The Kent SLYDE Kings reigned supreme in Sussex with a 49-40 victory over Eastbourne which sealed the Kings Play Off position. Eastbourne had not been beaten at home in official competition since joining the National League at the beginning of the 2015 season.

The Kings have now qualified for three successive Play Off campaigns when the have decided the outcome of the league title, having previously qualified in 2014 and 2016 – in 2015 the top 4 qualified for the Cup.

The Kings were led from the front with captain Luke Bowen in top form and top scoring with 14 points, he dropping his only point of the match to Eastbourne number 1 Jake Knight in Heat 13. There was another double figure contribution from reserve with George Hunter who chipped in with paid 11. Jack Thomas and Dan Greenwood also added paid 10.

Despite being 4 points down after Heat 2 the Kings levelled the scored in Heat 4 with a 5-1 heat advantage from the pairing of Jack Thomas who took the race win and second placed Hunter too get the better of the Eastbourne rider Tom Brennan.

The scores were still level after successive shared heats in Heats 5 and 6, but the Kings added a second 5-1 heat advantage in the seventh from reliable pairing of Ben Hopwood and Dan Greenwood. This put the Kings 4 points up and from there they never looked back.

There was drama in Heat 10; the first two stagings of the race saw two riders excluded. In the first attempt to run the race Jake Knight got out of shape and impeded Dan Greenwood. The race was stopped and the Eagle was thrown out of the race. In the second staging Ben Hopwood and Tom Brennan were scrapping hard over second place when the Kent rider came down and like Knight was thrown out of the race. The two rider third attempt to run the race ended with Tom Brennan beating Dan Greenwood, but the Kings still led by three points.

This was stretched to five points in Heat 11 when Luke Bowen reeled off his third successive win ahead of Brennan and with Anders Rowe taking third it was a 4-2 heat advantage to the Kings. The lead was cut to three points once again when Josh Bailey and Matt Bates finished with side of Ben Hopwood which gave the home side a moment of hope as the match headed into the final three heats.

Heat 13 was shared, but the match was sealed in Heat 14 when Kings duo of George Hunter and Dan Greenwood took maximum points, and the final gloss was added in Heat 15 with a 4-2 heat advantage from Luke Bowen and Jack Thomas.

This victory gives Kent a chance of going top of the Travel Plus National League table heading into another vital match tomorrow evening at Buxton.