BELLE VUE 53 FOXES 37

NORTHAMPTON Foxes were beaten 53-37 at Belle Vue on Monday lunchtime with an injury to Matej Zagar proving pivotal to the meeting.

Foxes led by four points after five races in Manchester, but Zagar crashed out in Heat 7 and was withdrawn with an ankle problem as the home side turned things around to take the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership points.

For the visitors, No.1 Jaimon Lidsey was in great form on his old home track, whilst skipper Nicolai Klindt and guest Jye Etheridge also took race wins.

Foxes made a hugely encouraging start to proceedings, as Lidsey showed his track knowledge with a superb ride in Heat 1 to hold off the challenge of World No.2 Brady Kurtz.

Kye Thomson hit the front in Heat 2 but had to be content with second place as Tate Zischke surged through on the second lap, leaving the scores level – but two Foxes 4-2s followed to give them the early advantage.

Zagar and guest Jye Etheridge held a 5-1 situation for much of Heat 3 before Zach Cook steamed inside Zagar at the start of the last lap, before Klindt took the scalp of World No.3 Dan Bewley in the next, with Thomson in third place.

Lidsey made it two out two in Heat 5, this time ahead of Cook, and at that stage it was 17-13 to Northampton – but the meeting then swung in the next two races.

First Kurtz made the gate on Klindt in Heat 6 enabling Norick Blodorn to go around the outside, and the home captain then held off Klindt’s attempts to split he pairing as the Aces took the first 5-1.

Worse was to follow in Heat 7 when Zagar, who had ridden a strong second turn to get the Foxes into a 3-3 position, lifted and fell spectacularly on turn four, with home duo Bewley and Zischke racing to a 5-1 in the re-run.

The home side moved six points up with a 4-2 in Heat 8 was Luke Harrison lost out to Will Cairns in a ding-dong scrap for third place, and that meant boss Chris Adams introduced Lidsey into Heat 9 for a tactical substitute outing.

However, it was home guest Leon Flint who produced a fine effort to lead on the first lap, and he then repelled the efforts of Lidsey to come through as the Foxes had to be content to a 3-3.

The lead increased to ten points with another Belle Vue 5-1 from Kurtz and Blodorn in Heat 10, with the absence of Zagar proving crucial, and Bewley then took Heat 11 with a remarkable move down the inside to frustrate Lidsey’s attempts to team-ride with Troy Batchelor.

Foxes kept battling away, and Klindt and Thomson came up with fast starts in Heat 12 to secure a 5-1 and narrow the gap back to six points.

But they suffered further misfortune in Heat 13 when Klindt rode a great race to split the Belle Vue top two and was fending off Bewley until the last bend when he appeared to suffer a puncture allowing the home rider through for a 5-1 to effectively clinch the match.

Etheridge just held on for second place in Heat 14 under threat from Zischke, but the efforts of Lidsey and Klindt proved in vain in Heat 15 as Bewley spectacularly made it around the outside to join Kurtz for a final 5-1.

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP
BELLE VUE 53: Brady Kurtz 13+1, Dan Bewley 12+2, Norick Blodorn 8+1, Zach Cook 7, Tate Zischke 6+1, Leon Flint 5+1, Will Cairns 2.
NORTHAMPTON 37: Jaimon Lidsey 11, Nicolai Klindt 9+1, Jye Etheridge 6, Kye Thomson 5+1,Troy Batchelor 5+1, Matej Zagar 1, Luke Harrison 0.

Photo credit: IAN CHARLES