LEICESTER’S sensational National League campaign continued with a 52-38 win at Plymouth on Friday.
The Roger Webster Lion Cubs overcame their injury problems to complete the double over the Gladiators and move back to the top of the table, following Kent’s shock victory at Belle Vue 24-hours earlier.
Top two Ellis Perks and Danyon Hume were again to the fore in another great Cubs team display, whilst Luke Harris proved to be a terrific guest and Ryan Terry-Daley hit double-figures at reserve on his old home track.
The Cubs did suffer an early setback when Hume and Dan Thompson were on the receiving end of a 5-1 in Heat 1 as the Gladiators started well, but the next four races all went the Cubs’ way, with a Perks/Harris maximum in Heat 3 putting the visitors ahead for the first time.
And Thompson pulled off a great Heat 5 win ahead of Nathan Stoneman with Hume in third place to extend the margin to six points.
The Gladiators hit back with a 5-1 in Heat 6, leading to a close contest in the mid-stages with race wins for Terry-Daley and Perks cancelled out by David Wallinger and Ben Wilson.
But a disqualification for Wallinger in Heat 11 enabled Hume and Thompson to rack up another 5-1, and Harris importantly got the better of Wilson for second place in the next when the home No.1 took a tactical substitute ride.
The Cubs then went into overdrive in the closing stages, and although Wilson split Hume and Perks in Heat 13 the 4-2 still regained a six-point lead.
And 5-1s in the last two races put an emphatic gloss on proceedings, as Terry-Daley combined with Harris in Heat 14 and then Hume and Perks did it again in the finale to ensure all four points.
Lion Cubs boss Dave Howard said: “The key was getting out of the gate, and we had a chat beforehand about doing that, stick to the inside going into the bends and go wide coming out, and that just worked for us.
“It was another really good all-round team performance, and whilst it was quite close for a time we pulled away and it was really pleasing to get all four points again.
“I had to make a lot of calls to get Luke Harris in as a guest, but that turned out to be a great thing because he did really well with paid-12.
“The key to making the play-offs is the four-point away wins and now we’ve got three of them, we’ve got 13 points from four away matches – so obviously that’s a great position to be in with four home matches still to come.
“I’d also say that after coming here before when the meeting was called off before the start, and the reports from last week, the track was really good. It was well prepared, and there were no holes and no issues at all.”
The Cubs’ busy weekend continues at Stoke on Saturday in the KO Cup (7pm) with the return at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Sunday following the Watling JCB Lions’ clash with Sheffield.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PLYMOUTH 38: Ben Wilson 12, Adam Extance 8+2, Nathan Stoneman 7, David Wallinger 5, Richard Andrews 2+1, Adam Sheppard 2, Jamie Bursill 2
LEICESTER 52: Ellis Parks 12+1, Danyon Hume 11, Luke Harris 10+2, Ryan Terry-Daley 10, Dan Thompson 7+2, Ryan MacDonald 2, Joe Thompson r/r
National League points: Plymouth 0 Leicester 4
