RYE House’s Cobras proved far too strong for Scunthrope Saints on Saturday night.

Lee Strudwick and guest rider Barrie Evans led the way as the Kart Raceway Cobras eventually pulled clear of a game Scunthorpe outfit in an intriguing National League fixture at Rye House.

The home side won the match 54-38 to claim all three points up for grabs.

Strudwick dropped just one point in five starts, while Evans – substituting for Cobras’ No 1 Kyle Hughes who was away in the Potteries with the Silver Ski Rockets – was unbeaten until his final ride.

Joe Jacobs and Marc Owen also played their part on their returns from injury, as did David Mason and Shane Hazelden, despite two falls , as Rye ultimately eased home after things looked tight in the early stages.

A statistic of eight drawn heats sums up the closeness of the meeting, with the Cobras leading by just two points at heat five before striking with four unanswered 5-1s.

Their one major negative came in heat 11, as reserve Tom Stokes fell not once but twice, suffering a suspected dislocated finger.

Two showers in the couple of hours leading up to the meeting left the circuit a little tricky in the early stages, but both teams made light of the conditions to keep the full destination of the match points in doubt until the closing stages.

The visiting Saints played their part in the encounter, belying their current status of not a single away match point with a hard-working display.

Wily veteran Mark Burrows and young prospects Steve Worrall and Ashley Birks were the clear pick of their bunch.

It was Burrows who featured in the race of the night when nominated for double points as at tactical rider in heat 11 with the score at 36-24.

He and partner Adam Wrathall seemed set for the 8-1 that would have brought Scunthorpe right back into contention when the race was stopped due to Stokes’ second spill.

Strudwick promptly made the gate in the re-run, only for a persistent Burrows to work his way past on the third lap.

Partner Wrathall took a tumble on the very last bend to deny himself third place, however, and leave the Saints to be content with a 6-2 advantage from the heat.

But 5-1s from the Cobras pairings of Strudwick and Evans and then Owen and Hazelden in heats 13 and 14 respectively wrapped up the three available match points for Rye.