A trip to National Trophy holders Mildenhall, fielding an in form side and fresh from two thumping away wins was always going to be tricky for the ‘ring rusty’ SLYDE Kings - to then face far from ideal racing conditions due to a malfunctioning starting gate at the West Row venue in the Suffolk Fens proved to be a step too far and the visitors went down to a 57-33 points reverse.
The action was delayed at a warm West Row whilst the local track staff tried to vain to coax the appropriate up and down action from the starting gate – when that proved fruitless, a fateful decision was made to go all ‘old school’ and regulate starts by means of a strong elastic strap released from the track side on the activation of the green lights off switch controlled by referee Mr Bates in the box. Rather surprisingly despite the undoubtedly more maverick nature of starts using this Heath Robinson method, Mr Bates actually called not a single start as unsatisfactory (a couple a meeting in even the best of circumstances would be regarded as a norm perhaps..) – so it seems discretion was the better part of valour, as the hosting club to their credit did everything they could be get this NT Southern Group match completed despite the electrical/mechanical problems bedevilling them. To be fair, the starting gate situation was of course the same for both teams -though certainly the homesters adapted the better, bringing their good form from their ‘southern tour’ into a much delayed first home match. Three 5-1s in the opening four heats meant that the Fen Tigers were roaring to a lead that was never really any more than chipped away at.
Heat 6 brought the house down with Jack Thomas getting the better of the much improved and currently Mildenhall number one, Josh Bailey – well, getting the better for three and three-quarter laps, the trouble is Speedway races are four full laps long and the former Eastbourne man Bailey dived on the inside of the Kings’ no, 5 to pip him on the line.
Heat 7 saw former Kent favourite now riding for Mildenhall, Danny Ayres take the chequered flag first; his racing partner Drew Kemp’s second place behind him to clinch another 5-1 effectively ended the match as a competition and was for the teenaged newcomer Kemp a remarkable 13th. NT race unbeaten in a row in a week. The run was to end at that though, when Kent skipper Luke Bowen became his side’s second only race winner of the afternoon in heat 11. The first had been Anders Rowe in heat 8 and to his credit, team mate Alex Spooner held off the impressive looking Sam Bebee in that one to give the much-needed respite of a 5-1 of their own. There was a second 5-1 for the visitors in the highlight of the match for Chris Hunt’s charges in heat 13 – Bowen & Thomas getting the better of the home heat leader pairing of Bailey& Ayres.
If it seemed like a mini comeback might reduce the deficit sadly that proved a false dawn as, led by Kemp and maximum man Jordan Jenkins, two more 5-1s took the winning margin to 24 points.
