When a team starts the evening knowing that the only way one can overhaul the current league leaders is to win ones remaining four matches AND in the process turn around a 28 points difference, there’s no better outcome than to get the first win on the board AND win it by the full 28 point margin in one fell swoop!
And so a lot of satisfaction for sure in the Kent Iwade Garage Royals’ camp at a thumping 59 points to 31 victory over now deposed National League [NL] champions Leicester Lion Cubs on Tuesday evening (12/10) with part one of a mission of four instalments chalked off successfully.
And talking of four – for the rampant hosts there was quartet of riders unbeaten by an opponent and so registering maximums: first time five ride full house man Jake Mulford; record points scorer adding sizeably to his tally, Ben Morley; the NL’s top man in 2021 Dan Gilkes (including recording a super-fast race win time of 57.9 seconds, a mark quicker than many Championship riders have managed this term) ; and best of all, a first ever paid maximum in the NL for club stalwart Alex Spooner – well, an awesome foursome for sure!
Win and win big was the only option after the travails of two weeks ago when the clouds opened to rain (quite literally) on what had hoped to be a parade ride to the NL title - and in perfect track conditions this time there was really nothing disrupting the path to a peerless victory.
Three heat advantages, two of them 5-1 maximums delivered by Morley & Spooner (Alex performing heroics in heat five, chasing down and passing in terrific style at the end of lap three former Kent Kings’ man Danno Verge) in the opening third of the match saw the hosts ahead by 10 points after five races and after heat 10 that lead had nicely progressed to 16.
A good finish to consolidate and hopefully build on these sturdy foundations was needed - and 5-1s by the terrific teens Mulford and Gilkes in heats 13 and 15 did exactly that to cement a victory by, remarkably, exactly the necessary margin to wipe out their conquerors of a fortnight ago, Berwick Bullets’ superior points difference.
And there were significant contributions by the rest of the rampant Royals also. Again 2021 newcomer Josh Warren showed he is improving with every meeting – a battling second place in heat two followed by giving the experienced Verge a real race for his money two heats later.
For Vinnie Foord this was a first outing in the notoriously tricky no, 2 race berth but the 15-year-old showed again that nothing phases him with another excellent showing and was unlucky when he fell when in the points in his final outing. And best of all was Jacob Clouting’s excellent heat eight race victory. With the whole team firing this well there’s real optimism now for the late title run-in.
Of course this is not the end of the story, not by a still long chalk and next Tuesday it’s without doubt the big one when the third party in this tense title race arrive at Central Park, Mildenhall Fen Tigers. The Suffolk side still hold the fate of their title bid in their hands with not just the visit to Kent to come but also another away match against Scottish side Armadale and a victory in West Lothian would settle matters in their favour.
But John Sampford’s Royals know also what they need to do and the match against the three times third tier champions is poised to be an absolute classic. The action is at Central Park, Sittingbourne on Tuesday 19th. October, 6.30pm start time.
