KYLE Howarth emerged relatively unscathed from a horror spill at Newport yesterday and then urged struggling Bournemouth to "buck up their ideas" if they are to reach the play-offs.

The defending third-tier champions slumped to their third successive away defeat after Howarth had escaped with just a sore neck when he hit the third bend safety fence hard in heat 11.

Castle Cover Buccaneers' promising 16-year-old reserve had romped to an impressive 10-point haul from his opening four rides and looked set to play a crucial role in their bid to grab their first points on the road this term.

But once Howarth had gone down while languishing in last place, the Dorset side's challenge disintegrated as they conceded a 4-2 and four late 5-1s to Hornets, who gained revenge for a 47-46 defeat at Poole and installed themselves as title favourites.

Howarth, whose stunning first and second corner outside sweep past Tony Atkin and Mark Jones had earned him a spectacular second race win in heat 10, said: "Up until my crash, I thought we could have definitely got a draw or at least one league point.

"Unfortunately, they got a 4-2 in the re-run and our heads went down when really we should have kept them up.

"We had a team talk and our collective spirit went back up, but Newport kept outgating us and it was disappointing to lose by so many."

Howarth, whose side had dug deep to draw level at 24-24 after falling 18-12 behind, added: "I still think we can get into the play-offs.

"We just need to buck up our ideas very quickly. We need to get our heads in gear and focus on the future, not look back at the past.

"I think we can win away because we have run Buxton, Wolves and Newport close up until heats 10, 11, 12 or 13, then let it go.

"If we're down by two or four points at that stage in future, we need to keep gating well and keep our heads high.

"Even if we lose by six or less, at least we would get a league point, and it's those odd away points that can be crucial in the play-off race."

Looking back on his second-lap crash, Howarth said: "I was slowing down on the straight as I couldn't see properly because of the dust coming up off the track.

"I went to turn the bike but hit the blue groove, which straightened me up and pulled me into the fence.

"I did get off the bike, but it all happened so fast. I was lucky it was just a sore neck and not a worse injury.

"It's a pity because I was riding well up until then.

"I was making starts, had a good set up and was enjoying it. But the track was poor, there was hardly any proper racing."

• Poole star Leon Madsen progressed to the 2011 Grand Prix qualifiers' semi-final after hitting silencer problems at Fjelsted on Saturday.

The Dane had to switch mufflers before the start of the quarter-final, but still finished second behind Krzysztof Kasprzak after beating Nicolai Klindt in a run-off when they tied on 11 points.

But Pirates youngster Darcy Ward will only be a reserve in one of the three race-offs on July 3.

He got seven points at Miskolc and had to beat Hungarian Josef Tabaka in a run-off to grab 10th spot.