LEICESTER lock horns with Poole in tonight’s mouthwatering cup tie at the Paul Chapman and Sons Arena (7pm).
The Dorset side, who are the most successful club in the modern era, are the only visitors to win at Beaumont Park this season and Watling JCB Lions boss Stewart Dickson wants a first leg lead - by any margin.
He said: “I’m not going into this meeting targeting any lead in particular in terms of points.
“I want us to concentrate first and foremost on winning the meeting, because I feel sometimes you can look too far ahead thinking you want this, you want that, whereas in fact whatever happens here we know the tie will be decided in a tough match at Poole a week on Wednesday.”
A big crowd is expected with Poole using former British Champion Charles Wright to cover for Rory Schlein who has been suffering from Covid.
Leicester welcome back the Thompson twins who missed last night’s draw at Redcar as they raced in the British Under 19 Final at Scunthorpe with Dan finishing runner-up.
Leicester saw victory snatched away from them at the death as honours finished even 45-45 after a thrilling night of racing on Teesside.
The Watling JCB Lions dominated the meeting in the early heats and when Hans Andersen combined with Kyle Howarth to take a 4-2 over Lewis Kerr in heat four, they found themselves in a commanding 16-8 lead.
Howarth firstly combined with Andersen for a 5-1 in heat seven before taking the rider replacement ride for Dan Thompson and repeating the feat with Zaine Kennedy in the eighth to extend the Lions' lead to 30-18.
The Bears hit back in the second half of the meeting and their cause was further helped by an engine failure for Hans Andersen in heat 10 when he was in a scoring position.
The resulting 4-2 closed the gap to eight and left the Bears still in tactical territory with their skipper Charles Wright duly delivering in heat 11, getting the better of Nick Morris who managed to split the Redcar duo and very nearly got his nose in front at one stage of the race.
Redcar's rising star Jordan Jenkins then produced the ride of his life to get the better of Hans Andersen in heat 12 and with Jake Allen judged to have gotten the better of the Dane on the line, the gap was down to two points with only three heats remaining.
Howarth and the ever lively Kennedy combined for a 4-2 in the penultimate heat of the evening before the hearts of the Leicester fans were broken when the fast starting Charles Wright and Lewis Kerr got better of Morris to limit the Lions to only two league points when four looked very likely earlier on in the meeting.
Leicester ace Nick Morris said "The boys battled hard and we shouldn't have let them get back into the meeting but Redcar are a good side.
"I think the referee was inconsistent with the starts tonight and that cost us the meeting really and we should have won.”
REDCAR 45: Charles Wright 17, Lewis Kerr 12+1, Jordan Jenkins 5, Jake Allen 4+1, Michael Palm Toft 3, James Sarjeant 3, Ryan Kinsley 1+1.
LEICESTER 45: Kyle Howarth 12, Nick Morris 10, Zaine Kennedy 9+2, Ryan Douglas 8+1, Hans Andersen 6+1, Greg Blair 0, Dan Thompson r/r.
