LONG EATON 16 TIGER CUBS 19: The Tiger Cubs recorded their first win away from home with a well-deserved victory against a spirited Long Eaton Invaders team at Leicester last night.
The Cubs got off to the worst possible start with Alex Wilson taking an uncharacteristic fall at the tricky 3rd/4th bend and Sean Phillips correctly pulling over when he found his front wheel spindle working loose to gift the Invaders a first heat 5-0.
However the Cubs hit straight back in an eventful Heat 2. Michael Neale, guesting for the Cubs in place of the unavailable Ben Holloway, gated ahead of Cameron Hoskins with Dan Miles making a brilliant gate in third in front of Luke Whitehead who came in as a very late replacement for the home team. Hoskins then lost the back end in turn 2 of the second lap and did a 360 before falling gently to the floor.
Miles and Whitehead passed Hoskins who remounted and set off in pursuit. The next two and a half laps were nail-biting as Dan rode faultlessly to hold off Whitehead who was snapping at his back wheel with Hoskins closing at a rate of knots on the pair of them. Going into turn 3 of the last lap there wasn't a whisker between the three of them and Whitehead appeared to have bravely blasted past Miles as they emerged from turn 4 but Dan was not to be outdone and kept the gas on full right to the line to take the referee's verdict by inches at the chequered flag. An absolutely brilliant race and the resulting 5-1 to the Cubs brought us right back into the match and got all the lads buzzing, sensing the possibility of a victory.
Heat 3 pitched together first-time winners Layne Cupitt and Michael Neale against each other and it appeared that Cupitt would take the honours as he made the jump out of the gate and led for the first couple of laps but then slid off and handed the Cubs a 4-2 heat advantage. After that disastrous start the Cubs were now one point ahead and with Alex and Sean taking the minor placings behind Cam Hoskins in the next they kept their slender lead going into the final two heats. A 4-2 to the Invaders meant the Cubs were trailing by 1 point going into the final race which saw a repeat of the the tantalising Cupitt/Neale confrontation.
This time it was Michael who made the gate and settled into a great rhythm to keep Layne at bay, and with Sean close behind in third the heat advantage was enough to hand the Cubs victory. When Layne's engine blew on lap 3 it was only the margin of victory that changed. A great team effort by all the Cubs and a great advert for MDL racing with the Invaders also playing their part in a very exciting meeting.
LONG EATON INVADERS 16 Layne Cupitt 3,F,R, = 3 Sam Darroch 2+1,2,1, = 5+1 Luke Whitehead 1,0,1, = 2 Cameron Hoskins 0,3,3, = 6
SHEFFIELD TIGER CUBS 19 Sean Phillips R,1+1,2+1, = 3+2 Alex Wilson F,2,2, = 4 Michael Neale 3,3,3, = 9 (max) Dan Miles 2+1,1,0 = 3+1
