No, it’s not Cradley. No, it’s not the top flight. But the Heathens are back – and the crowds are loving it.

There was a big turnout at Perry Barr last night as the Dudley Heathens launched a new era, and not even a 10-point defeat to an elated American touring side could dim the sense of joy among their followers.

In a see-saw match in which the advantage repeatedly changed hands, supporters found a new talisman in the shape of number one Lee Smart.

Smart won his opening two rides and made a spirited heat 10 pass of Tyson Burmeister to join teammate Ashley Morris at the front for a 5-1, which cut Dudley’s deficit to four points and threatened to wrestle control back to the home side.

But, ultimately, the loss of Ben Taylor to injury after a sickening heat four fall proved too much for Dudley to overcome.

Taylor suffered a high-speed ragdoll crash on the home straight after tangling with veteran Eddie Castro and young gun Austin Novratil, as the two Americans tried to pass him one on either side.

The Dudley man looked unlucky to pick up a disqualification, although the suspected broken scaphoid suffered in the smash will have the greater long-term significance.

The Heathens were allowed to spread his rides among their other team members – only reserves would have been permitted to take the outings in a league fixture – but didn’t have quite the depth required to fend off the enthusiastic American challenge.

That challenge was led by the timeless Eddie Castro, impossibly enthusiastic at 51, and Kenny Ingalls who produced a ride of total commitment in heat 11 to put the first dent in Smart’s scorechart.

Reserve Austin Novratil, just 15 years of age,  took one recce ride to size up the circuit and thereafter dropped a solitary point from his other four outings.

For the home side Richard Franklin had a couple of wins and there were flashes, too, from Jake Anderson and the mechanically stricken Ashley Morris and James Sarjeant.

But in a young team the one to catch the eye was 17-year-old grasstrack convert Tom Perry who has had, by his own reckoning, about an hour in total on a speedway bike. It wasn’t so much his scoring, although paid nine from five starts on your first match of any description is no small achievement.

But Perry has pace, style and a willingness to chase the dirt to the fence. Add the trackcraft that comes from more laps and he may well be one for the future. Fans will hope that the newly risen Heathens are too.

By Tim Hamblin