LEICESTER have set up a one-off showdown for the KO Cup at the Hydroscand Arena on Thursday after battling their way to a 45-45 draw in the first leg of the Final at Ipswich.
The Watling JCB Lions will be hoping it is a case of history repeating as 12 months ago when they defeated King’s Lynn to lift the silverware, that also came after a drawn first leg.
This time around they never allowed Ipswich to build up a head of steam, with the hosts being royally frustrated by one of their former riders.
Reserve Drew Kemp put in his best-ever display for Leicester on his old home track, creating havoc for the hosts with a bumper 15-point haul including an incredible five race wins.
The rest of the team all chipped away with Ryan Douglas recovering well from a fall in Heat 1, with the meeting getting underway in somewhat unusual circumstances with co-promoter Jen Crossland standing in for manager Stewart Dickson who had been stuck in traffic caused by an accident on the A1 and missed the opening two heats as a result.
The first race saw Douglas cut back to take the lead from Danny King heading into the third bend, only to get into trouble at the start of lap two enabling the Witches skipper to go back through, and Douglas then fell on the fourth bend.
Dan Thompson kept Tom Brennan at bay to hold second place and limit the Witches to a 4-2, and that was cancelled out in the next race with plenty of determination from the Lions reserves as Kemp hit the front into the first bend and Joe Thompson got the better of Jason Edwards for third.
Track grading was called after Heat 2, and upon the resumption it was a good race for the home side with Richard Lawson and Scott Nicholls gating in Heat 3 and holding off the early challenge of Kyle Howarth for the first 5-1 of the night.
The Lions found an immediate response with Kemp coming into Heat 4 and making the start from gate two, whilst skipper Sam Masters turned back inside Edwards off turn four to claim third place in a Leicester 4-2.
Heat 5 saw the Lions duo of Douglas and Dan Thompson make the best gates, with Lawson splitting them on the back straight, but Thompson held on ahead of the thrusting Nicholls to level the scores on the night.
There was competitive action in Heat 6 as Kemp suffered his one blip with a fall on the fourth bend, albeit he was at the back at the time, and whilst it looked set to be a win for Masters he was caught out by track conditions in the second bend and King shot through for the win.
The next race was shared thanks to a smart cutback from home heat leader Tobiasz Musielak, and a further 3-3 followed in Heat 8 with King coming to grief from the outside on the first bend whilst his team-mate Edwards hit the front and held off Dan Thompson’s challenge.
A hectic first lap followed in Heat 9 as Kemp returned to fast starting mode whilst Masters was squeezed out by Lawson and Nicholls – until Lawson made an error on turn four, and after contact with Kemp he went down, enabling Lions to level the scores at 27-27.
Ipswich edged back ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 10 as King stormed away from the start whilst Tom Brennan moved inside Kyle Howarth heading into the third lap, but the Lions never allowed them to build their advantage further.
Heat 11 was shared with Musielak taking the lead after Douglas reared on the back straight, but his Witches team-mate Kevin Juhl Pedersen was caught out in a similar manner one lap later, as he also lifted to enable Dan Thompson through into third place.
Kemp roared to his fourth win of the night in Heat 12, hitting the front in electric fashion from the start whilst a big battle for place saw Edwards just about hold off Nick Morris after re-passing the Leicester rider.
Heat 13 provided the Lions with what could be a big result in the context of the tie with Douglas making the gate and Masters riding a superb second bend to get the better of Brennan and Musielak, and that put the Lions 40-38 up on the night.
Kemp replaced Howarth for Heat 14 and the move worked out exactly as planned as he defeated Nicholls and Edwards to keep his side in front, but whilst Heat 15 looked initially promising for the Lions, King rode an excellent first lap to take the lead whilst Lawson switched inside Masters for third place to ensure a draw.
Dickson said: “We’ve put ourselves in a good position, and we’ve been on the other side of it with a reserve in that kind of form, so I know what it’s like!
“Drew has done very well tonight, and that’s the Drew Kemp that we know he can be – he just needs to do it a bit more consistently, and he knows that more than anybody, but that’s what he can do for us.
“I got there after Heat 2 and Jen had done a sterling job, it was level, and we worked down the heats although we threw away a couple of points with guys lifting.
“We’ve done the job that we wanted to do, and I would have taken a score of 43 or 44 points, so to get a draw sets things up perfectly for Thursday night.
“I fully expected us to be able to keep it tight in this meeting, and we know the Hydroscand Arena will be rocking on Thursday as we try to win another trophy.
“But nothing is won yet and there will still be 15 tough heats to go because they will come back at us.”
The second leg takes place this Thursday and a huge atmosphere is expected at Beaumont Park as the Lions look to lift the Cup for a second season running.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL, 1st leg
IPSWICH 45: Danny King 12, Richard Lawson 8, Tobiasz Musielak 8, Scott Nicholls 6+1, Jason Edwards 5+2, Tom Brennan 4, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 2.
LEICESTER 45: Drew Kemp 15, Ryan Douglas 10, Sam Masters 6+1, Dan Thompson 6+1, Nick Morris 3+1, Kyle Howarth 3, Joe Thompson 2+1.
