TEAM boss Alex Brady is still daring to dream after King’s Lynn claimed a 46-44 derby victory over a Peterborough side that pushed right to the end.
The Minors and Brady Stars flew out of the traps with three 5-1s in the opening four races and again led by 12 points after seven heats.
But despite a troubled season, veterans Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls showed spirit with some swift starts to grab a series of chequered flags with Ben Basso also weighing in with 11+2 for the injury-hit Panthers.
In truth, the win was never in doubt with King’s Lynn maintaining a six-point cushion with shared races in heats 12, 13 and 14, while there were question marks over whether Harris had missed the two minutes before winning heat nine as a tactical substitute and Stars top scorer Frederik Jakobsen being excluded for a heat 11 fall following a coming together with Basso.
“I spoke to people before the meeting who said it could be a bit of a whitewash but I felt it would be closer than that,” said Brady.
“They have riders who go well here but to be honest, it did end up closer than I expected. There were one or two calls that we did not agree with but credit to the boys, they got it over the line. It was not the winning margin that we wanted but we will take the three points.
“It was one of those where they put a bit of gloss on the scoreline with a couple of 5-1s in the back third of the meeting but a win is a win.
"People might think I am deluded but the play-offs are still on. Wolves losing tonight means maximum points from our final four meetings, and sending them away empty handed, would take it to the wire.
"A lot has to go right, we know that, but these boys will keep fighting and hoping that we can do it – if we don’t get there it will not be due to a lack of trying."
AS IT HAPPENED
Jakobsen led the charge in heat one with Nicolai Klindt forcing his way up the inside of Ben Basso as King’s Lynn started with a maximum.
Scott Nicholls quickly went from third to first in a shared second but Josh Pickering and Richie Worrall doubled the lead from tapes to flag in heat three.
Jason Edwards, who has become a regular in the side during the absence of Jack Thomas, had the home crowd cheering with a terrific second place in heat four, tenaciously holding off Nicholls.
A hefty win looked on the cards at that stage but Harris and Basso got things together to notch a 5-1 over Pickering in heat five and Harris also recovered ground on Worrall from a 15-metre handicap to take third place in heat six after touching the tapes.
Jakobsen combined with Richard Lawson to put the Stars 12 points to the good in heat seven and Thomas, named as number eight as he pushes to come back from two broken wrists, overhauled Alex Spooner for a creditable third in a shared eighth.
Peterborough wouldn’t lie down, though, and old stagers Harris and Nicholls got the better of Pickering for a 5-1 in heat nine.
Klindt neatly passed Nicholls after a lap in heat 10 to extend the lead to 10 points only for Harris and Basso to hit back in the next after Jakobsen’s exclusion.
Three shared heats followed with Pickering passing Nicholls to win heat 12 as the Stars edged towards victory but Klindt’s unbeaten run was ended by a flying Harris, who also held off Lawson in heat 13.
Worrall just missed out to Nicholls in heat 14 but his second place and third for Jakobsen was enough to get the Stars over the line.
That proved to be important with Klindt excluded for colliding into Harris while battling for first in heat 15, Basso then leading a 5-1 over lone ranger Lawson in the re-run.
KING’S LYNN 46: Frederik Jakobsen 10+1, Nicolai Klindt 9+2, Richard Lawson 9+1, Josh Pickering 8, Jason Edwards 5+2, Richie Worrall 4+1, Jack Thomas (no.8) 1+1, Thomas Jorgensen r/r.
PETERBOROUGH 44: Chris Harris 15+2, Scott Nicholls 15+1, Benjamin Basso 11+2, Simon Lambert 3+1, James Wright 0, Alex Spooner 0, Michael Palm Toft r/r.
