SHEFFIELD claimed two league points from their 43-35 home win over King’s Lynn on Monday in a fixture curtailed after 13 races.
After being behind at the half way stage, the Tigers then produced five straight 4-2s to establish their eight point lead before torrential rain hit Owlerton, forcing the clash to be abandoned with two races to go.
The visitors opened with back-to-back 4-2s, the second of which saw King’s Lynn reserve Jordan Jenkins pick himself up from the dirt to win the re-run after Sheffield’s Jye Etheridge caught his leg and brought him down into bend one, lap two of the initial staging.
The Tigers levelled the scores with a 5-1 in Heat Three though; Chris Holder made a textbook start to help him on his way to the chequered flag whilst Leon Flint rode brilliantly to fend off both Chris Harris and Cooper Rushen.
But the visitors soon found themselves back in front with a 4-2 and a 5-1.
Six points adrift, the Tigers immediately responded with a maximum of their own with guest No.1 Jason Doyle and Anders Rowe combining, before the first shared race of the night in the seventh as walking-wounded skipper Josh Pickering picked up his first win.
A second shared race soon followed with Ben Cook eventually finding his way past Sheffield Rising Star Luke Killeen before the Tigers launched the sequence of results which would see them go on to seal the deal.
Firstly, after a last place in his previous outing, Flint returned to form to lead the first 4-2 in Heat Nine, that before Doyle eased clear with Anders Rowe getting past by teenage sensation Cooper Rushen.
The initial staging of Heat 11 saw Etheridge take up a surprise lead, but a hard charging move from Fricke caught out the Tigers’ reserve who was forced to switch has racing line. As he did just that, Cook ploughed into the side of him in a spectacular, acrobatic crash which saw the King’s Lynn man disqualified, much to the anger of the visiting side of the pits.
The re-run saw captain Pickering inspire one of the loudest roars of the season when he reeled in Stars No.1 Fricke to blast around his fellow Aussie on the run to the line.
Step forward Holder and Killeen and then Doyle and Pickering to keep the run going.
Eight points up, King’s Lynn team manager Rob Lyon nominated Fricke as a tactical substitute in Heat 14 – but the rain got increasingly heavier and it was agreed by all parties to call it a night due to worsening weather and track conditions.
Tigers team boss Simon Stead said: “It’s a shame we had to call it when we did because we’d just found our rhythm, we were on a bit of a roll and I fancied us to turn it around and get the aggregate point.
“Unfortunately, the rain got the better of us and we missed out by just two points in the end – but it was the right call.
“Heat 13 had some very experienced riders in Doyley, Picko, Max and Jan Kvech and they all said how it was getting more and more slippy as each lap passed.
“But still, it’s another home win on the board and I think that’s a very good result against a solid King’s Lynn team.
“They’ve already proven their capabilities and liking for our race track when they came and won here last month and they got off to good start which made life a little bit difficult for us to begin with.
“But the lads got stuck in, they kept plugging away and in the end we got the result we wanted and needed because it was important that we didn’t let them gain any ground on us tonight.
“It’s another point extra on King’s Lynn which means we’re now five ahead of them with four regular meetings to go.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done but tonight definitely feels like we’ve taken another step closer to securing yet another top four finish.”
Sheffield are next in action when they travel to Ipswich a week on Thursday (August 27, 7.30pm) with the next Owlerton action on Bank Holiday Monday (August 31, 7.30pm) in the second part of an away/home double against Belle Vue.
SHEFFIELD 43: Jason Doyle 9, Josh Pickering 9, Chris Holder 8, Anders Rowe 6+2, Leon Flint 5+1, Luke Killeen 5, Jye Etheridge 1.
KING’S LYNN 35: Max Fricke 10, Ben Cook 6+1, Jody Scott 6, Cooper Rushen 4, Jan Kvech 4, Jordan Jenkins 3, Chris Harris 2+1.
Abandoned after Heat 13 – rain – Result Stands
King’s Lynn win the aggregate point
