By Adam Summers - Dorset Echo

Fearless Kyle Newman stole the show as the Weymouth Doonan Wildcats opened up a slender first-leg margin of two points over the Plymouth Devils at a wet Wessex Stadium. The reserve overshadowed Lee Herne's debut by winning four out of his five races in an inspirational performance that grabbed plenty of praise from his team manger Jem Dicken. Weymouth's new signing did show his potential as well in the tough conditions by claiming two wins but there was no doubt that it was Newman's night despite a fall in his final outing.

Dicken said: "Kyle was exceptional. We said during the winter that we felt he would be our trump card this season and he is now proving that. He had a lot of bad luck at the beginning of the campaign with injuries and mechanical gremlins but now he is feeling confident and looking very good. There is no doubt that he has a superb future ahead of him. It was also good that Lee showed what he is made of but overall I am still not happy with the final result even though the conditions were very wet and tricky. To be ten points up with two heats left and then only win by two points is very frustrating. We wanted a 5-1 in that last heat but unfortunately Jay Herne fell off while Lee was leading and because two laps had not been completed the race had to be re-run which was Murphy's Law. That enabled Plymouth to get a maximum themselves and I cannot help but feel a bit deflated after we had done so well in the first 13 heats."

New boy Lee Herne suffered a nervy opening by touching the tapes in heat one and he was replaced by reserve Tim Webster for the re-run, who hit the dirt on lap three after James White-Williams went slightly out of control in front of him. White-Williams fell seconds afterwards but referee Margret Vardy decided to exclude Webster and award the three points to Seemond Stephens, who looked in good shape out in front of Wildcat Brendan Johnson. That was clearly not the start that the hosts were after but they hit back in heat two with a dazzling 5-1 through Newman and Webster, who were a long way out in front when Plymouth's Jamie Pickard went down causing the race to be awarded.

The points were shared in the following heat with the impressive Nicki Glanz leading home Wildcats Luke Priest and Karl Mason in a fast time of 53.8 seconds before Jay Herne then suffered mechanical failure at the start of race four, adding to his brother's woes in heat one. However, Newman was beginning to make the night his own as he took the major scalp of Mark Simmonds to ensure the Wildcats kept their two-point lead. A heavy shower then halted proceedings for 20 minutes but after extensive work on the track and a mountain of sawdust the event eventually got back underway with heat five which Stephens won in a time of 57 seconds. White-Williams came third ensuring the Devils levelled the score while Priest suffered mechanical problems and had to retire.

The next race saw Lee Herne return to the shale and he made up for his earlier mistake by gaining a tapes-to-tapes win over Simmonds, which also saw Johnson come third for a 4-2 for the Wildcats. That was a major boost for the debutant and in the following heat his younger sibling Jay Herne followed suit by capturing victory in a 3-3 ahead of Glanz. Another downpour then ensued but all four riders due to go in heat eight all wanted to continue racing and that proved a good decision for the home side who grabbed a maximum haul through Newman's third win ahead of Johnson.

Mason and Priest then recorded a 4-2 before Lee Herne and Johnson gained a second maximum for the hosts, stretching their lead to 12 points. That caused Plymouth to hand a tactical ride to captain Stevens who duly obliged by capturing his third victory ahead of Jay Herne with White-Williams in third to cut the score to 38-31. The Wildcats needed to answer back immediately and when Brown was excluded for a fall on turn three of heat 12 it gave them the ideal opportunity to do exactly that and Newman came up with the goods to complete his four successive victory. Priest backed him up by coming second, stretching the home side's advantage back up to 11 points.

The following heat saw Weymouth's brothers race off for the first time but unfortunately the home fans did not get to see the spectacle they were after as Lee Herne hit the dirt on turn one and was excluded. That meant it was all down to Jay Herne to split Stephens and Simmonds, which he achieved thanks to mechanical failure for the Devils' skipper. Leading by ten points and looking to increase that advantage, Weymouth decided to draft Newman in for Webster in heat 14 but unfortunately his winning streak came to an abrupt end with a heavy fall on turn three that led to a 5-1 for the visitors in the re-run.

Dicken chose to send out the Hernes in heat 15 and this time it was the younger one who was excluded after lifting much to the frustration of his older brother who was in the lead at the time. That enabled the Devils to record another 5-1 in the re-run setting up what will no doubt be an intriguing second leg at the St Boniface Arena on July 4.