LEICESTER will celebrate their play-off qualification as well as the club’s NDL title success when they host King’s Lynn in the final regular league match of the season on Thursday (7.30pm).
The Watling JCB Lions will head into the play-offs second in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership table, their best-ever result in a top-flight campaign.
And their victorious Lion Cubs team, who clinched the league title with wins at Sheffield and Oxford last month, will be presented with their trophy and medals during the interval.
Having been beaten 48-42 at King’s Lynn on Monday to end a run of ten matches without defeat, Lions will be keen to get back to winning momentum prior to next week’s semi-final clashes with Ipswich.
Rising Star Sam Hagon is still ruled out after his crash at Poole last weekend, so it’s a return to Lions colours for Joe Thompson who started the season in the senior team and has enjoyed an excellent Championship campaign with Plymouth as well as captaining the Lion Cubs to the NDL crown.
King’s Lynn, who actually appeared in the Lions’ very first Premiership meeting of the season back in March, are unchanged from Monday with the same three guests bolstering their line-up.
Chris Harris, Norick Blodorn and Simon Lambert step in for the Stars once again, and it’s a first visit to the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park for exciting Czech charger Jan Kvech.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “It’s good to have the last league match of the season at home, and we’ll be going out to get all three points.
“We need to win by more than six on the night, and that’s something we are more than capable of doing.
“We still have a lot to race for with the play-offs coming up, so it’s going to be good for us to get back to Leicester in front of our own supporters, hopefully get a win, and that will get the confidence levels up again ahead of a very big week for the club.”
In addition to the NDL title celebrations, a further attraction at Thursday’s meeting will be four additional Blast From The Past races after the main event, featuring the Men In Black.
For those supporters unable to attend, Lions TV will have full coverage of the Leicester v King’s Lynn fixture, with passes available from https://www.leicesterlionstv.com/ .
Lions also remind supporters that the play-off semi-final schedule sees them visit Ipswich next Monday (September 9) before hosting the Witches in the decisive second leg on Thursday September 12.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Craig Cook, Joe Thompson.
KING’S LYNN: Chris Harris, Anders Rowe, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Norick Blodorn, Jan Kvech, Simon Lambert, Lewis Kerr.
