KING'S Lynn's injury and illness problems caught up with them in a frustrating last gasp 46-44 defeat at the hands of Somerset.
Dale Allitt's men went into the meeting without illness victim Thomas Jorgensen and No.1 Niels-Kristian Iversen, but still looked to have enough in the tank to see off the Rebels.
Aussie aces Jack Holder and World Champion Jason Doyle had other ideas, however - and they inspired the Oaktree Arena side to a shock result.
Lewis Kerr once again proved to be a trump card at reserve with skipper Robert Lambert in the points to continue his stunning run of form for the Tru Plant Stars.
World Champion Doyle revelled on the fast Adrian Flux Arena circuit and opened the night with a comfortable win.
Kerr handed Tru Plant Stars the lead in the second race ahead with a tapes to chequered flag win and with colleague Kasper Andersen third it put them 7-5 up.
But Stars had to dig deep in Heat 4 when Richard Lawson was tough to beat. After four laps of pulsating racing Lambert edged out Lawson with Kerr third to level the match.
The home side edged ahead again two races later when Michael Palm Toft kept his cool to pass Lawson on the inside with guest Sam Masters third.
And by the half-way stage Stars were 26-22 up after Kerr win from the gate and Palm Toft having to settle for third behind Jake Allen.
Lambert edged out Lawson in a Heat 9 thriller to put Lynn six-up but when Jack Holder won the next and Charles Wright rounded up Palm Toft for a Rebels 4-2 the score was 32-28.
In his next race GB ace Lambert made a clever switch to pass Doyle with Lawson in third place but more importantly Lynn stayed four-points up with only two heats remaining.
And when Kerr fell in the penultimate race leaving Proctor as the sole Star the pressure was on. Somerset duly notched a 4-2 to go within two and put a last heat decider on the table.
Holder, brother of ex-Star Chris, joined forces with Doyle for a late 5-1 to break the hearts of Stars fans.
Stars’ boss Dale Allitt said: “It was a very disappointing end to what was a hard meeting. We were so close to winning the meeting in heat 14 but no excuses; I said all along that Somerset would be difficult as they proved.
“Somerset have some good riders, they have a world champion and they don’t grow on trees, Jack Holder rides our track very well and other riders that don’t traditionally ride Lynn well, had a good night.
“Rider replacement wasn’t a big problem for us tonight because we got eight points from those rides. We certainly suffered at no.1, though, with only five points and that hurt us.
“It's massively frustrating having races pulled back but I don’t know what to say because there is nothing you can say to the referees, they make their decisions and never change their mind.”
KING’S LYNN 44: Robert Lambert 15, Lewis Kerr 12, Michael Palm Toft 6+1, Ty Proctor 5+1, Sam Masters 5, Kasper Andersen 1, Thomas Jorgensen r/r.
SOMERSET 46: Jack Holder 13+1, Jason Doyle 12, Richard Lawson 7+1, Charles Wright 6+2, Jake Allen 5, Bradley Wilson-Dean 3, Ryan Kinsley 0.
