FOXES 48 LEICESTER 42

NORTHAMPTON Foxes are celebrating their first victory after a dramatic comeback triumph to defeat Leicester 48-42 at the Shaleway on Thursday.

The Foxes battled back from six points down to take the lead for the first time with two races remaining, and they then saw things home in a tense finale in front of another bumper crowd.

There was a spectacular debut from Niels-Kristian Iversen, who won each of his opening three rides, whilst No.1 Jaimon Lidsey put in a top-class display in what was an all-round team effort with every rider playing a part.

And when the Foxes recorded back-to-back 5-1s in Heats 12 and 13 to turn the scores from 31-35 to 41-37, the atmosphere both in the pits and trackside from the supporters was electric.

It was the visitors who had the better of the early stages with Ryan Douglas smashing the track record in Heat 1, and his 5-1 with Lewis Kerr was backed up by Drew Kemp and Sam Masters in Heat 4.

Foxes’ sole success came from Iversen with a strong first bend to win Heat 3, although they were somewhat unfortunate in Heat 2 when Kye Thomson overtook Kemp for the lead only for the race to be stopped just before the start of lap three after Dan Gilkes had come to grief. As so often is the case in speedway, Kemp won the re-run for the visitors.

Trailing 9-15 after four races, Northampton showed plenty of resolve to remain in contention, and they clawed a couple of points back when Douglas fell going into the first bend of Heat 5 and was disqualified.

There was a pleasing run of race wins for the Foxes with Lidsey moving inside Kemp to take Heat 6 whilst Thomson superbly squeezed around the outside to hit the front in the next, followed by a morale-boosting success for Troy Batchelor in Heat 8.

Foxes levelled in the next race as Iversen made it three wins out of three whilst new signing Jonas Jeppesen did enough to keep Lions skipper Masters at bay.

But after a shared Heat 10, all the work looked like being for nothing when Douglas and Kerr shot either side of Klindt in Heat 11, with Thomson for once missing out, as Leicester re-established a four point lead.

Heat 12 produced high drama with Lions duo Kemp and Nick Morris gating on a 5-1 – but just after Thomson had split the pairing, Morris went too wide off the fourth bend, clipped the fence and slewed across the track onto the infield – and to make things even better for the Foxes, Jeppesen squeezed his way inside Kemp to make it a 5-1 to Northampton.

Momentum was suddenly within the Foxes and skipper Klindt then came up with his best ride at the Shaleway, making an electric start to Heat 13 and being joined by Lidsey as Douglas and Masters missed out for the Lions.

That took Northampton to the brink of victory, but they were made to wait for their success as Kyle Howarth defended strongly from Thomson in Heat 14 to take the match into a decider, with the visitors needing a 5-1 to draw.

With Douglas hitting the front in Heat 15, the pressure was on Lidsey to maintain second place to secure the Foxes’ win overall – but on lap two, the pressure was eased as Douglas struck mechanical trouble and retired, meaning Lidsey took the win with Iversen third to the delight of the home crowd.

Team manager Chris Adams said: “I’m really pleased. It was a great team effort, and tonight proved what we can do as a team.

“Every race counts, and you have to keep picking away at those points. We had ten race wins, only six last places, and it all adds up at the end of the night.

“It’s easy to chalk someone off the board, especially with Kye going well at reserve, and I could have taken Nicolai out of Heat 13.

“But sometimes you have to put your trust in your riders and Nicolai showed what he could do when he popped out of the start and won it.”

The Foxes are on the road next Thursday as they visit Ipswich in another ROWE Motor Oil Premiership encounter, with the next action at the Shaleway seeing the return of King’s Lynn in league action on Thursday June 4.

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1
NORTHAMPTON 48: Jaimon Lidsey 12+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 11+1 Kye Thomson 10, Jonas Jeppesen 5+1, Nicolai Klindt 5, Troy Batchelor 3, Sam Hagon 2+1.
LEICESTER 42: Lewis Kerr 11+1, Drew Kemp 11, Kyle Howarth 6+1, Ryan Douglas 5+1, Nick Morris 5+1, Sam Masters 4+2, Dan Gilkes 0.
Leicester win the aggregate point

Photo credit: STEVE DIXON