders required 25 minutes’ treatment before being helped into waiting ambulances. With both vehicles no longer available at the circuit, referee Phil Griffin had little option but to abandon the match, with the result standing.

The incident marred what had otherwise been an absorbing encounter.

The two teams were stalemated at 24-24 after eight heats, before a visiting surge netted three 5-1s in the space of four races and pushed the Hornets clear.

Ultimately, the Cobras relied too heavily on Kyle Hughes, who reeled off four straight wins but received only erratic support from the rest of the side.

In contrast, all the Hornets enjoyed at least one paid race win, with key contributions coming from Luke Priest and Tom Young.

The victory earned the Welsh side top spot in the National League table at the deadline date for the play-offs, and with it the choice of semi-final opposition.

They will be joined in the final four by Dudley, Buxton and either Plymouth or Bournemouth, who need a match point from today’s (Sunday’s) trip to King’s Lynn to edge out the Devils.

This defeat proved the final straw for the Cobras, who have soldiered through a recent – and seemingly relentless – run of injuries. One small mercy was the return for this fixture of Ben Morley, who had been sidelined for a month with a broken ankle.

Also playing a crucial part has been the loss of four match points following Mildenhall’s demise and the removal of a further three following the SCB’s reversal of their away win at Scunthorpe due to the ineligibility of Tyson Nelson.

The Cobras have two League fixtures remaining after the cut-off date: away at Bournemouth next Sunday (September 19) and at home to Plymouth on Saturday, September 25.