Buxton faced the Champions of 98 the St Austell Gulls which contained three current Premier League riders. The Hitmen were forced to change their line up as Jamie Young was still out injured and had hoped to bring in Lee Smethills but Belle Vue refused permission. As a late change, last year's captain Phil Pickering agreed to ride at number 5.

The Hitmen took a maximum Heat win in the first race as Neil Painter led all the way but partner Mark Steel started at the back. Gary Lobb made a mess of the fourth turn to let Richard Ford and Steel through and then Steel passed Ford for second. Adam Allott followed his skipper's lead with a win in Heat 2 and James Mann passed both Gull's reserves, outside Prynne then inside Newman, to give the home team a 10-2 lead.
St Austell hit back with a little help in the next as Swindon's Seemond Stephens took a comfortable win but the Hitmen looked to have the minor placings sorted until Paul Burnett slowed with bike trouble and caused his partner Aiden Collins to go wide and Martin Williams slipped through for a Gull's 5-1. The scores were level after Heat 4 as Wayne Barrett and Newman beat Allott with Pickering pulling up on the first lap with an engine failure.
With rain falling, the Hitmen looked like continuing the run of 5-1's as Burnett and Collins led from Lobb and Ford until Burnett fell on the first turn of lap 3. He remounted and picked up a point when Lobb fell on the last lap while second. The next three races were all drawn and after 8 Heats, the Hitmen led 25-23.
Heat 9 saw some activity as Jason Prynne led from the Buxton pair of Burnett and Collins. Burnett passed the Gull's reserve and Collins then went passed on the outside as they entered the third turn of the last lap. Prynne fell and Barrett was unable to avoid his partners bike and went head over heels as he hit it. Fortunately, they both walked away without injury. The 5-1 gave Buxton a 6 point lead but this was reduced in the next race as the Gulls scored a 4-2 through Stephens and Williams over Painter and Steel.
The Gulls seemed to be on the way to levelling the match in Heat 12 as ex-Elite League rider Stephens and Newman led but first Mann and then Burnett passed Newman for a drawn heat. In Heat 13, the Exeter pair of Lobb and Barrett won easily to bring the scores to 39-39. The Hitmen needed Mann and Collins to gain an advantage in the penultimate race and they did with Mann leading all the way and Collins passed Newman for third. St Austell were still slight favourites as Painter and Mann were put out against Stephens and Barrett. Stephens won but Mann managed to split the Gulls and Painter trailed in last resulting in the match being drawn. James Mann then challenged the unbeaten Stephens for the Bronze helmet but couldn't catch the Premier League rider after he made the better start.