Roared on by a healthy-sized holiday crowd, high on confidence after last Friday’s away win at Coventry and despite the problems faced with them still missing three of their side through injury, the Wightlink Islanders made light of any problems to record a fifteen point victory over title rivals King’s Lynn Young Stars at Smallbrook last night (Tuesday).
The club’s management duo of Chris Hunt and Kevin Shepherd drafted in Kent’s Steve Boxall to replace broken shoulder victim Tom Perry, who phoned them late on Sunday night to say he still wasn’t fit to ride, and Stoke’s Kyle Hughes to deputise for Brendan Johnson who is currently sidelined with a broken foot.
The final match score of 54-39 in favour of the Islanders in no way tells the full story of dramatic events that begain mid-afternoon when King’s Lynn’s No.5 Lewis Kerr was forced to turn back and head home, abandoning his journey to the stadium after receiving word that his mechanic’s child had been taken ill.
That reduced the visitors to a five man side as they were already missing Shane Hazleden who was taken ill whilst riding in a match of Monday evening and there were pre-meeting disputes over the revised composition of the King’s Lynn side plus the number of new tyres they would be able to use in the meeting which were sorted out by the referee after consultation with SCB boss Graham Reeve.
Then to cap it all, after working perfectly when tested earlier, the magnetic system of the starting gates failed necessitating swift repairs including the fitting of a new magnet to one of the starting poles — all that before the match had even started!
It was a very happy Wightlink Islanders manager Chris Hunt who commented afterwards saying:
“Fair play to King’s Lynn for giving us a great match and making us work very hard for the three league points we ultimately gained.
“Teenage reserve Robert Lambert certainly looked impressive and with him and our own talented teen Adam Ellis very much leading a growing crop of impressive young riders, the future of British speedway on the international stage looks very good indeed.
Article continues below this advertisement “That’s looking ahead but right now our win tonight means that we are now fourth in the league table with matches in hand over the three sides above us and very much on course to achieve our aim of reaching the play offs for the title that will feature the league’s top four sides once all scheduled matches have been completed.”
LAST NIGHT’S MATCH DETAILS:
WIGHTLINK ISLANDERS 54 KING’S LYNN YOUNG STARS 39
(National League)
Photo: Ian Groves
