LEICESTER go for National League glory when they finally visit Kent in the second leg of the Grand Final tonight (Monday, 6.30pm).
The trip to Central Park has twice been postponed due to the weather as the clubs look to resolve the destination of the title – with the Roger Webster Lion Cubs holding a comfortable 28-point lead from the first leg.
That means 32 points on the night will be enough for them to emulate their senior counterparts and secure league success, and it would also complete an incredible hat-trick for No.1 Ellis Perks, who has already been part of Premiership and Championship-winning teams in 2019.
And it would also be the first half of a hoped-for double for the Lion Cubs, who then visit Belle Vue on Tuesday in the second leg of the KO Cup Final.
Hosts Kent have suffered a blow ahead of Monday’s re-staging, with No.1 Anders Rowe absent due to a pre-booked family holiday.
The Kings will operate rider-replacement with all members of their team entitled to an extra ride to cover for Rowe.
The Lion Cubs also have the r/r facility in place of Luke Ruddick once again, and it has been claimed by their opponents that the Cubs “extracted an advantage” from Ruddick’s absence from the team in the first leg.
Statistics from that meeting, however, do not bear out that comment as seven points were accrued from Ruddick’s rides – the closest total possible to his 6.67 average.
The reality was that the Cubs were sensational in the first leg on their way to a 59-31 win, and now need to avoid any slip-ups in the return to bring a second league title back to the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena.
Manager Dave Howard said: “It’s certainly more of a lead than we thought we’d get from the first leg, but as we always say, you’ve got to do the job at the other end.
“We’ll treat Monday night like we do every meeting, and we will go there thinking we want to win on the night.
“So we’ll treat it as a one-off and hopefully we’ll get the right result at the end.”
KENT: Anders Rowe R/R, Jordan Jenkins, Dan Gilkes, Robert Ledwith, Drew Kemp, Alex Spooner, Jake Mulford.
LEICESTER: Ellis Perks, Luke Ruddick R/R, Joe Thompson, Dan Thompson, Danyon Hume, Josh Embleton, Ryan Terry-Daley.
