SHEFFIELD collected a hard-earned away point from a narrow 44-49 defeat at Leicester on Sunday.

The Window Centre Tigers fought strongly to claw back from a ten-point deficit after nine races, with the home side’s combination of Kevin Doolan and Lasse Bjerre proving particularly strong.

But the Lions were left sweating going into the closing stages as Sheffield responded, first with a tactical ride win from Ricky Wells as part of a 7-2 in Heat 10 – one of three straight wins for the American after he ran a last in his first ride.

And then reserve Facundo Albin combined with guest Nick Morris for a brilliant 5-1 in Heat 11 to cut the gap to one point and put the pressure all on Leicester.

Two shared heats followed with Morris continuing his brilliant form in Heat 13, having earlier come close to the track record at the East Midlands venue.

But a re-start to Heat 14 proved costly as Doolan and Charles Wright shot from the start at the second attempt to fend off Andre Compton and make virtually sure of the win on the night for the Lions.

They required a further advantage in the last race to leave Tigers point-less, which would have been a cruel outcome, but Doolan touched the tapes and was penalised 15-metres, whilst Morris won the race in any case to ensure the visitors made their point.

Sheffield boss David Hoggart said: “I’m very happy with the performance, it was a good meeting and Nick Morris was a great guest for us. Andre Compton had a decent debut, and Facu (Albin) proved that he’d learnt something from his previous visit with a couple of wins.

“We were in it until Heat 14, which was a big ask, but they tried and I dare say had we not been pulled back when Andre had made a cracking start, we probably would have got there.

“There was nothing really negative, the riders worked hard together as a team and the few mistakes were all down to inexperience from young riders, but apart from that they all rode pretty well.”

LEICESTER 49: Kevin Doolan 11+3, Magnus Karlsson 10, Lasse Bjerre 9+2, David Howe 6+2, Jan Graversen 6+1, Charles Wright 6+1, Robert Branford 1+1.

SHEFFIELD 44: Nick Morris 12+1, Ricky Wells 12, Facundo Albin 8+2, Adam Roynon 6, Andre Compton 4, Joe Haines 2, James Sarjeant 0.