Battling Bears defeated by Leicester
Redcar’s hopes of a place in the Jubilee League Final were ended after a 51-39 defeat away at Leicester. Redcar battled back after a slow start but ultimately left themselves with too much to do. Nick Morris hit a brilliant paid maximum (11+1) for the hosts whilst Charles Wright top scored with 12 for Redcar.
Redcar’s second meeting in consecutive days started off poorly as the Lions recorded 2 early heat advantages. Nick Morris won heat 1 emphatically with Charles Wright in second and Connor Mountain taking a comfortable third for a home 4-2. Leicester extended their early lead to 6 with a 5-1 courtesy of Max Clegg and Joe Thompson.
Redcar secured their first heat winner in heat 3 as their guest, Justin Sedgemen secured the victory over Richie Worrall. However, Kasper Andersen was at the back which kept Leicester 6 ahead. Leicester’s second 4-2 of the night arrived in heat 4 as Kyle Howarth took a tapes to flag win with Lewis Kerr splitting the Leicester duo to claim second.
The first cracking race of the evening arrived in heat 5 as Jason Edwards and Dan Thompson battled it out for third with Richie Worrall winning the race from Wright in second. Edwards and Thompson both exchanged passes throughout the first 2 laps but Edwards held on for third and therefore a share of the spoils. Leicester, especially strong around their home circuit extended their lead to 10 with a heat six 4-2 as Nick Morris showed why he is one of the top riders in the league with another win, Morris was followed by Kerr in second and Mountain (who passed Kyle Bickley in the early stages) in third.
Leicester extended their lead to 14 points as Howarth and Clegg combined to keep both Andersen and Sedgemen at the back to put Leicester in total control of the Jubilee League encounter. Nevertheless, Redcar fought back with a fantastic heat 8 5-1 courtesy of Jordan Jenkins and Jason Edwards who both rode well to hold off Clegg.
With Redcar securing their first heat advantage, Gavin Parr used his tactical substitute in the form of Wright. In the early knockings of heat 9, it looked like Redcar were set to reduce the arrears to 6 but Kerr hit the deck whilst battling with Dan Thompson which meant Redcar could not gain a heat advantage despite Wright winning the race. Redcar’s mini resurgence was ended emphatically in heat 11 as Leicester hit their 3rd maximum heat advantage courtesy of Mountain and Morris.
Despite Jubilee League points looking unlikely, Redcar continued to battle away and shared heat 11 with Wright and Edwards (who passed Clegg on the opening lap) packing in behind Howarth for a 3-3. Any lingering hopes of away success were ended in heat 12 as Leicester hit a 5-1 with Worrall winning and Joe Thompson in second.
Morris completed his paid maximum with yet another win in heat 13 but Howarth’s unbeaten run was ended as Wright and Kerr packed the minor places for the 5th shared race of the match. Kasper Andersen came to the party in an entertaining heat 14 as Jenkins stormed from 4th to 2nd to join the Dane at the front for a Redcar 5-1.
Redcar secured another heat advantage in the final race of the night as Kerr beat Worrall with Wright taking third ahead of Joe Thompson who was a late replacement after Kyle Howarth touched the tapes in the original staging.
Redcar’s interim team boss, Gavin Parr was enthused by his side’s efforts overall after a sluggish start, “I cannot fault the boys for their effort this evening, the team had a slow start to the meeting but we fought hard throughout and gave Leicester a match.”
Parr was also impressed with Jordan Jenkins who hit form in the second half of the meeting, “Jordan was chasing set-ups for the first half of the meeting but in the second half of the meeting, he found the right set-up and rode really well. He can be a 6/7 point man in this league.”
Leicester Lions = 51
1. Nick Morris = 11+1 (Paid Maximum)
2. Connor Mountain = 6
3. Richie Worrall = 11+1
4. Dan Thompson = 4+1
5. Kyle Howarth = 9
6. Max Clegg = 4+2
7. Joe Thompson = 6+1
Redcar Bears = 39
1. Charles Wright = 12
2. Jason Edwards = 5+2
3. Justin Sedgmen (G) = 5
4. Kasper Andersen = 4
5. Lewis Kerr = 8+1
6. Kyle Bickley = 0
7. Jordan Jenkins = 5+2