LEICESTER extended their unbeaten run to six matches with a 48-42 win over Birmingham to also consolidate their position in the top four of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Watling JCB Lions had to fend off a battling display from the league’s bottom club, who never fell more than ten points down throughout the meeting and have clearly improved over recent weeks.
And it took a spectacular first lap burst from Luke Becker in Heat 14 to secure the victory and prevent the match from going into a nervous last heat decider.
Sam Masters was top scorer as the Lions’ top five all struck solid points, the Australian winning four of his five rides, whilst skipper Max Fricke would have had more but for an unfortunate engine failure.
Fricke did have to give best to opposing skipper Fredrik Lindgren in Heat 1, and with Michael Palm Toft taking the reserves’ race it took until Heat 3 for the Lions to hit the front.
That race saw an excellent first lap from Masters and then Becker to move inside Wiktor Lampart who had made the best start from the inside.
Lions extended their lead to four points in Heat 5 with Becker defeating Lindgren, whilst Masters snatched third place from Zach Cook with an outside move off the final bend.
And the home side appeared to be in control when Fricke and Richard Lawson both flew inside Tom Brennan on the exit of turn two in Heat 6 for their second 5-1 of the night.
Ryan Douglas added a second win for himself in the next, but Palm Toft headed up a 4-2 to the Brummies in Heat 8 leaving the scores at 27-21 at the halfway stage.
The visitors tracked their strongest pairing in Heat 9 with Lindgren taking a tactical substitute ride, but Masters again rode superbly to edge out first Lindgren and then Brennan, with Becker briefly coming through into third place before being re-passed by Lindgren.
Fricke won Heat 10 with Lawson passing Lampart for third, extending the lead to eight, but still the Brummies would not go away as Brennan defeated Douglas in Heat 11 with Lindgren passing Lions guest Lewis Kerr for third.
Kerr, however, came up with a brilliant cut-back from the outside in Heat 12 to join Masters for a 5-1 over Palm Toft and Lampart which appeared to have all-but secured the match.
Lions led by ten but Fricke was forced to come from the back to split Lindgren and Brennan in Heat 13, and then disaster struck on lap three when he hit mechanical trouble, with the Brummies’ 5-1 making it 42-36.
Another advantage to the visitors in Heat 14 would really have ramped up the tension, and from the gate it looked promising for the visitors – but Becker turned on the power to steam inside Leon Flint and Cook into bend three, and that confirmed the Leicester victory.
But Heat 15 was still a cracker as the Brummies once again paired Lindgren and Brennan, who had a great scrap with Becker on the opening lap, only for Masters to come through and take the lead, with Becker then just missing out on third place as he chased the visitors’ pairing to the flag.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “I did say in the build-up that I expected a tough meeting. A lot of people were expecting a 20-point win, but never were we going to beat that Birmingham team by 20 points tonight.
“We won, and for me that’s the most important thing. I’d said to Luke Becker before Heat 14, ‘I do not want a last heat decider,’ especially with what happened in Heat 13.
“They gave us a good meeting, they rode well, but we got the job done, and sometimes after you get a big win in any sport like we did at King’s Lynn, the next meeting can be an awkward one.
“We would have liked a slightly bigger lead, but without being blasé about it we will go to Birmingham looking to win anyway, and I think that will be another close contest.”
Lions visit Perry Barr for the return on Monday, which is one of two matches they still have in hand on Oxford, and they now lead the Spires by three points in the race for the play-offs.
LEICESTER 48: Sam Masters 13, Ryan Douglas 9, Luke Becker 8+1, Max Fricke 7+1, Richard Lawson 7+1, Lewis Kerr 4+1, Sam Hagon 0.
BIRMINGHAM 42: Fredrik Lindgren 11+2, Tom Brennan 11+2, Michael Palm Toft 7, Leon Flint 6, Zach Cook 4+2, Wiktor Lampart 3, Piotr Pawlicki r/r.
