The Kent SLYDE Kings slipped to a Satanic Reverse as they suffered their first league defeat in over a month – doing down in a closely-fought encounter 47-43 to the Plymouth Devils at the St. Boniface Arena on Friday night (19/8).
The four-point defeat saw Jack Thomas’ unbeaten run as captain come to an end - though it could be argued that the Kings could have won but for a number of moments of bad luck. These were George Hunter falling when on a 5-1; the stand-in skipper Thomas twice suffering engine problems when realistically he would have been registering on the scorechart; a fall for Bradley Andrews when in a point scoring place; and an uncharacteristic fall for equal top scorer Ben Hopwood.
The meeting started with a heat advantage to the Devils. Richard Andrews and former Kent King Steve Boxall gated on a 5-1; on bend 4 of lap one Andrews got into trouble at the same time Kings ‘guest’ Ben Morley challenged Boxall. The end result was Andrews dropped to third place with Boxall taking the win ahead of Morley.
The second race saw the Kings level the scores in an eventful heat. The Kiwi Bradley Andrews took the win from the gate but only after team-mate Hunter fell after an encouraging start. The Ongar-based racer remounted and Devils’ reserve Kean Dicken suffered mechanical gremlins gifting Hunter the third place point. It had been an eventful opening of the night for young Dicken who on the parade laps had tried a practice start and looped the bike taking an alarming looking fall.
The scores remained deadlocked when Hopwood became Kent’s first heat winner in Heat 3, before the Devils retook the lead with a 4-2 in the fourth race.
Morley took a win in Heat 5 to keep the scores at just a two point lead in favour of the home side as another former Kent rider, Benji Compton and Henry Atkins took the minor placings.
There were further 4-2 heat advantages for the hosts in Heats 6 and 8 to put them 6 points ahead at 27-21. Heat 8 was a contender for race of the night. Kings reserve Hunter gated first and held the lead from the ever-pressing Richard Andrews. As they charged into the last lap the home rider Andrews finally found a way past the King.
Heat 9 saw the first maximum heat advantage of the match and it went in favour of the Kings’ stand- in captain Thomas and Bradley Andrews taking a convincing win over Henry Atkins. This moved the Kings back to within 2 points of the hosts. But like London buses a second maximum heat advantage followed in Heat 10, this time in favour of their hosts to restore the six-point advantage 33 to 27. The SLYDE-sponsored Kings brought the score back to within four points with a 4-2 in Heat 11: Ben Morley lowering the colours of Adam Roynon for the first time of the evening - the Cumbrian entirely free from the ‘gremlins’ which had so drastically affected his scoring contributions when a double Kings’ Guest in the previous two Kent matches. Heat 12 was the other contender for best race of the night. Hopwood gated and was away; but there was a terrific scrap for second place between Bradley Andrews and Compton. They passed and repassed for a couple of laps before the home rider took the second spot.
A maximum heat advantage from dynamic duo Boxall and Roynon in the crucial Heat 13 left the Kings with an uphill task with the gap suddenly opened up to six points. Hopwood won the 14th and Hunter took a point in which left the Kings needing a 5-1 in the final heat to claim a draw.
In the final showdown the two Bens were left to face the duo of the revitalised Roynon and previously unbeaten Steve Boxall. In the first staging Boxall moved before the ref was ready and a Rerun was ordered – with, crucially, the former NLRC winner given a second chance from the start line. In that Rerun, Morley made the start to complete a memorable stint as Guest for his former club by taking the race win but with the home riders packing the minor places to ensure match victory for the Devils on the night.
The 4-point defeat saw the SLYDE Kings take a league point though which keeps the pressure on the sides in the Play Off places, especially as currently fourth-placed Birmingham suffered a defeat at league leaders Belle Vue.
Plymouth Devils 47 S Boxall 3 3 2’ 2 1’ 11+2 R Andrews 1 1 3 3 8 B Compton 2 2 0 2 6 H Atkins 1’ 1’ 1 0 3+2 A Roynon 3 3 2 3 2 13 K Dicken r 0 0 0 C Walker 2 1 1 0 2 6
Kent SLYDE Kings 43 B Morley 2 3 3 0 3 11 A Rowe 0 0 0 1 1 B Hopwood 3 2 0 3 3 0 11 Nathan Stoneman R/R J Thomas r r 2 3 1 6 B Andrews 3 fx 2’ 1 6+1 G Hunter 1 2 1’ 2 1 1 8+1