A season is often defined as a marathon and not a sprint, and the same analogy could certainly be applied to the next action at The Old Gun Site tomorrow.

The Kent Royals are in action in the first double header to be staged at Iwade since the 2008 season when the Sittingbourne Crusaders raced in the third tier, taking on the Mildenhall Fen Tigers and the Oxford Chargers in National Development League.

The Fen Tigers are the first opponents for Kent in a fixture that was rearranged from April when heavy and persistent rain was playing havoc with early season fixtures, and that has rather been the theme of the season from then on and as Kent have seen their last three away fixtures postponed.

Which leads to the second set of visitors Oxford Chargers, fixtures between Kent and Oxford are seemingly jinxed this season. The first meeting here between the two sides was abandoned after a crash involving Jack Kingston in Heat 5 and then two subsequent postponements at Cowley.

The team news for Kent is dominated by Jack Kingston and Rhys Naylor, both remaining on the sidelines with their respective back and knee injuries, which look set to curtail the season for both riders.

The Royals will once again use the rider replacement facility for Rhys Naylor whilst the guest facility is in operation for Jack Kingston. After his excellent performance in our last home match, Matt Marson once again gets a call up to fill in for Kingston, Matt will take the number 3 race jacket, forming a strong partnership with captain Tom Woolley.

The only other change to the lineup for The Royals from the side that beat Workington a fortnight ago, is that new signing Ashton Vale looks set to make his full debut for Kent at the third time of asking.

Vale declared in the side to replace Sam Woolley, was unavailable for the Workington fixture and has since seen postponements at both Oxford and Workington thwart his attempts to get his Royals career underway. With the rider replacement facility in operation Kent will once again utilise an additional rider to take the number 8 race jacket,  

The first fixture on Sunday will see an aggregate bonus point up for grabs as this is the second league fixture between the two sides. The first fixture at West Row which was the first fixture of the season for both sides saw the Fen Tigers take a 53-37 victory.

The Fen Tigers will be led into the fixture by Kent’s 2022 number 1 Alfie Bowtell. The Fen Tigers are hit by injury concerns of their own, Josh Warren has been ruled out with concussion and his place will be taken by former and recent Kent reserve Sam Woolley. Sam will partner William Richardson in the reserve berth, William is competing in his first full season at NDL level.

The Fen Tigers are captained by the experienced Lee Complin. Lee returned to the shale in 2022 after a ten-year break, and the heat leader trio will be completed by Ben Trigger, who came through the Iwade amateur meetings before starting his professional career.

The side is completed by second strings from very different backgrounds, Barwell born Arran Butcher and Christchurch born George Congreve, Christchurch in New Zealand that is, and no pressure for Congreve in his career but it is the same birthplace as a certain gentleman who went by the name of Ivan Mauger!

After two postponements, Oxford finally got to race with their new reserve Jason Garrad in their recent home fixture against Workington, Jason scored 7+1 on his home debut.

The 2014 Kent King took a break from the sport, but came back with renewed optimism, and has put in impressive displays this season. Leading the charge for Oxford is the current NDL Riders Champion and the highest averaged rider in the League Jordan Jenkins. Hailing from Norfolk, Jordan burst onto the scene with our other opponents Mildenhall back in 2016 and this season sees Jordan competing in all three leagues with Peterborough in the SGB Premiership and the senior Oxford side in the SGB Championship.

Jordan is joined in the Cheetahs by fellow Chargers Henry Atkins and the returning Luke Kileen. Henry came through the Youth racing set up on both shale and the sister sport of Grasstrack. Luke Kileen came through the Australian Youth scene before joining Oxford in an ill-fated 2022 season, which saw him held up by red tape, and then after completing one fixture was injured in a Northern Junior League fixture.

Two former Royals from the 2021 side also line up for Oxford in the form of 2021 captain Ryan Kinsley and second-string Jacob Clouting. Jacob is another who was a regular at practice sessions at Iwade, before being handed his first opportunities with Kent under the old Kings moniker back in 2018.

Completing the side for Oxford is Jody Scott who was unbeaten in the abandoned match from two rides and has previously shown a liking for the Iwade track scoring 13+1 for Berwick on his NDL debut in 2022.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s double header manager Jamie Willis said “Even though we had two rain offs last week our boys have had plenty of bike time in different meetings. Ashton has also been practicing with the Youth Team GB whilst testing some new equipment.”

Speaking about the fixtures Jamie commented “We go into Sunday knowing that we can potentially climb further up the table. However, we know we are in for a battle as both Mildenhall and Oxford are chasing a Play Off place. After our recent performance at home, we are confident of claiming all five points on offer tomorrow, we are riding better than when we last entertained Mildenhall back in April.” the 30-year-old former football coach added “I was delighted with how aggressive we were out of the gate against Workington, something that has been missing most of the season and I expect more of the same!”

The action gets underway at Midday, with gates open from 10.30am for the fixture against Mildenhall. Single admission is available for the Oxford fixture only and admission will only be allowed after Heat 10 of the first match. Supporters holding a restaging ticket from the original Oxford fixture can pay a £12 supplement to allow entry into the other fixture.

Teams in alphabetical order:

Kent Royals: Nathan Ablitt, Connor King, James Laker (No. 8) Matt Marson (guest), Ben Morley, Rhys Naylor, Ashton Vale, Tom Woolley (Capt.)

Mildenhall Fen Tigers: Alfie Bowtell, Arran Butcher, Lee Complin (Capt.), George Congreve, William Richardson, Ben Trigger, Sam Woolley (Unattached 3.00)

Oxford Chargers: Henry Atkins, Jacob Clouting, Jason Garrad, Jordan Jenkins (Capt.), Luke Kileen, Ryan Kinsley, Jody Scott