An extraordinary comeback effort - turning around a 13 point deficit to just two in a three heart late meeting scoring burst - so nearly brought a full reward for a plucky Kent SLYDE Kings side up at Buxton on Sunday (2/8) – the side from Sittingbourne having in the end to settle for just a bonus point.
When a twice rerun heat 10 saw first Danny Ayres excluded after a fall, and then as the heat was staged for a third time of asking, returning former Hitman now very much a King, Ben Basford hit the deck to hand the home side a 5-0 - the Derbyshire outfit led by 13 points. And with just five heats remaining the game seemed well and truly up for the long-travelling Kent septet. A septet that had been reduced to six after just three heats when Jamie Couzins fell at the end of lap two suffering an injury to his finger which saw the doctor withdrawing him from the rest of proceedings. That put great pressure on the two reserves: Adam Sheppard riding Hi Edge for a first ever time and Basford. The latter ended up taking six rides scoring points in all except that unfortunate fall and finishing with a best yet return for his new side: paid seven points.
The comeback began then in heat 11 with skipper Ben Morley donning the black and white helmet colour denoting he was being used under the Tactical Ride facility and therefore on for potential double points. And the Southend-based Kings’ number one maximised that potential indeed, jetting away from his counterpart in the Hitmen side, the hugely-experienced Tony Atkin to take the full six. Significantly Aaron Baseby made it a 7-2 by overtaking David Speight to take third place.
Next up from Ayres, recovering swiftly from the disappointment of that heat 10 tumble (after two steady enough seconds in his first two outings) to record a first win of the meeting, holding off a very spirited effort from the much-improved Ryan Blacklock, the Cumbria was to end with a double figures score for the homesters. As in heat 11 a vital third place point was grabbed – this time by Basford.
James Shanes had started the match steadily if not over-spectacularly - but he was destined to end it in sensational style! First was in partnership with his skipper in the very often pivotal heat 13 pitched up against the Hitmen’s daunting top pairing of Atkin and Liam Carr. Ben was fast out of the traps with Shanes at the back but on the third bend of lap two, the SLYDE Kings’ ‘Boy Wizard of Balance’ delivered a passing manoeuvre frankly only he’s capable of: going between the two Buxton men to join his skipper and with a 5-1 on the board, amazingly 11 points had been made up in just three heats and going into the penultimate race of the City Gearboxes National League [CGNL] match the score was 41-39.
With Morley and Shanes likely to be out again in heat 15 so much hinged then on heat 14 to see if the visiting SLYDE Kings could stay in the hunt. Sadly it wasn’t to be: the Hitmen’s Steve Jones made the gate but Basford and Sheppard were in second and third. Stay like this and they’d be a last heat decider with everything to play for. However Speight went from last to second down the backstraight on the first time round and try as they could the reserve pairing of the Kings couldn’t get past; Sheppard completing a pretty fruitless afternoon by falling on the last bend of lap two.
So with a six point cushion the destiny of the match was decided; but there was still the bonus point (gained by holding a home team to just that margin: six points) to fight for and what a fight was indeed taken to the Hitmen by the now totally dialled-in Shanes in heat 15. Missing the gate, James went around the Buxton skipper Atkin on the third bend of lap one and then Blacklock on the second bend of the next lap to storm to another heat win. Unfortunately Morley fell towards the end but the awarded 3-3 was enough to gain the bonus point, move the SLYDE Kings up the CGNL table and prove a well-deserved return from the pluckiest of away day efforts.
Buxton Hitmen 49 Liam Carr 2 3 3 0 8 Tom Woolley Fx 1 3 2' 6+1 Ryan Blacklock 3 3 Fx 2 2 10 Steven Jones 1 1 2 3 7 Tony Atkin 3 3 2 1 1' 10+1 David Speight 3 1 0 2' 6+1 David Holt 2' 0 0 0 2+1
Kent SLYDE Kings 43 1. Ben Morley 3 2 6! 3 F 14 2. Aaron Baseby 1 0 2 1 4 3. Danny Ayres 2 2 Fx 3 7 4. Jamie Couzins Fx injured 0 5. James Shanes 2 2 3 2' 3 12+1 6. Adam Sheppard 0 0 0 1 F 1 7. Ben Basford 1 1' 1' F 1 1 5+2