KING’S Lynn’s depleted team put in plenty of effort at Leicester on Thursday but went down to a 53-37 defeat in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Richard Lawson was outstanding on his old home track with three race wins and a sensational effort in Heat 15, whilst stand-in skipper Chris Harris recovered from a slow start to the meeting to hit double figures.
But without three of their regular top six riders, it was always going to be a tough night for the PSH Environmental Stars, who nonetheless fared significantly better than the Lions’ previous opponents Sheffield and Belle Vue around the same circuit.
Stars found themselves eight points down before they put a race win on the board, with Harris relegated to third place in Heat 3 by Kyle Howarth whose move on turn three certainly appeared to involve some contact.
But Lawson and guest Zach Cook pulled off an excellent 5-1 over Sam Masters in Heat 4, and Lawson also took the flag over Ryan Douglas as Howarth in the next.
Two 4-2s for the home side in Heats 6 and 7 saw them go eight points up, before Lawson achieved the notable feat of a win over Grand Prix racer Max Fricke, with the home No.1 unable to find a way his former team-mate in Heat 8.
Lawson seemed all set to win again in Heat 9 when he took a tactical substitute outing, but a fine ride by Douglas saw him slice through on the run to the finish line for a 4-2 to the Lions.
Lynn were then helped by mechanical trouble for Douglas in Heat 10 but hindered when Lawson suffered a spark plug failure when second in Heat 11, and they went into the last three races 12 points down.
Niels-Kristian Iversen was splitting Masters and Fricke in Heat 13, but Fricke dived hard inside him heading into the last lap, with Iversen going into the fence on the first bend.
To the Stars’ frustration, referee Graeme Hunter saw nothing wrong with Fricke’s move and the home side were awarded a 5-1.
They hit maximum points again in Heat 14 through Howarth and an impressive Drew Kemp, but the visitors saved the best for last in an excellent Heat 15.
Harris was out in front and was holding off Masters and Howarth, before Lawson conjured up a brilliant last lap to first of all get the better of Howarth and then make it inside Masters, just stealing second place on the line for a deserved 5-1.
Manager Rob Lyon said: “It was a creditable effort, and without being too defeatist we were trying to be realistic. It was damage limitation, and we had to try and keep it as close as possible.
“I felt we did as good a job as we could, to be fair. There were a couple of unlucky situations with Richad having an engine problem when he was in a good position, and the referee’s call in Heat 13.
“Niels had nowhere to go, Max ran straight through him. The referee said he didn’t touch him, but he doesn’t need to touch him – what’s he supposed to do when he’s coming in at 50mph?
“Generally it wasn’t too bad, the boys tried hard with what we had, and they put on a respectable show. We’ll now be assessing things over the weekend and see what we can put out on Monday.”
After a long run of fixtures on the road, the Stars return to home league action on Monday when Sheffield visit the Adrian Flux Arena.
LEICESTER 53: Max Fricke 13+1, Drew Kemp 10+2, Ryan Douglas 10, Sam Masters 9, Kyle Howarth 8+2, Joe Thompson 3+2, Luke Becker r/r. KING’S LYNN 37: Richard Lawson 14+2, Chris Harris 11, Zach Cook 7+2, Niels-Kristian Iversen 4, Luke Harrison 1, Tobias Thomsen 0, Jan Kvech r/r.
