Team Isle of Man’s Matthew Bostock was pipped to a bronze medal in Saturday evening’s Commonwealth Games 10k Scratch Race at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

The Glen Vine man was beaten to third by England’s Ethan Vernon after a final-straight dash that also included silver medallist Thomas Cornish (Australia) and victor Henry Hobbs from England.

In a dramatic contest on the boards, Lewis Askey of the host nation fired the final into life with a strong attack as soon as the neutral opening lap had been completed, and was soon joined by other riders to form a five-man breakaway.

The quintet put pressure on the main peloton, threatening to pull clear and possibly gain a decisive lap on the rest of the field, but gradually the gap narrowed before Bocky ramped up the pace of the chasers and dragged the leaders back to ensure it was all back together again with 10 laps to go.

Bocky remained at the head of affairs going into the final six laps but, just when it looked like the peloton had settled for a sprint finish, Swift launched a blistering attack of his own to splinter the field and threaten a breakaway win.

After battling gamely on the front, the 38-year-old Onchan resident was eventually reeled in with only two laps to go to set up a grandstand finale – but the drama was still to come.

With little over 250 metres of racing left, a huge crash left riders scattered across the boards, causing chaos as the field completely splintered.

Thankfully, Bocky was just ahead of the carnage while Swift – dialling down after his previous breakaway attempt – was just behind it and was able to avoid going down.

Ahead of them, the reduced lead group of riders battled for track position and Bostock looked well positioned to challenge for one of the medals.

Bocky, however, just couldn’t quite hang onto the lead as he was edged out for a medal for the second successive evening having missed out on a bronze in Friday’s individual pursuit.

The pair are back in action on Sunday in the 40km points race.

Follow the team’s progress on this website and on our social platforms, as well as the Isle of Man Examiner, Manx Independent and Isle of Man Courier newspapers.

Media Isle of Man’s Commonwealth Games coverage is brought to you in association with Canaccord Wealth.