LEICESTER’S rearguard action to salvage an aggregate point fell short as they were beaten 53-37 at Sheffield on Thursday.
The Watling JCB Lions appeared to have overcome a series of issues at Owlerton when they trailed by just four points with four races remaining.
The aggregate point looked on at that stage, with Lions four points ahead, but the Tigers came up with a strong finish, completing the meeting with two 5-1s and two 4-2s to leave the visitors scoreless on the night.
Already operating rider replacement for Dan Thompson – required to be in Poland but frustratingly not even taking a ride for Lodz in their defeat at Rybnik – what wasn’t anticipated was a night of disaster for vice-captain Kyle Howarth, for so long a Sheffield rider.
Howarth was expected to be a trump card at reserve but everything went wrong for him as he failed to score from four rides – with the Lions grateful for a super showing from Joe Thompson, who underlined his improvement with a double figure score.
Fast-starting Anders Rowe won the opening race for Sheffield, who were covering the seriously injured Jack Holder with rider replacement, and home skipper Josh Pickering snatched third from Drew Kemp heading into the last lap.
Thompson won Heat 2 in fine style but Howarth missed out on the first lap and fell to the back, whilst Leon Flint fought off the attentions of Nick Morris to take Heat 3 and give the Tigers a four-point advantage.
After a shared Heat 4, that lead was doubled in the next race with Chris Holder making the start and Flint making it around the outside to join him, leaving Ryan Douglas on the receiving end of a 5-1.
And Heat 6 proved to be a nightmare for the Lions as first Howarth crashed on the way to the first turn before skipper Sam Masters broke the tapes in the re-run and was disqualified, and Rowe and Holder cashed in with another maximum.
But the Lions then began to get to grips with the meeting, with Douglas taking a tactical substitute ride in Heat 7 and taking the win with the race almost being a 5-1 until Pickering passed Morris on the last lap.
Two shared races followed with Rowe making it three wins as he headed Thompson in Heat 8, and Masters won the next with Howarth retiring from the race to spell the end of his night.
Lions’ comeback gathered pace with a super 5-1 from Masters and Morris over Flint and Rowe in Heat 10, backed up by a win for Douglas as he held off intense pressure from Pickering in the next with Kemp taking third place, and that made it 35-31 with four races to go.
But that was as good as it got for the Lions with a damaging 5-1 recorded by the Tigers in Heat 12 as Jye Etheridge popped up to partner Holder to maximum points and Pickering managed to pull off his passing move on Douglas in Heat 13 for a 4-2.
Lions’ evening was summed up when race leader Morris crashed when clear in Heat 14, although Thompson kept the visitors in with an outside chance of the aggregate point by splitting Flint and Etheridge on the last lap of the re-run.
But they required a 5-1 from the last race to force a Super Heat, and that was out of the question when Douglas suffered mechanical failure on the opening lap, whilst Holder took the win and another party piece from Pickering saw him snatch second from Masters on the last lap.
Masters said: “We did put up a good fight all night, but it’s such a tough place to come.
“They were without Jack who’s one of the best riders in the league, and probably the best rider on this track, so we were looking to capitalise on that, but it didn’t happen and the Sheffield boys put in a good fight without their No.1.
“I don’t know what it was (after the interval), we can’t pinpoint any reason why that happened, but like I said they’re such a good team around here.
“Kyle had a few years here and he had a rough night with a crash too, but Joe stepped up and he rode awesome. We all fought hard and a few more points would have been nice, but it wasn’t meant to be.”
Next up for the Watling JCB Lions is a home clash with Northampton on Thursday (July 2) but before that the Lion Cubs face Buxton at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park on Sunday (3pm).
SHEFFIELD 53: Chris Holder 13+2, Josh Pickering 13+1, Leon Flint 11+1, Anders Rowe 10, Jye Etheridge 5+1, Luke Killeen 1+1, Jack Holder r/r.
LEICESTER 37: Ryan Douglas 11, Joe Thompson 10, Sam Masters 8+1, Nick Morris 6+1, Drew Kemp 2+1, Kyle Howarth 0, Dan Thompson r/r.
Sheffield win the aggregate point
Photo credit: CHARLOTTE FLANIGAN
