LEICESTER suffered their first defeat in eleven ROWE Motor Oil Premiership match when they went down 48-42 at resurgent King’s Lynn on Monday.
The Watling JCB Lions had won convincingly at the Adrian Flux Arena a month ago but the Stars have been on a good run since then, and they added Leicester to their recent list of scalps.
The meeting went down to a last-heat decider with the Lions two points adrift after a 5-1 in Heat 14, but it was Lynn who took the max in the finale as Jan Kvech and Niels-Kristian Iversen raced clear of Max Fricke and Richard Lawson.
The result ends the Lions’ hopes of finishing top of the table but they still have much to go for over the coming meetings, and it should not have an undue effect on confidence.
Leicester did in fact race into an early lead despite a last place for skipper Fricke in Heat 1, as visiting riders win each of the first four races.
Sam Masters held of Norick Blodorn in Heat 3 with Luke Becker third for a 4-2, and that result was matched by Ryan Douglas and Craig Cook in Heat 4 as they were split by Jan Kvech.
Youngster Max James, called up due to Sam Hagon’s injury, crashed out of Heat 6 and when home guest Chris Harris reeled in and passed Douglas it was the start a hat-trick of Stars 4-2s with Simon Lambert snatching third place from Masters in Heat 7 whilst Lewis Kerr made a strong move on Richard Lawson to win Heat 8 and put the hosts ahead.
Lynn then took a big 5-1 in Heat 10 from Harris and Anders Rowe to go six points up, but Lawson and Fricke hit back immediately with maximum points over Kvech in Heat 11.
A close contest continued with Iversen working his way to the front of Heat 12 whilst Kerr supplied third place for a 4-2, and the hosts took another 4-2 from Heat 13 as Kvech defeated Fricke with Harris taking third from Douglas.
With the Lions six points down they took the opportunity to bring in Fricke for a tactical substitute ride in Heat 14, and this had the desired effect as he teamed up with Becker for a 5-1 to make it 43-41 with one race to go.
But the Stars had gate choice for the last race and after a re-start with Iversen receiving a warning, the Dane and Kvech made fast starts in the re-run and the Lions’ hopes were essentially dashed from that point on.
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “There are no complaints from me, they just rode better than us on the night and they deserved their win.
“Our big run was always going to come to an end sometime, and we just need to try and start again and get another run going, but we’re not too despondent.
“I thought we put up a good effort, but they were just that bit better. They’ve taken some good scalps at home and compared to the last time we were there you could see they were riding with a lot more confidence, so fair play to them.
“I did think we’d got back into it with the tactical in Heat 14, but the choice of gates for Heat 15 was always going to be of paramount importance. They popped out and unfortunately as soon as that happened I said to myself that was probably it for tonight.
“I went around the boys and patted them on the back because what a run they’ve been on, and one defeat doesn’t make us a bad team.
“We just need to bounce back on Thursday and get a win in front of our home fans to get the confidence levels flowing again.”
Lions round off their regular league programme with the return fixture against the Stars at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park on Thursday, with 49 points required for the aggregate point to go into the play-offs on a high.
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2
KING’S LYNN 48: Jan Kvech 12, Niels-Kristian Iversen 10+1, Chris Harris 8+1, Lewis Kerr 7, Anders Rowe 6+1, Norick Blodorn 3+1, Simon Lambert 2+1.
LEICESTER 42: Max Fricke 10+1, Richard Lawson 9+1, Ryan Douglas 8, Sam Masters 6, Luke Becker 5+1, Craig Cook 4, Max James 0.
Photo credit: DEREK LEADER
