A wet SGB Championship play-off final first leg at Lakeside leaves Workington Comets with 10 points to make up in the second leg at Derwent Park tonight in the battle for the league title.

The meeting was abandoned after 13 heats following a spell of heavy rain which left the track waterlogged, but the result – a 44-34 win for Lakeside – stood and another Comets comeback is in order for the decider.

As you would expect from such a high-stakes meeting, it was a nervy encounter with the scores always close and the hosts were only able to edge four points ahead in the first half of the match.

Lakeside did adapt better to the tricky conditions and were able to stretch that to 10 points as they tried to complete the fixture but ultimately weather got the better of them.

It was West Cumbrian Richard Lawson who got the first win of the night, crossing the finish line first for Lakeside ahead of Comets' Rene Bach and Nicolai Klindt after making the best start.

Mason Campton had to ride alone in heat two after Kyle Bickley got in trouble on the third bend and hit the fence to be excluded from the rerun. The Australian had to do it the hard way as the Hammers duo gated on a 5-1 but he squeezed between them to restrict them to a 4-2.

Again a Hammer was quickest away from the tapes in heat three, with Adam Ellis pulling away from Workington guest Tero Aarnio and Rasmus Jensen in a 3-3, then Campton blasted away from Nick Morris in heat four but the Lakeside ace stalked him for a lap before making a move for the win in another shared heat.

A bizarre fifth heat saw Campton take the lead, only to wind up at the back as first Ellis then Rene Bach passed him and Kyle Newman snatched third to pick up a 4-2 for the home side.

Nicolai Klindt was the first visiting rider to grab a win in heat six but it didn't produce a heat advantage as Lawson and Zach Wajtknecht followed him, before Jensen and Aarnio trailed Morris in a 3-3 from the gate in heat seven.

Comets got their second heat winner in heat eight as Jensen turned a home 5-1 into a draw with a clever move, before the Hammers added two more points to their total with a 4-2 in heat nine as Klindt split Ellis and Newman.

Campton was drafted into heat 10 after Aarnio was excluded when his bike gave up at the tapes but he could only get between Lawson and Wajtknecht to ensure Lakeside would add two more points rather than four.

Heat 11 brought another 4-2 for the Hammers, with Morris and Ben Morley gating on a 5-1 but Bach battling between the pair, before a downpour put the meeting in doubt.

A lengthy break ensued, with work on the track and Lawson completing four laps of the track in a bid to prove it was race-worthy, before Comets eventually got proceedings back under way with a 5-1 to stun the home side from Campton and Aarnio.

Heat 13 proved to be the last action of the night and it was the Hammers who had the final say, responding with a 5-1 of their own through Lawson and Morris before the track was deemed to be unfit and the meeting was called off.

Lakeside Hammers 44

1. Richard Lawson – 3, 2, 3, 2* = 10+1

2. Zach Wajtknecht – 0, 1*, 2, 1 = 4+1

3. Adam Ellis – 3, 3, 3, R = 9

4. Kyle Newman – 0, 1, 1 = 2

5. Nick Morris – 3, 3, 3, 3 = 12

6. Ben Morley – 3, 0, 1, 1 = 5

7. Alfie Bowtell – 1, 0, 1* = 2+1

Workington Comets 34

1. Rene Bach – 2, 2, 2, R = 6

2. Dan Bewley R/R

3. Tero Aarnio – 2, 1*, 2* = 5+2

4. Rasmus Jensen – 1*, 2, 3, 0 = 6+1

5. Nicolai Klindt – 1*, 1*, 3, 2, 1 = 8+2

6. Kyle Bickley – FX, 0, R, 0 = 0

7. Mason Campton – 2, 2, 0, 0, 2, 3 = 9

HEAT 1 – Lawson, Bach, Klindt, Wajtknecht – 58.8, 3-3

HEAT 2 (RERUN) – Morley, Campton, Bowtell, Bickley (fell excluded) – 59.5, 4-2, 7-5

HEAT 3 – Ellis, Aarnio, Jensen, Newman – 58.9, 3-3, 10-8

HEAT 4 – Morris, Campton, Klindt, Bowtell – 58.5, 3-3, 13-11

HEAT 5 – Ellis, Bach, Newman, Campton – 58.8, 4-2, 17-13

HEAT 6 – Klindt, Lawson, Wajtknect, Bickley – 59.2, 3-3, 20-16

HEAT 7 – Morris, Jensen, Aarnio, Morley – 59, 3-3, 23-19

HEAT 8 (RERUN) – Jensen, Wajtknecht, Bowtell, Campton – 59.6, 3-3, 26-22

HEAT 9 – Ellis, Klindt, Newman, Bickley (retired) – 59, 4-2, 30-24

HEAT 10 – Lawson, Campton, Wajtknecht, Jensen – 59.9, 4-2, 34-26

HEAT 11 – Morris, Bach, Morley, Bickley – 58.3, 4-2, 38-28

HEAT 12 – Campton, Aarnio, Morley, Ellis (retired) – 63.8, 1-5, 39-33

HEAT 13 – Morris, Lawson, Klindt, Bach (retired) – 62.8, 5-1, 44-34