MAXIMUM man Jay Herne’s swashbuckling performance fired the Bournemouth Buccaneers to victory over the Weymouth Doonan Wildcats last night.

Herne chalked an 18-point haul at the Wessex Bus Raceway to condemn his former club to their first home defeat of the season.

Kyle Newman – another ex-Wildcat – supported the star man superbly with 15 paid 17 as the pair recorded more than half of the visitors’ total points.

Club chairman Phil Bartlett admitted his Wildcats were “beaten by a better team”.

He said: “I think we were beaten by a better team but we had lots of problems in the pits.

“It’s a bit disappointing to lose our home record but fair play to Bournemouth because they are a good team and we give them respect.”

The meeting was billed as an appetiser to Thursday’s National League semi-final first leg at Wimborne Road, which on this evidence promises to be a mouth-watering occasion.

Both sides sought to glean the psychological advantage and Herne underlined his class with victory in heat one.

The Wildcats returned the compliment before Herne made it back-to-back wins in heat three to give the visitors a 14-10 advantage.

Herne showed his superiority in heats five, 11 and 13 before putting the icing on the cake for the Buccaneers in the final heat of the night.