KING’S Lynn fell victim to a remarkable turnaround as league leaders Ipswich edged a pulsating local derby 46-44 at Foxhall.
The Witches have pulled off numerous escapes at home this season, but the Minors & Brady Stars will be left wondering just how an eight-point lead after Heat 10 was turned into a two-point defeat.
Even despite the unbeaten Jason Doyle bringing the home side back into contention with a series of race wins, the Stars appeared to have enough to defend with recent signing Frederik Jakobsen racking up the points at reserve – but there was a dramatic twist in the closing stages.
Jakobsen and Richie Worrall both won their opening two rides with the Dane’s victory over Troy Batchelor in Heat 4 putting the Stars ahead for the first time as Richard Lawson supplied third place.
The next two races were shared as the visitors packed in behind Witches winners, but a big move came in Heat 7 when Worrall and Nicolai Klindt took a 5-1, Worrall doing it from the gate whilst Klindt passed Batchelor on the third lap.
And the lead was up to eight points when Thomas Jorgensen won Heat 8 whilst Jason Edwards held on for an excellent third place over Paul Starke.
That margin was maintained in two shared races, although Doyle had to come from the back to defeat Klindt and Worrall in Heat 10.
Doyle then took a tactical substitute outing in the next race and led Stars skipper Josh Pickering, who fell awkwardly on the third lap forcing team-mate Jorgensen into avoiding action.
Pickering had retired from Heat 1 with bike trouble and his tough night continued with a disqualification, and whilst Jorgensen was able to race in the re-run it was Doyle and Batchelor who secured a 5-1 to bring their side back into contest.
As the tension ramped up, the Stars held their four-point lead by sharing Heats 12 and 13, packing in for second and third places behind Danny King and then Doyle, with the latter race seeing Jakobsen replacing Pickering.
But everything changed in Heat 14, where the Stars paired their recent signings Klindt and Jakobsen, and would have been looking to close the meeting out.
However Klindt, although at the start-line, was not ready to race when the two-minute clock expired, and was penalised 15 metres – and then the homes side’s own new arrivals Aaron Summers and Rohan Tungate switched inside Jakobsen on the first lap to bring the scores back level.
That meant the Witches became favourites with Doyle sitting on a full maximum, and he duly completed his 18-point haul in the decider with Tungate re-passing Worrall for third to leave the Stars agonisingly short.
Manager Alex Brady said: “We made some silly mistakes, and we just weren’t good enough on the night, and we have to take that on the chin.
“Josh’s bike wasn’t playing ball in his first couple and then he had a nasty spill in his third ride, which meant he couldn’t go out in Heat 13 which was a big shame.
“Thomas rode his socks off and would have been a good option for Heat 15 but again he was feeling second-hand after the crash with Josh. Richie was our real bright spot tonight, he performed brilliantly along with Fred, Richard Lawson rode his socks off too, and young Jason Edwards got a really important paid second, so he did well.
“Nicolai will be the first to hold his hand up and say he should have been ready in Heat 14, but there were other riders doing similar throughout the night who didn’t get pulled up.
“I just felt there were a lot of inconsistencies from the referee’s box. Nicolai hadn’t realised the clock was running low, and the start marshal did his job in fairness, he called him up. Nicolai missed it, and I have no real gripe with that because he should have been at the tapes.
“But there were other instances during the evening where home riders did the same in my opinion and didn’t get pulled back, hence my views on the inconsistencies that are rife in the sport.
“Overall though it was another case of, we were good - but just not quite good enough.”
PREMIERSHIP IPSWICH 46: Jason Doyle 18, Rohan Tungate 9+2, Aaron Summers 6, Danny King 5, Troy Batchelor 4+1, Danyon Hume 3+1, Paul Starke 1 KING'S LYNN 44: Frederik Jakobsen 13, Richard Lawson 9+1, Richie Worrall 8+2, Thomas Jorgensen 6, Nicolai Klindt 5+1, Jason Edwards 2+1, Josh Pickering 1+1 Premiership points: Ipswich 3 King's Lynn 1
