An absolute Speedway classic this one – as the Kent CTA Fire Kings and the King’s Lynn Young Stars locked horns in a battle royal!
8-7 in heat winners to the home side; five each in terms of heat advantages gained (with five heats drawn); and never at any stage through 15 white hot heats of racing action, more than two points separating the sides, there can be no wonder that the match ended a draw; and that both sides’ managements agreed sportingly that parity was unquestionably a just outcome.
This meeting, held under much appreciated blue skies as summer finally seemed to be ushered in at a well-attended Central Park, was for National League points; and on this evidence the contest for the vital points to put one of several contenders into the top four (with the Sittingbourne-based side and their visitors from Norfolk chief protagonists in the ongoing battle) is going to go right to the wire.
The home side were without their in-form skipper Simon Lambert, but in a bold move, entrusted his rides to his team mates rather than going for the arguably safer option of a ‘guest’. The ‘Rider Replacement’ facility meant all four in the CTA Fire Kings’ main body of the team got an extra ride: and with news at the start that stricken heat leader Benji Compton has been signed off as fit to resume action from next weekend, one sensed an extra level of determination from all the Kent riders, mindful that one is certain, as things stand, to make way for the returning Compton.
The match began for the Kent septet with two heat wins from different sources, each notable though in their own way. In two weeks of going out in the opening race as a National League number one, Ben Morley had yet to register a winning start - so there was relief in his camp and among the crowd that a monkey was off the Harlow-based youngster’s back with a win in heat one: not least as the very useful Lewis Rose for the visiting Young Stars was the rider left in Essex boy Morley’s wake.
Still more satisfaction for management and crowd at the outcome of heat two. Danny Ayres’ bike failed to make if off the grid and bearing in mind his racing partner Jason Garrad’s inexperience and pointless return of last week, the rider from Oxfordshire’s solo presence in the reserves’ race seemed ominous for the CTA Fire Kings’ faithful. But a minute later the crowd rose as one to acknowledge first-ever National League points and three of them at that, as former motocrosser Garrad showed a level of assurance which belied his inexperience to maintain the home side’s two point advantage. A two point lead was to be a feature of this match, as over the intervening six races the two sides traded 4-2s with leads being gained, pulled back, lost and regained in a fascinating ding-dong affair.
And the racing was equally compelling, with stand-in skipper David Mason and man of the meeting, the visitor’s Sussex-born racer Marc Owen in particular, relishing the heat of the battle taking on each other in three quick-fire races that’ll long stay in the memory. Heat three saw guest (back just a short seven days after helping his parent club Stoke to victory) Chris Widman sweep to three points for the visitors but the attention was on the plucky Owen’s efforts to get past a typically dogged Mason. The Kent man prevailed then, as he did two heats later but not for the want of Owen trying: the two were locked together for three of the four laps and separated by the proverbial hair's breadth at the line in a race never bettered in a year and a half of Speedway action at the UK’s newest track. Heat 7 saw the two in battle again and this time Owen out gated the veteran Mason: halfway through and the scores were level, at 21-21.
Enter Aaron Baseby for a vital race win in heat eight: a statement of intent that the Sevenoaks rider wants to stake his claim to remain in the side on Compton’s impending return.
The lead was held for two more heats despite Morley’s uncharacteristic lapse at the tapes – moving early and being judged rather harshly to be guilty of a starting infringement, paying the penalty with a damaging 15 metres handicap. Rose inflicting revenge on Morley in heat 11 restored parity, before the resurgent Mason (in his best form for a decade arguably) pushed Kent that two points ahead again in heat 12.
So with two heats left, the score was 40-38 but with all three of the visitors’ big guns, the hugely impressive Owen and their top two Rose and Cockle likely to figure in the final two races the lead looked vulnerable to put it mildly. Much depended on Luke Chessell finally stepping up and his race win in heat 14 over Owen was as vital as Baseby’s over Widman’s had been six races earlier: for both the team and the individuals concerned.
So a shared heat in the nominated riders’ race would be enough for a famous victory for the home side but high drama in the first running of heat 15, as Cockle (preferred rather surprisingly to Owen in the decider) stormed under Mason. The normally oh-so steady Mason, who’d proven already impervious to all efforts to get past him in previous races, hit the dust and the referee’s controversial decision was to exclude the CTA Fire Kings’ captain from the rerun. Now it was all down to Morley but Rose proved a real thorn in his side taking the chequered flag and with Cockle, much to the chagrin of the home supporters, limping home for the one point, the scores were tied up at 45 each.
Team boss John Sampford recovering his breath was philosophical about the outcome,
“You don’t want to do anything else other than win at home but in the end I must admit it was a fair result. It was more than anything though, a quite outstanding meeting and a terrific advert for National League Speedway. A draw was certainly better than a defeat and it showed again the quality of the top six in this league, I’m sure there will be plenty more close encounters before the season is out. Speedway is a sport of fine margins and we certainly saw tonight. If David hadn’t come off in Heat 15 with James Cockle having machinery problems in the race we could well have won. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw David fall, he is one of the steadiest riders in the league. As for Ben’s tape exclusion in Heat 10, the referee had warned all the riders before the meeting that he was going to be strict on the starts. He did warn a few riders throughout the meeting so I wasn’t surprised by the decision given against Ben.”
Still one final instalment of excitement the crowd though, as Morley came up against the plucky Owen in the battle for the Match Race Championship dubbed the Bronze Helmet. Morley gated; Owen tried everything he could to get past but the 20-year-old Kent number one secured the win – the famous skid-lid trophy being presented by Kentish Speedway legend Dave Jessup on the centre green.
Away matches at Stoke and Mildenhall follow, with the latter the next home opposition next Monday (7/7) – on a day when the country is concentrating on two-wheeled action of a different kind, that battle with the Suffolk based side in the National Trophy is poised to be a Tour De Force in its own right. The match has much to live up to after this one!
KENT 45: Ben Morley 14+1, David Mason 12, Aaron Baseby 9, Luke Chessell 5+1, Jason Garrad 3, Danny Ayres 2, Simon Lambert R/R.
KING’SLYNN 45: Marc Owen 11, James Cockle 10+1, Lewis Rose 10, Scott Campos 7+1, Chris Widman 6, Josh Bailey 1+1, Darren Mallett R/R.
National League points: Kent 1 King’s Lynn 2
BRONZE HELMET MATCH RACE Ben Morley (Kent) beat Marc Owen (King’s Lynn)