Leicester Lions v Wolverhampton Wolves

Report

LEICESTER raced to their second Premiership win of the season by overcoming Wolverhampton 49-41 in a competitive Midlands derby.

The Lions led for much of the meeting with the Max Fricke/Justin Sedgmen combination providing two 5-1s, but Wolves skipper Sam Masters and guest Scott Nicholls kept the visitors in contention.

Home captain Chris Harris clinched the victory in Heat 14 before Fricke went from third to first in the last race to complete his best display for the club.

The Australian top scored with 11+2 with Sedgmen on 9+1, whilst Masters racked up 14 from six rides for Wolves and Nicholls added 10.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “That was a solid team effort, and that’s the sort of performance that we’re capable of.

“When you look at the riders Wolves came with who’ve raced on this track in the last few years, they had plenty of experience here so we knew it was going to be tough, but our No.1 showed us why he’s a No.1 and the rest of the guys all chipped in and worked hard.”

Wolves manager Peter Adams said: “It was a tough match against tough opposition. We had a few bike issues with one or two of the boys but I thought we fought well, it just ran away from us a bit at the end.

“Eight points is an achievable deficit to overturn for the aggregate point when we face them at home later on in the season in the second leg.”

LEICESTER 49: Max Fricke 11+2, Justin Sedgmen 9+1, Richard Lawson 9, Chris Harris 7+2, Nick Morris 7, Jake Allen 5+1, Dan Thompson 1.
WOLVERHAMPTON 41: Sam Masters 14, Scott Nicholls 10, Ryan Douglas 6, Steve Worrall 5+1, Leon Flint 4, Rory Schlein 2+2, Zach Cook 0.

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Photo credit: STEVE DIXON