LEICESTER overcame a powerful early-meeting offensive by Plymouth to take a vital 50-40 victory at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Saturday.
The Watling JCB Lions were one of the hardest hit by Eastbourne’s withdrawal from the SGB Championship and needed a big result against the Gladiators.
They responded with a solid performance from top to bottom, with captain Kyle Howarth leading by example and topping the scorecharts with 11+1.
Zaine Kennedy notched an impressive paid 10 from five rides while Dan Thompson added a feather to his cap after besting three-time world champ Jason Crump in Heat 10.
Club No.1 Hans Andersen also made it into double figures, dropping just one point from his four programmed rides to finish his night on 11.
Andersen said: “The situation with Eastbourne has hit us quite hard because we’ve lost seven league points as a result of their withdrawing from the league.
“So it was very important for us to win tonight. I was surprised by how hard Plymouth were pushing us, and it’s always tough going up against the likes of Crump and Lawson.
“But our boys enjoy riding this track and we had some excellent races, particularly in the second half of the meeting; some of the younger lads really came into their own.
“This was a big win for us in more respects than one, and oving forward we need to be picking up points everywhere to keep the pressure on the other clubs in the top six.”
Leicester welcome the British Youth Championships to the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Bank Holiday Monday (4pm), before heading to Scunthorpe on Friday, August 3.
And next Saturday, September 4 it’s a battle of fifth and sixth in the Championship as Glasgow make the journey to Leicester.
LEICESTER 50: Kyle Howarth 11+1, Hans Andersen 11, Zaine Kennedy 9+1, Rory Schlein 7+1, Dan Thompson 5+2, Ryan Douglas 5+1, Joe Thompson 2+1.
PLYMOUTH 40: Richard Lawson 16, Jason Crump 9, Dillon Ruml 7+2, Josh Pickering 7+1, Alfie Bowtell 1, Zane Keleher 0, Zach Cook 0
