SHEFFIELD co-boss David Hoggart was encouraged by the performances of his lower order despite a heavy 62-33 defeat against Workington.

Having lost No.1 Simon Stead in the opening race of the night, Jake Knight and Damien Koppe were also forced to take extra rides on their first visit to the venue.

And although they only carded scores of two and three respectively, Hoggart was pleased with their contributions along with exciting Argentinian Facundo Albin.

He said: "It was a heavy defeat but given the circumstances it was still a relatively promising performance, so all of my optimism about our side remains intact.

"We took three riders there who had never seen the track before in Jake Knight, Damien Koppe and Facundo Albin so it was a new experience for each of them.

“Jake had a couple of good rides and I ended up having to give him more rides than I would have liked after he blew his best engine in his second ride.

"Damien (Koppe) struggled to get used to the track a little at first but he got better as the night wore on, and he probably showed a lot more promise tonight that he has in the last couple of weeks.

“Facundo got better and better as the meeting went on and gave the opposition a hard time, especially in his later rides. Even though he didn't get too many points he was right in the mix. “

WORKINGTON 62: Rene Bach 14+1, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Richard Lawson 9+1, Rusty Harrison 9, Tero Aarnio 8+2, Chris Mills 7+1, Ashley Morris 6+3.

SHEFFIELD 33: Ricky Wells 14, Richard Hall 8+1, Joe Haines 4+1, Damien Koppe 3, Jake Knight 2, Facundo Albin 2, Simon Stead 0.