BOSS Dale Allitt was left to count the cost of a sloppy start as King’s Lynn fell just short in a 49-41 defeat at Wolverhampton.
The Tru Plant Stars finished within one score of a second Premiership point on the road this season as Rory Schlein completed a five-ride full maximum to grab a share of the spoils in heat 15.
A disastrous start saw King’s Lynn trail by eight after the first two heats and Niels-Kristian Iversen’s heat-six fall saw him fall foul of the new rule that made Michael Palm-Toft go back 15 metres in the re-run.
Then a Stars 5-1 went up in smoke when second-placed Lewis Kerr got passed by Ashley Morris who pinned his rival to allow Kyle Howarth up the inside for a shared heat eight.
Tactical substitute and top scorer Robert Lambert gave Allitt’s men hope by leading a 5-1 in heat 12, his third heat win, but after conceding a 4-2 in the next race two shared heats ended hope of precious yield.
“It is a hard place to come, everyone knows that but we will make no excuses," said Allitt.
“We started abysmally in the first two heats and then fought back well but there was always that feeling we would not have enough.
“There were a couple of mistakes, we had a 5-1 which we blew but we won’t point any fingers because we are a team.
“It was damn close and that was what was so frustrating. One more point and we would have gone home with something for our efforts.
“We put on a good show and when you look at the early-season results, no one has got close to Wolves round here and we did.
“There were a lot of plus points, it was just so disappointing having got so close.”
Stars have the chance to bounce back on Wednesday at home to reigning Premiership champions Swindon (7.30).
KING’S LYNN 41: Robert Lambert 14+1, Ty Proctor 7+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, Thomas Jorgensen 4+2, Michael Palm Toft 4, Lewis Kerr 3+2, Kasper Andersen 3+1.
