LEICESTER have retained the Premiership Knockout Cup after a 50-40 win over Ipswich gave them a 95-85 aggregate triumph.
The Watling JCB Lions because the first team in well over a decade to take the trophy in two successive seasons, finishing the job in front of a large and vociferous home crowd at the Hydroscand Arena on Thursday.
Their opponents certainly put up a strong fight, and whilst the Lions always led the meeting they were not able to celebrate overall victory until the penultimate race of the meeting.
But it was a strong all-round team showing from the six-man home side, all of whom had their moments and made crucial contributions to the success.
With the scores level heading into the second leg, Lions made the perfect start with a 5-1 over a powerful Ipswich pairing in Heat 1 as Dan Thompson moved inside Tom Brennan coming off the second bend and was quickly followed through by Ryan Douglas.
Both Ipswich riders were on the floor in the first staging of Heat 2 before being invited back for the re-run, where Drew Kemp was relegated to the back from the inside gate but Joe Thompson rode a fine first lap to get around Kevin Juhl Pedersen and ensure a 3-3.
The visitors made good starts in Heat 3 but Nick Morris used the outside on turn four to split Scott Nicholls and Richard Lawson, whilst a very fast Tobiasz Musielak won a shared Heat 4 as Lions skipper Sam Masters quickly rounded Jason Edwards to follow Joe Thompson home.
Lions led by two points and looked certain to extend it to six when Kemp and Morris held a 5-1 position for much of Heat 5, only for disaster to strike on the last bend when Morris went too wide, clipped the fence and came down enabling Danny King and Brennan to salvage a fortunate 3-3.
Musielak then got the better of Douglas in Heat 6 with Dan Thompson moving inside Juhl Pedersen on the first lap for another shared race, but the Lions did get the maximum advantage they had been threatening in Heat 7 as Kemp and Masters hit the front with the Lions captain holding off the early challenge of Nicholls and a later one from Lawson.
That made it 24-18 and after an early interval to allow the sun to set, Leicester extended their grip on the Cup Final, firstly with a 4-2 in a re-started Heat 8 after Edwards fell on his own on turn one and was disqualified. The re-run saw Dan Thompson establish himself ahead of King early on, with brother Joe unchallenged in third.
Heat 9 saw Morris become the first man to defeat Musielak as the Pole was squeezed out going into the first bend, and although he did manage to pass Kemp at the end of the first lap, it was Morris who held on for the remainder of the race.
Douglas took a commanding win in Heat 10 although Dan Thompson was relegated to the back, but a dramatic Heat 11 saw the Lions move to the brink of aggregate victory as Masters held a hard-charging King at bay – and then when King switched his attack to the outside, Kemp superbly spotted an opportunity to move inside the Ipswich captain for a 5-1 which put Leicester 14-points up.
A 4-2 in Heat 12 would have sealed matters but the Witches fashioned a comeback as Lawson led and Juhl Pedersen overcame Joe Thompson in a battle which saw them exchange places several times before the Dane held on for a 5-1.
With the gap at ten points, Leicester again needed a 4-2 in Heat 13 and they held it in the early stages with Masters in front, only for Musielak to superbly work his way through on the exit of turn four. Masters then experienced mechanical trouble and dropped to the back, whilst the late charge of Douglas to catch Musielak saw him miss out by just 0.06s, and there was still a job to do.
Ipswich required a somewhat unlikely two 5-1s from the last two races to set up a Super Heat decider, but it was all over in Heat 14 as Morris and Kemp hit the front from the start, and although the very lively Juhl Pedersen pulled off a good pass on Kemp to split the home riders, it was nowhere near enough for the Witches as the Lions’ celebrations began.
Having missed out twice to Musielak, Douglas gained revenge with a dominant victory in Heat 15 as the Ipswich riders went either side of Masters into the third bend, but this was academic in the overall context of the tie.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “It was a good team performance. Everyone contributed, which was good, and we covered for Kyle (Howarth) admirably with the rider replacement.
“I would have liked for him to be here as well but I understand the reasons, and a mention for him as well because he contributed to getting us to the Final and raced in the first leg.
“I knew Ipswich were going to make us work for it, and we had to wait a bit later before we won it, but the most important thing is we did do so, and we managed to retain the trophy.
“The atmosphere in the stadium was tremendous, and it’s nights like this that are the reason why I’m here.
“Our trophy return is something I promised the Leicester fans when I first came here in 2019, and maybe it was a bit bold to say I would bring trophies to his club, but we have continued to do so.
“We’ll enjoy the night, but then we’ve got to make sure we are in the league play-offs. We need to cement our place there and see if we can go one step further than in the last two years, which we know is going to be tough.”
With major silverware in the bag for a second season running, the Lions now turn their attention back to their play-off bid in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, with their next meeting being a trip to league leaders Belle Vue on Monday.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL, 2nd leg
LEICESTER 50: Ryan Douglas 12+1, Drew Kemp 10+1, Nick Morris 8, Dan Thompson 7+1, Joe Thompson 7, Sam Masters 6+2, Kyle Howarth r/r.
IPSWICH 40: Tobiasz Musielak 13, Richard Lawson 7+2, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 6+1, Danny King 5, Scott Nicholls 5, Tom Brennan 3+1, Jason Edwards 1+1.
Leicester win 95-85 on aggregate
