Birmingham Brummies v Leicester Lions

Report

LEICESTER raced to an emphatic 43-29 win at Birmingham to put their early-season frustrations behind them.

The Lions reeled off a hat-trick of 5-1s from Heats 4 to 6 at Perry Barr as they dominated the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash to collect their first away win of the campaign.

They went 14-points up with a 5-1 in Heat 12, at which point a halt was called due to worsening conditions with heavy rain moving in.

Ryan Douglas led the way for the visitors with 10+1 from four rides, and Richard Lawson (8) also only dropped one point to an opponent. Zach Cook won two races for the Brummies to finish on eight.

Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “I know it’s only one result, and one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but there was a glimpse of what this team can do when they collectively all score.

“Any manager will tell you it’s difficult to get all seven firing, but I felt I got close to that tonight, and hopefully this is the start of things coming together.

“My riders are due credit tonight, and I certainly don’t begrudge giving them that credit – they rode extremely well.”

Brummies CEO Nigel Tolley said: “It was horrible to see those three 5-1s go in against us on the trot and it just wasn’t our night.

“The riders are getting a little bit nervous now because they still haven’t got that win yet and they know things have got to change.

“It is very disappointing, time is ticking on and we’ve got to start pulling things back.”

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1
BIRMINGHAM 29: Zach Cook 8, Tom Brennan 7+1, Piotr Pawlicki 4+1, Steve Worrall 4, Scott Nicholls 3+1, Vaclav Milik 2, Leon Flint 1.
LEICESTER 43: Ryan Douglas 10+1, Richard Lawson 8, Sam Masters 7, Drew Kemp 6+2, Luke Becker 4+2, Joe Thompson 4+1, Max Fricke 4.
Abandoned after Heat 12 (Rain) – Result Stands

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: STEVE FEENEY