The Kent SLYDE Kings put in an excellent fighting performance up at the home of the three-times League Champs, Mildenhall before going down to a seven point defeat 41-48 to the Fen Tigers.Going into the first City Gearboxes National League match of the season for both sides (who finished third and fourth respectively in the championship last year), the visiting Central Park-based SLYDE Kings were without their 2014 Rider of the Year, Danny Ayres who broke a bone in his hand in a track crash last weekend.  The only option for the beleaguered Kent management was to use the Rider Replacement facility for the absent Ayres – meaning the two reserves, Jamie Couzins and Adam Sheppard plus Danno Verge and the in-form James Shanes could take one each of the missing Danny’s programmed rides. That this facility produced only four points tells the story more than anything else of an effort which was destined to come up just short.

Much was always going to depend on number one Ben Morley and as he had at Eastbourne in the SLYDE King’s only previous away match so far this term, the skipper reeled off four immaculate heat wins – but as at Arlington the other entry on Ben’s personal score card was an exclusion: denying him the maximum his imperious form deserved.  The exclusion this time came in heat one when getting entangled with former team mate Jack Kingston – the Dagenham-born racer who was an ‘original’ Kings’ rider in 2013 before decamping to the Fens, had taken a brief break from racing after a difficult start to this campaign but looked very perky today on his speedy return to the fray: contributing an impressive double figures score to aid his current employers’ cause.

Indeed, Kingston’s win from 2015 newbie Luke Ruddick after the SLYDE Kings’ Verge had been penalised with a 15 metres handicap for a tapes offence in heat 8 was the pivotal moment in the match moving the Fen Tigers into a five point lead, after race wins in the opening half of the match by Morley, Aaron Baseby (looking impressive on his return to one of his former tracks) and Shanes twice had kept Kent neck and neck with the home side: for whom Nick Laurence had withdrawn due to injury suffered in a heat five spill.

Kingston was in winning form again in heat 10 after Shanes and Couzins had reduced the deficit in the previous race: Jack being anchored home by the Fen Tigers’ National League Riders Champ of last year, Dan Halsey to open up a seven points gap – one which despite four of the remaining five races being won by SLYDE Kings’ riders was to be retained to ensure all the points went the way of the Suffolk side. That was cemented by a third maximum win of the match for the homesters in heat 14 after Verge had been penalised again for touching the tapes and his replacement Couzins and an out-of-sorts Sheppard couldn’t make any impression on Ruddick and Tom Bacon.  Morley’s splendid beating of Halsey in a final heat battle of the CGNL’s top two (repeating a similarly impressive feat in heat 13) was scant consolation as the bonus point was also denied the visitors despite a very plucky performance.

Team boss Chris Hunt was upbeat in the face of a most unfortunate reverse, he said: “It was a good fighting performance from the lads.  Without Danny (Ayres) it was always going to take an all round team effort to take anything from the meeting and that’s what was delivered. Ben (Morley) and James (Shanes) put in absolutely stand-out performances and Aaron (Baseby) rode very well. 

“Two heat wins away from home is a good contribution from Aaron and add to that the seven heat wins Ben & James delivered, that’s nine heat wins out of 15 which would more often than not be enough to claim at least a bonus point.  Both Danno (Verge) and Jamie (Couzins) were at the races too I felt and but for a couple of tapes offences and that exclusion for Ben in his first ride we could’ve certainly got something from the match.  If Danny had been fit and riding I’m certain we’d have won, so we have to be positive going forward from here”.

Nick Laurence riding today for Mildenhall was confirmed to have suffered a broken collar-bone thus ruling him out of Monday’s Buckmore Park Futurama at Central Park. His place is taken by Adam Perkins.

Mildenhall  48
1. Daniel Halsey Fx, 3, 2′, 2, 2                 9+1
2. Jack Kingston 3, 1, 3, 3, 0                 10
3. Connor Mountain 2, 2, 2, 2      8
4. Nick Laurence 1′, Fx = 1+1 Withdrawn – injured
5. Connor Coles 1′, 2, 2, 0                      5+1
6. Tom Bacon 3, 0, 0, 1′, 2′                     6+2
7. Luke Ruddick 1, 2, 2′, 1′, 3                  9+2

Kent SLYDE Kings = 41

1. Ben Morley X, 3, 3, 3, 3                      12
2. Danno Verge 2, 1, 1, 0, T                    4
3. Aaron Baseby 3, 1, 1, 3                     8
4. Danny Ayres R/R
5. James Shanes 3, 2, 3, 3, 1, 1                          13
6. Jamie Couzins 2, R, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1          4
7. Adam Sheppard 0, 0, 0, 0                   0

1) (rerun x2) Kingston, Verge, Halsey f., Morley exc. 55.2 [3-2]
2) Bacon, Couzins, Ruddick, Sheppard 57.1  [7-4]
3) Baseby, Mountain, Laurence, Couzins ret 56.0 [10-7]
4) Shanes, Ruddick, Coles, Sheppard 52.6 [13-10]
5) (rerun) Morley, Mountain, Verge, Laurence f.exc 53.3 [15-14]
6) Halsey, Shanes, Kingston, Couzins 53.2 [19-16]
7) Shanes, Coles, Baseby, Bacon 53.1 [21-20]
8) Kingston, Ruddick, Verge, Couzins 54.7 [26-21]
9) Shanes, Mountain, Couzins, Bacon 52.0 [28-25]
10) Kingston, Halsey, Baseby, Sheppard 53.1 [33-26]
11) Morley, Coles, Bacon, Verge 53.5 [36-29]
12) Baseby, Mountain, Ruddick, Couzins 52.6 [39-32]
13) Morley, Halsey, Shanes, Coles 52.9 [41-36]
14) Ruddick, Bacon, Couzins, Sheppard, Verge exc. tapes 55.6 [46-37]
15) Morley, Halsey, Shanes, Kingston 52.8  [48-41]
Images courtesy of PSP Images