The duck was broken at last for the Kent CTA Fire Kings in last night's challenge victory 58-35 over Rye House Raiders much to the delight of the loyal Kings supporters celebrating like their team had won the league!
The Kings top three piled on the points with skipper Boxall securing his first four ride maximum for the Kent club backed up with solid returns from Ben Morley who did well to get up from a head on collision with the fallen Halsey in Heat 3 which left him with a dead leg to score 13, while Benji Compton posted a solid 11+2 contribution.
Adam Kirby was again in the thick of the points with 7+3 for his efforts with Sam Woods recalled to the team after missing just two meetings since being released to make way for Mark Baldock. Baldock crashed heavily at Mildenhall on Sunday afternoon breaking a collarbone which is set to rule him out for around six weeks and Woods much to the supporters delight returned with a heat 2 victory and finished his evenings work with a much improved 6+1.
Points from all the Kings riders contributed to their first win, Connor Coles 3 points being the lowest score on the night which is much improved after recent results. Liam Rumsey drafted into the number two position weighed in with 6 while the visitors managed by Kings co-promoter Len Silver relied heavily on James Sarjeant 12, Simon Lambert 9 and Shane Hazelden 8, apart from that they had little back up especially with Daniel Halsey suffering a night to forget quickly, 3 points, two falls and an exclusion.
Heat 12 it was all wrapped up for the Kings after Halsey fell following a wild dive inside Adam Kirby, Raiders hopes disappeared as both of Len Silvers attempts to pull the Raiders back into contention with tactical rides failing, Woods held Sarjeant back until the final bend of Heat 9 with Compton out pacing Lambert in Heat 11.
Boxall and Compton combined for a 5-1 in Heat 13 and with the last two heats shared evenly sent the Kings fans home very happy with a winning 58-35 result.
KENT CTA FIRE KINGS 58 1. Steve Boxall (C) 3, 3, 3, 3, = 12 2. Liam Rumsey 1, 1, 3, 1, = 6 3. Ben Morley 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, = 13 4. Connor Coles R, 1, N2, 2, = 3 5. Benji Compton 3, 2, 3, 2', 1', = 11+2 6. Sam Woods 3, 0, 1, 1, 1', = 6+1 7. Adam Kirby 2', 1, 2', 2', = 7+3 Team manager: John Sampford
RYE HOUSE RAIDERS 35 1. Simon Lambert 2, 3, 4^, R, = 9 2. Nick Laurence 0, 0, 0, 0, = 0 3. Daniel Halsey FX, 3, F, X, = 3 4. Shane Hazelden 2, 1, 2, 3, 0, = 8 5. James Sarjeant 2, 2, 4^, 0, 1, 3, = 12 6. Niall Strudwick 0, 0, 0, 1, = 1 7. Danno Verge 1, 0, 1, R, = 2 Team manager: Len Silver REFEREE: Paul Carrington
GATE POSITIONS: Kings won the coin toss and took gates 1 and 3 in heat 1. Raiders took gates 2 and 4 in heat 15.
