Kent Royals v Belle Vue Colts

Report

KENT reeled off four 5-1s in the last four races to secure a 54-36 win over Belle Vue in the NDL on Sunday.

There were just two points between the sides after Heat 11 but the Royals then stretched clear with their top two of Ben Morley and Nathan Abllitt both scoring 13+1, whilst Rhys Naylor (9+3) played a key role at reserve.

James Pearson scored 12 for the Colts and Matt Marson added 10, but the visitors were hampered by the loss of Luke Muff with concussion to add to the non-availability of Freddy Hodder and Paul Bowen for the meeting.

Kent manager Jamie Willis said: “What a final four heats – we really turned the screw when it mattered. All the boys contributed to an excellent result and I’m really proud of all of them.

“As a team we’ve spoken about minimizing our mistakes and capitalizing on the opposition’s, something which we did to near perfection today.”

Colts co-boss Graham Goodwin said: “This was a very challenging afternoon for us. The odds were already somewhat against us with being two of our regular riders down. Then, things continued to conspire against us with the loss of Luke Muff.

“Unfortunately, things just completely unravelled for us in those last four races and we’re very disappointed about that. We know we can and should have done better than we did.”

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE
KENT 54: Ben Morley 13+1, Nathan Ablitt 13+1, Rhys Naylor 9+3, Tom Woolley 8, Jack Kingston 5+2, Sam Woolley 3+1, Connor King 3.
BELLE VUE 36: James Pearson 12, Matt Marson 10, Sam Hagon 6, Jack Smith 4+1, Sam Woods 2+1, Luke Muff 2, Chris Watts (no.8) 0, Freddy Hodder r/r.

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