SHEFFIELD were beaten 50-40 at King’s Lynn on Monday in a topsy-turvy contest at the Adrian Flux Arena.

Having fallen ten points down with nine races gone, the Tigers quickly raced themselves back into contention to trail by two heading into the interval.

But they conceded three 5-1s in the final four races as their opponents moved into the play-off positions and to within two points of the Tigers in the standings.

Sheffield’s night got off to a perfect start when guest No.1 Richard Lawson teamed up with his former King’s Lynn team-mate Anders Rowe for an opening maximum against their former club.

But the hosts responded to strike three straight advantages to open up a 15-9 lead.

Rowe then maintained his unbeaten start as he took the chequered flag in a shared Heat Five with an ultra-mature ride to block the moves of British veteran Chris Harris before an all-action Heat Six saw the Tigers concede a second 4-2 with Josh Pickering re-passing home No.1 Max Fricke for second place on several occasions.

Chris Holder made a stunning start to help him on his way to a victory in Heat Seven before Rowe followed suit in the eighth to make it three unbeaten.

For his third successive outing, captain Pickering could only split the home duo as Sheffield again conceded a 4-2, this time leaving them trailing 32–22.

But first Holder and Flint combined before Rowe and Lawson again linked up for consecutive maximums to bring the gap back to two at 34-32.

The hosts came out fired up and fighting though and they replied with another 5-1 of their own in Heat 12 with youngster Jody Scott on hand to take advantage when Holder got caught out by the track on bends three and four.

The Stars immediately added another though to seal the win on the night and to ensure they closed the gap on the Tigers.

With one eye still on the aggregate point for when the two meet in a fortnight at Owlerton though, team boss Simon Stead introduced the unbeaten Rowe as a tactical substitute - and he again made a stormer of a start and was partnered by Flint who also made it back-to-back paid victories.

Rowe couldn’t complete a faultless scorechart though as he, unfortunately, missed out in the final race of the night as the Tigers fell to a ten point defeat.

Said Stead: “I’m obviously disappointed - but that goes without saying doesn’t it?

“It was a tough night all round; we’ve had some individual brilliance but one point from seven rides at reserve just makes the job really difficult for the lads in the main body of the team.

“I am disappointed, especially with our two reserves (Jye Etheridge and Luke Killeen) because they’ve been scoring heavily in the Championship so I came here in good spirits thinking there was a chance we could do something.

“But we’re within ten points and I know King’s Lynn have turned us over at home, but it will be a new date when we face them next time and there’s an aggregate point worth fighting for on top.”

Sheffield are back on home shale on Thursday (August 6, 7.30pm) when they host Leicester.

KING’S LYNN 50: Chris Harris 14, Jan Kvech 9+3, Jody Scott 8+2, Cooper Rushen 7, Ben Cook 4+2, Jason Edwards 4+1, Max Fricke 4.
SHEFFIELD 40: Anders Rowe 14+1, Josh Pickering 8, Chris Holder 7, Leon Flint 5+2, Richard Lawson 5+1, Luke Killeen 1, Jye Etheridge 0.