A classic nip and tuck affair between the now established rivals of Mildenhall DJS Fen Tigers – proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery – and the hosts, Kent Royals saw the Suffolk side take the honours on the afternoon and put themselves very firmly in the driving seat for next Sunday’s Knock Out Cup semi final second leg.
Going into the deciding heat 15, the two sides were locked together at 42-42 but a fifth straight heat win by the Fen Tigers’ skipper on the day, Alfie Bowtell was backed up by teenager Luke Harrison chasing down and brilliantly passing the host’s number one Ben Morley on the final bend of the penultimate lap to secure a breathless but brilliant 46-44 first leg victory.
The match was not without controversy. Two races before, the same four protagonists destined to contest heat 15 met, with the Fen Tigers four points ahead. Maximum man Bowtell was super-fast all afternoon (he’d gone close to his own track record in the opening heat in his first clash with Morley ) and again he roared into the lead with the Kent number one Morley in second. Behind them, former Mildenhall man, Nathan Ablitt was engaged in a terrific first lap scrap with the Fen Tigers’ teenaged Guest, Harrison – the latter prevailing going into lap two and setting off in dogged pursuit of Morley. Going into the final bend young Luke carried out a brilliant passing manoeuvre to go under his far more experienced opponent and so close were they on the run-in to the line that they appeared to momentarily lock together; Harrison winning the race to the chequered flag with both riders falling past the line. A 5-1 to the visitors would’ve put them in an unbeatable position with two heats remaining, but to the utter astonishment of all in the Mildenhall camp the referee Simon Humphrey-Kennett took the view that Harrison’s pass amounted to unfair riding, disqualifying the 15-year-old.
And a grandstand finish was guaranteed when a 5-1 for the hosts after Josh Warren’s heat 14 heavy fall and exclusion saw a maximum to the homesters.
The early exchanges mirrored those of the latter really, with the lead changing hands and neither side able to establish any significant match advantage. Bowtell and the hugely impressive Arran Butcher took race wins in heats one and two and when Ben Trigger flew from the gate with team mate Josh Warren in second it looked like more joy for Jason Gardner’s charges – but the referee called it an unsatisfactory start and the restart saw the opposite outcome: the hosts opening up a four points lead.
Heat four and terrific stuff from Harrison, carrying on from where he left off in a Fen Tigers’ race jacket last term, by overhauling the last gating Ablitt – to be followed by Butcher who also got past the former GB Youth Champion Ablitt to bring the scores level.
Butcher was having an excellent afternoon, maintaining his unbeaten run and defying the odds with a heat eight win even though losing his steel shoe.
And so to the denouncement, where the main thing lost was the cool of the hosts - unhappy it seems at the events of heat 13, despite the advantage the official’s verdict gave them; and so there was great satisfaction in the Fen Tigers’ camp that despite this an away win was secured.
Gardner was very happy to see a second successive Sunday end with a win,
“It was a very satisfactory win setting up nicely for the second leg next Sunday. Some in the Kent camp were upset by Luke’s pass of Morley but it was a hard but fair – he’s a young rider who just wants to race. We were very surprised at the retrospective decision to exclude him.
Arran [Butcher] put in an especially good performance and Alfie continued his peerless start to the season, with exactly what we’d expect from him.”
The second leg is at Mildenhall Speedway next Sunday, April 16th. 4pm start time.
Kent Royals 44
Ben Morley 2, 3, 3, 2, R = 10
Rhys Naylor 1', 2', 2, 1 = 6+1
Tom Woolley 3, FX, 1', 3 = 7+1
Joe Alcock 2', 1, 2, 3 = 8+1
Nathan Ablitt 1, 2, 2, 1', 2 = 8+
Sam Woolley 1', 0, 0, 2' = 3+2
Connor King 2, 0, 0, 0 = 2
Mildenhall DJS Fen Tigers 46
Alfie Bowtell 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 = 15 [M]
George Congreve 0, 2', 1, 1 = 4+1
Ben Trigger 1, 3, 0, 1' = 5+1
Josh Warren 0, 1, 2, F =3
Luke Harrison [G] 3, 1, 3, X, 1 = 8
William Richardson 0, 0, 0, 1 = 1
Arran Butcher 3, 2', 3, 2 = 10+1
Heat details
1 Bowtell, Morley, Naylor, Congreve 57.6 [3-3]
2 (rerun) Butcher, King, S Woolley, Richardson 60.4 [6-6]
3 (rerun) T Woolley, Alcock, Trigger, Warren (fell rem.) 60.7 [11-7]
4 Harrison, Butcher, Ablitt, King 59.8 [12-12]
5 (rerun) Bowtell, Congreve, Alcock, T Woolley (fell exc.) 60.3 [13-17]
6 (rerun) Morley, Naylor, Harrison, Richardson 60.3 [18-18]
7 Trigger, Ablitt, Warren, S Woolley 59.8 [20-22]
8 Butcher, Naylor, Congreve, King 61.3 [22-26]
9 Harrison, Alcock, T Woolley, Richardson 63.1 [25-29]
10 Morley, Warren, Naylor, Trigger 61.9 [29-31]
11 Bowtell, Ablitt, Congreve, S Woolley 60.3 [31-35]
12 T Woolley, Butcher, Trigger, King 61.8 [34-38]
13 (awarded) Bowtell, Morley, Ablitt, Harrison (exc. UR) no time [37-41]
14 (stpd, awarded) Alcock, S Woolley, Richardson, Warren (Fell) no time [42-42]
15 Bowtell, Ablitt, Harrison, Morley (ret.) 61.6 [44-46]