DUDLEY Heathens will launch an official complaint following the controversial end to last night’s National League Grand Final.

The former Cradley club are unhappy with events surrounding the crucial exclusion of their skipper Adam Roynon following his crash with Stefan Nielsen in the final heat of the second leg at King’s Lynn.

Mildenhall co-promoter Chris Louis entered the referee’s box, which is against the rules, before referee Dave Robinson made the decision which effectively ended the Heathens’ hopes as they lost the title by a single point.

Speaking to the News today, Louis admitted he had entered the box but said he only did so to view a video of the incident, which was located in the adjacent room.

He denied having a conversation with Robinson about the crash.

Louis said: “A lot was made of this last night.

“There had been a long delay and I was not sure why so I went to look at the video.

“To do that I had to go through the referee’s room, I went straight through and watched the replay.

“The referee made it clear to me there would not be a decision until the track was clear.

“There was no conversation about the crash.”

Louis conceded there had been some “confusion” in the Mildenhall pit prior to him entering the box but denied the team had received an initial phone call from the referee saying Nielsen would be excluded.

But the Heathens say they have witnesses who saw Louis discussing the crash extensively with Robinson, before the decision was announced and are set to lodge a complaint with the Speedway Control Bureau (SCB).

The Heathens went into the final heat needing at least a 4-2 take the title.

Roynon and Ashley Morris made the perfect start and the crash occured near the end of lap one as Nielsen tried to pass between them.

The decision to exclude Roynon, which came after a near 15 minute delay, meant Dudley could at best score a 3-3 and handed Mildenhall a 54-39 win on the night.

They took the tie 91-90 on aggregate.