LEICESTER were narrowly beaten 46-44 at King’s Lynn on Monday - despite a bright start in Norfolk.
The Watling JCB Lions raced into an early eight point lead courtesy of 5-1s from Luke Becker and Max Fricke in Heats 1 and 5.
But the hosts hit back in the sixth to bring the Lions’ lead back down to four points.
That was again halved when Kyle Howarth and Ryan Douglas conceded a 4-2 in Heat 7 - but some fortune was on their side in the eighth.
Former Lion Cub Ashton Boughen looked comfortable behind his team-mate Nicolai Klindt heading into the final turns as the Stars looked set to get their noses in front for the first time, but Boughen then lost control of his machine and a 3-3 was salvaged.
Heat 9 saw Drew Kemp excluded by SCB Referee Christina Turnbull despite his pleas he had taken avoiding action following something of a domino effect into bend one - and Sam Masters was unable to land a blow on his own as the Lions did fall behind on this occasion.
King’s Lynn had raced their way into another 5-1 situation in Heat 10 before their No.1 Ben Cook crashed out spectacularly - and Douglas made the most of the restart as he led a 4-2 ahead of Klindt.
A hat-trick of 3-3s followed before a dramatic Heat 14 saw Howarth repass Niels-Kristian Iversen for second leaving the Lions trailing by two going into the final race.
And whilst Fricke produced an outstanding ride to pass Klindt on the line, Douglas couldn’t find a way past Harris as the Lions missed out by just a couple of points.
Said Fricke: “The track was tricky tonight so all-in-all to come away from home and only lose by a small margin is positive, we take the positives from wherever we can.
“I felt pretty average all night to be honest but in that last one I felt a little bit better and had a little bit of speed.
“Everyone is riding well so we just need to keep that up and keep building.”
The Watling JCB Lions instantly turn their attentions to this Thursday (April 17, 7.30pm) with high-flying pre-season favourites Ipswich the visitors to the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park.
KING’S LYNN 46: Chris Harris 16+2, Nicolai Klindt 11, Jan Kvech 6+1, Richard Lawson 6, Niels-Kristian Iversen 5+2, Ben Cook 2+1, Ashton Boughen 0.
LEICESTER 44: Max Fricke 11+3, Ryan Douglas 9, Luke Becker 8, Sam Masters 6, Kyle Howarth 5, Sam Hagon 3+3, Drew Kemp 2.
