LEICESTER had to work hard to defeat the elements as well as Sheffield as they collected a 48-42 win at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park to further boost their play-off hopes.
The Tigers are the team immediately above the Watling JCB Lions in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership standings and they provided far tougher opposition than on their previous two visits this season.
But Leicester had enough to come through the test with skipper Max Fricke once again in outstanding form, whilst Sam Masters racked up paid 14 along with key contributions in the middle order.
Preparations were hampered by a huge storm at 4pm which left parts of the track underwater, but by start time conditions were good with the exception of the start-line area which required extensive work, and the meeting got underway after a delay of just over half an hour.
Racing was hard fought with the Lions having to adapt to the change in track conditions brought about by the weather, and a close contest ensued.
Sheffield snatched the early advantage when reserve duo Leon Flint and Justin Sedgmen raced clear for a 5-1 in Heat 2, but the Lions hit back immediately as Kyle Howarth produced a strong ride to hit the front whilst Ryan Douglas joined him for maximum points over Tigers skipper Josh Pickering.
A competitive Heat 4 saw Chris Holder see off Masters’ early challenge whilst Joe Thompson held on for a vital third place at the expense of Flint.
Jack Holder won Heat 5 with a smart move on turn two against Howarth and Douglas, and the run of shared races continued as Fricke won Heat 6 with Douglas out of the points after getting out of shape going into the first bend, whilst Masters was a convincing winner over Pickering in the next.
After a clear win for Fricke in his rider replacement outing in Heat 8, Lions finally edged in front for the first time in the ninth with a 4-2 from Douglas and Howarth, split by Chris Holder, and they added another 4-2 in Heat 10 although that race did see them set for maximum points until Pickering came through for second ahead of Masters going into lap two.
Masters secured an important win over Jack Holder in a shared Heat 11, but the gap was reduced to just two points when Pickering got inside Douglas on the first lap of Heat 12 with the Lions rider doing enough to block Sedgmen’s challenge.
At 37-35 a big Heat 13 was incoming, and the Lions took a massive 5-1 over the Holder brothers with Masters taking the lead whilst Fricke and Jack Holder had a no-holds-barred battle for second which saw them make contact on turn four before the Leicester captain finally established his position.
The six-point gap did enable a Sheffield tactical substitute in Heat 14, but Howarth produced a great ride to get the better of Pickering and secure the win for the home side.
But Heat 15 was still a cracker as Fricke’s hopes of an 18-point maximum were dashed when he clipped the kerb on turn one and nearly fell, leaving him yards behind his rivals, whilst Masters and Jack Holder repeatedly exchanged the lead before the Sheffield man finally took control. Meanwhile Fricke regained enormous ground and snatched third place on the line from Chris Holder.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “You do get those conditions with natural watering, but if anyone had seen the track at 4.30pm they wouldn’t have believed how it turned out.
“I’m glad we got the meeting on, you’re always glad when you win! The track rode very well, and we’ll live and learn by what happened at the starts, but the rest of the track was really good.
“We got the win by six points and considering that several riders weren’t on top of their game it’s a good result, and we also have to admit that Sheffield were a lot better than they were on their last two visits.
“I think they came with a point to prove, not to go away losing by 18 or 22 points again, but we got the win, there are no injuries, and we now go into a very big week for the club.”
Next up for the Lions is a trip to Sheffield on Thursday, this time in the Round 1 fixture where they hold a 22-point advantage for the aggregate point.
LEICESTER 48: Max Fricke 16+1, Sam Masters 13+1, Kyle Howarth 9, Ryan Douglas 8+2, Joe Thompson 1+1, Drew Kemp 1, Luke Becker r/r.
SHEFFIELD 42: Jack Holder 10+1, Josh Pickering 10, Chris Holder 7, Anders Rowe 5+1, Justin Sedgmen 4+2, Leon Flint 4+1, Lewis Kerr 2+2.
