Leicester boss Stewart Dickson hailed a sensational seven-rider performance from the Lions as the Premiership Knockout Cup holders raced to a priceless 49-41 victory at Sheffield on Thursday.
The Lions are a win or draw away from reaching this season’s KO Cup Final against the Southern Section winners after stunning the Tigers at Owlerton on a night when all seven of their riders contributed at least five points.
Aussie international Ryan Douglas led the scoring on nine, while Kyle Howarth added eight paid 10 and reserve Drew Kemp collected eight paid nine.
Sheffield’s top guns all fired, with Speedway GP rider Jack Holder scoring 12 paid 13, while 2012 world champion Chris Holder tallied 10 and skipper Josh Pickering notched nine. But with the other four riders contributing 10 between them, it wasn’t enough to deny the visitors, who host Sheffield in the Northern Section decider next Thursday.
A delighted Dickson said: “It was a full seven-rider performance, which is the way the team was built this season, although obviously when I look at the scores there was a big difference at reserve.
“My top five also rode very well tonight. We got off to a difficult start with Dougy having problems in heat one, but we recovered well and, whilst it’s probably a surprising result, it does show what we’re capable of when we all click.
“We were well worthy of the two points. We gated the way we can gate, and it wasn’t tactical that we never went six points up until after heat 14! I never said anything to the riders about that. It was just that we couldn’t get away by any more than four points until then!
“There’s a good feeling in the camp, which is always the way when you win, and we’ve given ourselves a real chance of qualifying for the Final, which didn’t look the case at 7.30pm – but it’s not over yet. We’ve still got a job to do next Thursday, and there’s still something for Sheffield to aim for.”
Sheffield team manager Simon Stead said: “Sometimes you’ve got to roll with the punches and acknowledge that you were beaten by the better team. That was certainly the case tonight – but you’ve got to remember it’s early days; it’s only our second home meeting.
“I think you could see that there’s still a little bit of rustiness there and it’s quite obvious from the score chart that we had too many last places, and that needs addressing. But as I said, it’s our second meeting here, we need more laps and with that will come improved performances.
“For whatever reason, Leicester were more at it than we were, and we have to hold our hands up, acknowledge that we weren’t good enough and make sure we come out swinging in a week’s time.”