Jay Herne and James Brundle ended up in Poole Hospital after both Buccaneers had horror crashes in a 49-38 home play-off defeat against Newport last night.

Herne, riding only his third meeting since coming back from long-term back injury, complained of pain in his neck and back after losing control of his bike on the third bend.

There was a 40-minute delay while medics attended to the Aussie, who hit the fence after falling on his own trying to sweep outside Hornets guest Ashley Birks in heat 10.

Herne, who was excluded, was placed on a spinal board and taken to hospital as a precaution, said Bournemouth Castle Cover boss Garry May.

Brundle fell on his own as he powered into the first turn in race 15 and was hit in the back by Mark Baseby’s bike after he was unable to avoid his stricken team-mate.

Buccaneers’ heat leader screamed out in pain, his horrific shrieks clearly heard by spectators.

Brundle was excluded. Then the meeting was abandoned with the score after 14 races standing because the 10pm meeting curfew could not be met.

May said: “It was almost exactly the same as Chris Harris’ crash on Monday at Poole when he was struck by Lewis Bridger, except this time Mark couldn’t avoid hitting James.

“He was complaining about pain in his neck, lower back and left leg.

“I’m not sure how bad the injuries are, but I don’t think Jay or James will ride again this season.”

May confirmed Buccaneers had ridden under protest after claiming Newport shouldn’t have been able to use guests Birks and Aaron Baseby.

“Hornets should only have used a three-point rider for their unfit number eight and rider replacement,” said May.

If his written protest is upheld by the National League management committee, Birks and Baseby’s combined score of 15 could be deducted and Bournemouth declared 38-34 winners.

Buccaneers 38: 1 Jay Herne (3-2-fell exc) 5, 2 Rider replacement for James Sarjeant, 3 Kyle Howarth (0-1*-2-3-2) 8+1, 4 Mark Baseby (3-2-2*-6^) 13+1, 5 James Brundle (3-3-2-1^) 9, 6 Danny Stoneman (1-1-0-1-0-0) 3, 7 Nick Laurence (0-0-0-ret-0-0) 0, 8 Luke Wiltshire dnr. Team managers: Garry May and Neil Vatcher.

Newport 49: 1 Todd Kurtz (2-3-3-2*) 10+1, 2 James White-Williams (0-0-3-1) 4, 3 (guest) Ashley Birks (2-2-3-3) 10, 4 Luke Priest (1*-1*-2*-2) 6+3, 5 Tony Atkin (1*-3-1-3) 8+1, 6 (guest) Aaron Baseby (3-1-0-1) 5, 7 Tom Young (2*-2-1-1*) 6+2. Team manager: Kevin Brown.

Referee: Phil Griffin.

Ht 1: Herne, Kurtz, Stoneman, White-Williams, 60.55 (4-2).

Ht 2: A Baseby, Young, Stoneman, Laurence, 62.12 (5-7).

Ht 3: (re-run) M Baseby, Birks, Priest, Howarth, 60.78 (8-10).

Ht 4: Brundle, Young, Atkin, Laurence, 61.17 (11-13).

Ht 5: Kurtz, M Baseby, Howarth, White-Williams, 61.35 (14-16).

Ht 6: Atkin, Herne, A Baseby, Laurence, 62.81 (16-20).

Ht 7: (re-run) Brundle, Birks, Priest, Laurence (retired), 61.74 (19-23).

Ht 8: White-Williams, Howarth, Young, Stoneman, 63.42 (21-27).

Ht 9: Howarth, M Baseby, Atkin, A Baseby, 62.74 (26-28).

Ht 10: (re-run) Birks, Priest, Stoneman, Herne (fell excluded), 63.05 (27-33).

Ht 11: Kurtz, Brundle, White-Williams, Laurence, 61.69 (29-37).

Ht 12: Birks, Howarth, A Baseby, Stoneman, 63.55 (31-41).

Ht 13: Atkin, Kurtz, Brundle^ (tactical rider), Laurence, 63.10 (32-46).

Ht 14: M Baseby^ (tactical rider, double points), Priest, Young, Stoneman, 62.70 (38-49).