The Kent SLYDE Kings got back to winning ways with a much-needed, hard-earned City Gearboxes National League [CGNL] victory against Mildenhall on Monday (3/8).
Having produced encouraging but scantly-rewarded performances on a busy away-day weekend at Eastbourne (bowing out of the Speedway National Cup at the semi-final stage, despite holding the Eagles to a 10 points gap, one of the best visiting performances of the season seen at the Sussex club’s Arlington home) and at Buxton (where a valuable CGNL bonus point was gained on Sunday), it was all set up for a good home performance against the Suffolk-based Fen Tigers and so it proved.
Jamie Couzins was so unfortunate to miss out having hurt his finger up at Buxton and finding his withdrawal from that meeting resulting in him being ruled out for a statutory further seven days – but the move of Aaron Baseby to the no. 2 berth proved to be hugely influential. The Sevenoaks speedster was an inspiration in his favoured no 2 race jacket in 2014 and his return to this racing position provided much needed solidity in particularly in the up to now awfully troublesome heat 8 and then Baseby proved an ace card in heat 14 as well – for Aaron it was a personal triumph against his former side.
The match started in text-book fashion for the homesters in front of another good sized crowd at their Sittingbourne Dog Track home in Murston: four consecutive 4-2s – a level of consistency not enjoyed before in the last several weeks of a difficult campaign.
The returning Adam Sheppard’s win in heat two was especially notable – seeing off Nick Laurence with debutant Macauley Leek unfortunately ‘Home Alone’ in the pits due to bike gremlins. For Sheppard it was an opening salvo in a season’s best seven points haul – the trier from Surrey producing an assertive and at points admirably aggressive display, proving that his spell away from the heat of the CGNL to regroup and refocus has reaped the hoped-for benefits.
The Kent skipper Ben Morley has surely never looked this imperious - swatting away the considerable talent of the reigning National League Riders Champion Dan Halsey no less, in a superb from the back effort in heat one, the Southend-based racer was never again headed as he strode to as emphatic a full 15 points five ride maximum as one could ever hope to see.
James Shanes again showed how fast he can be, the European Championship runner-up was the only rider to break the minute mark and when his machine failed him in heat 13, he amazed the Central Park faithful by dismounting and running a full lap pushing home his stricken machine to grab one point for himself but the match win for his side! Danny Ayres meanwhile recorded a dazzling three heat wins before an unfortunate fall in his final outing.
The weekend’s bonus point at Buxton had lifted the SLYDE-backed Kings to 8th. in the table and this victory over a side now very much in the Sittingbourne-based side’s sights saw them rise up to 5th. just below the Fen Tigers in the divisional standings.
Next up is the visit of the Buxton Hitmen to Central Park, next Monday (10/8) – 6.30pm start-time with further progress up the league rankings very much on the agenda.