TEAM boss Dale Allitt lauded King’s Lynn’s stomach for the fight after recovering from a 10-point deficit to win 49-41 in the SGB Premiership play-off semi-final first leg at Belle Vue.
The Tru Plant Stars made hard work of claiming the box seat ahead of next Monday’s decider at the Adrian Flux Arena.
Ty Proctor clipped the back wheel of Dimitri Berge and was excluded from the re-run of heat seven and the Aces bagged a 5-1 that saw them move 26-16 ahead.
Reserve Michael Palm Toft instigated the turnaround, totalling five wins from seven outings in a bumper 18-paid-19 with top dogs Robert Lambert and Niels-Kristian Iversen coming good when it mattered.
“I think the track grade after heat eight did us a bit of a favour, it gave us that time to adjust things because the surface was slicker than we thought it would be,” said Allitt.
“We had to adapt because we were outmuscled early on but that was certainly not the case in the second half of the meeting. We fought tooth and nail to claw it back bit by bit.
“We have been there before and knew we needed to fight harder in every department, from the starts and from the back. Our first turns had to be harder and they were.
“We have said so many times that this team never knows when it is beaten. When you have that belief instilled in the team it takes an awful lot to break it.”
Allitt also hailed Proctor’s reaction to being pulled out of heat 12 in a reshuffle designed to squeeze the most from the remaining races.
“Credit to Ty, he was a big part of what happened in heat 12,” said Allitt.
“I spoke with him and he said ‘you have to do what you have to do’. That allowed us to put Simon (Lambert) in and use Tofty in heat 14.
“There wasn’t any other option but to do that. Simon and Thomas (Jorgensen) had only had two rides each up to that point.
“We got a bit of fortune in that race with Steve Worrall stopping but sometimes you make your own luck and tactically, heat 14 worked perfectly for us.”
The win gives table-topping King’s Lynn the perfect platform to push for a place in the final but Allitt insists nothing will be taken for granted.
“It is not done by a long shot,” he added.
“We are 15 races in. After seven we were 10 down and pulled it back to lead by eight, they could do exactly the same.
“We will not be complacent. Our ethic all year has been to take it one match at a time and we will fight as hard in heat one back at our place as we did when 10 down halfway through.”
Tempers flared after heat 14 with pushing and shoving at the end of the race but Allitt was philosophical about the flashpoint.
“We’ve kissed and made up with the mechanic, it was all okay in the end,” he said.
“I think it can be summed up in three words – pride, passion and belief.”
HEAT BY HEAT
The Stars shipped a 5-1 to start as home guest David Bellego made the gate before Max Fricke forced his way up the inside of Erik Riss.
Palm Toft hit the front in the reserve race but Simon Lambert could not resist Jye Etheridge’s surge to split the visitors on turn three of the opening lap.
Rohan Tungate led from tapes to flag in the third but Jorgensen’s tenacious pass of Worrall on lap three shared the points.
Etheridge forced wide Simon Lambert which left Bellego at the back but the Frenchman picked off Iversen up the inside during the final lap for heat four.
Robert Lambert then got beaten up in the first corner but recovered to dive up the inside of Tungate who had just got past Riss to claim second behind Worrall.
Fricke then registered by far the quickest time of the night but Iversen and Palm Toft split the Aces before Proctor clipped Berge and fell to leave Belle Vue with a comfortable 5-1 against Jorgensen.
Palm Toft came in for Simon Lambert and won heat eight at a canter to close the gap before leading the ninth with Iversen in support for King’s Lynn’s first maximum of the night.
Fricke surged from back to front in little more than half a lap in a shared 10th and did the same in the next race but the momentum remained with the visitors.
The Stars seized upon a slice of fortune when Worrall packed up at the start with Palm Toft soaring through before Robert Lambert got his first win of the night to level, although all the action took place behind him with Iversen seeing off the spirited charge of Tungate before pushing Fricke all the way
Jorgensen’s forceful charge up the inside saw him hit the front in heat 14 with Palm Toft coming through to lead a 5-1, a feat repeated by the big hitters in some style to cap the monumental comeback.
PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 1st leg BELLE VUE 41: Max Fricke 14+1, Jye Etheridge 9, Steve Worrall 6+1, Rohan Tungate 5, David Bellego 4, Dimitri Berge 3, Craig Cook r/r. KING’S LYNN 49: Michael Palm Toft 18+1, Robert Lambert 10, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7+2, Thomas Jorgensen 4+2, Simon Lambert 4, Erik Riss 3+1, Ty Proctor 3+1.
