THERE was more than one reason for the Somerset Rebels to celebrate as they fought against the odds to produce two stunning victories.

An injury-hit side, without Claus Vissing due to a broken collar bone and Sam Masters because of a wrist injury , travelled to the North-East to face Redcar Bears on Thursday (July 19), before heading back down south for a crunch tie against Newcastle Diamonds a day later.

And, for those hardy fans, the journey was definitely worth it with the Rebels coming away from their first tie victorious by 47-43, ahead of a brilliant comeback to stun the Diamonds 48-45 at the Oak Tree Arena.

If anyone harboured thoughts the Rebels would be there for the taking given their injury misfortunes, those thoughts were dispelled with Edinburgh’s Craig Cook shining as a guest replacement for Vissing in Redcar.

Cook notched up an impressive 15+2, winning heats four, six and nine to take valuable points.

The game went down to the final heat with both sides locked on 42, before up stepped Jason Doyle and Cook to claim the last heat 5-1.

If that result wasn’t impressive enough, the Rebels outdid themselves in their home clash with Newcastle.

With eight heats down and trailing by 11 points, something akin to the Great Escape seemed necessary to salvage a result.

And what was to follow wasn’t too far off, with the Rebels not giving up another heat advantage in the remaining seven, with four of those going to the home side to cap off a dramatic fight-back.