LEICESTER Lion Cubs saw their unbeaten home record ended with a 50-40 defeat against a far more experienced King’s Lynn side at the Hydroscand Arena on Sunday.
The result should not affect the Lion Cubs’ runners-up position in the WSRA National Development League table, but it was a meeting where perhaps unsurprisingly heat wins proved to be in short supply.
The Young Stars arrived in their most powerful configuration of the season and skipper Simon Lambert scored a paid maximum with Jake Mulford and Dan Gilkes also racing up multiple victories.
Meanwhile the Lion Cubs were short in terms of their own top end strength due to the broken leg suffered by Freddy Hodder, and planned guest Vinnie Foord pulled out after a crash on Saturday with Ben Whalley stepping in at short notice.
Leicester led briefly when Eli Meadows took the flag in Heat 2 with guest Emerson Betty in third place, and they stayed in the meeting with a series of shared races.
Ryan Ingram became the first Lion Cubs rider to take a point off one of the King’s Lynn top three when he switched nicely inside Dan Gilkes to win Heat 7, but that turned out to be the last winner of the day for the hosts.
The gap was only four points in the Young Stars’ favour with three races remaining but a 5-1 from Mulford and Lambert in Heat 13 was not the most unpredictable result of the day.
Youngster Ollie Binns then secured the visitors’ overall victory with an excellent first lap move to win Heat 14.
And whilst Lambert completed a largely untroubled unbeaten score in Heat 15, Ingram and Ben Morley did at least have the satisfaction of ending Mulford’s maximum by relegating him to the back for a 3-3.
Leicester manager Jen Crossland said: “It was always going to be a tough day especially after Freddy’s injury and with Vinnie not being able to ride.
“I’m proud of how the boys battled against a team with three Championship riders. It’s another learning experience for them and they can’t worry too much about the result given who they were facing.”
The Lion Cubs wrap up their season with what promises to be an excellent contest at home to unbeaten leaders Edinburgh next Saturday (October 17, 7pm).
LEICESTER 40: Ryan Ingram 12, Ben Morley 11+1, Eli Meadows 6+3, Seth Norman 6+2, Ben Whalley 4+2, Emerson Betty 1, Max Perry r/r.
KING’S LYNN 50: Simon Lambert 14+1, Jake Mulford 12, Dan Gilkes 11, Mickie Simpson 5, Ollie Binns 4+1, Kyran Lyden 4, Archie Strong 0.
King’s Lynn win the aggregate point.
