Plymouth Gladiators v Birmingham Brummies

PLYMOUTH kept their Championship play-off bid on track with three points against Birmingham – but only after being taken right down to a last-heat decider.

The two injury-hit sides served up an exciting encounter with the Brummies fighting back from 12 points down to level the scores with two races remaining.

A draw overall looked likely, but Gladiators guest Josh Pickering overhauled Birmingham stand-in skipper Justin Sedgmen in Heat 15 to edge a 46-44 victory for the home side.

Guest Lewis Kerr scored 14 for the hosts with reserve Ben Morley contributing a vital 11+2. Kye Thomson and Lee Complin both scored 9+1 for the Brummies.

Birmingham boss Laurence Rogers said: “It really was a superb team effort to come from such an early deficit to go into Heat 15 level.

“We were left wondering what could have been though because we did have some more bad luck in those first few races.

“But I thought the team gelled well, rode well together, there was a superb spirit in the pits and I was proud of all of them.”

CHAMPIONSHIP
PLYMOUTH 46: Lewis Kerr 14, Ben Morley 11+2, Richie Worrall 10, Josh Pickering 8, Danyon Hume 3+1, Harry McGurk 0, Alfie Bowtell r/r
BIRMINGHAM 44: Kye Thomsen 9+1, Lee Complin 9+1, Broc Nicol 9, Justin Sedgmen 8+1, James Pearson 6+1, Jacob Hook 3+1, Stefan Nielsen r/r
Championship points: Plymouth 3 Birmingham 1

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