The Kent SLYDE Kings ran out 49-41 winners in Monday evening’s Revenge Challenge match against the Brummies.
In a match that was tight for the first ten races all changed when Kent took four heat advantages in the final five races. Two of which were maximum’s in heats 13 and 15.
Leading the Kings score chart were Ben Hopwood and Jack Thomas with 12+1 and 12 respectively and there was a double figure score for captain Luke Bowen. The Brummies who arrived with 6 riders were largely a two man outfit – Taylor Hampshire and Tom Bacon scored 29 of the Brummies 41 between them. Young Hampshire led the away team’s score chart with 15+2 from seven rides, whilst Bacon added 14+1 from his six rides. For Tom this is now 43+1 from his three meetings at Central Park this season.
The meeting got underway in a familiar fashion with Luke Bowen taking the chequered flag in a quick time in what was a shared heat as Layne Cupitt and Tom Bacon shut out Anders Rowe.
The Kings took the lead in Heat 2, George Hunter took the win but only just after Taylor Hampshire came on strong at the end of race. James Laker in his first race as a King got the better of Alex Spooner to give Kent a 4-2.
The visitors took the lead in Heat 4 with a 5-1 from Berwick based Brummie Liam Carr and Taylor Hampshire getting the better of Jack Thomas and George Hunter. The Kings levelled proceedings in the next race with a 4-2 heat advantage from Ben Hopwood and Dan Greenwood finishing either side of Tom Woolley. Kent reopened their 2 point lead in Heat 6 when Luke Bowen rounded Liam Carr to take the victory and with Anders Rowe taking the third place point it was another 4-2 heat advantage. The meeting was levelled once again in Heat 7 when the sizzling Bacon took his second successive heat victory and Tom Woolley tucked in behind Jack Thomas to give Birmingham a 4-2 of their own.
There was then three successive 3-3 shared heats which kept the scores level, the most eventful was Heat 9 when Liam Carr took a spectacular looking fall into the air fence. It was a great relief when he got back to his feet but had to withdraw from the meeting due to his bike being damaged. There was a noticeable heat win in Heat 10 when Tom Bacon lowered the colours of Luke Bowen.
Heat 11 saw a nasty collision between the Birmingham second string Layne Cupitt and the Kent reserve James Laker. Cupitt fell and has he stood up to regain his balance he stepped into the path of the oncoming Laker who tried to avoid a collision. The re-run saw Jack Thomas take his first win of the night and the point gained by James Laker put the Kings back in front.
They extended this lead in Heat 12 as Ben Hopwood produced the ride of the evening to catch Tom Woolley after being a long way behind his rival. Hunter fell but remounted to gain a valuable which now saw the gap stand at 4 points.
4 became 8 in Heat 13 as Luke Bowen and Jack Thomas combined to take the Kings first 5-1 heat advantage of the evening. Jack Thomas took the win with Bowen providing great support as his rear gunner. Heat 14 saw the visitors half the deficit once again as the formidable duo of Tom Bacon and Taylor Hampshire took maximum points over recent Kent signing Dan Greenwood.
The final race saw Jack Thomas and Ben Hopwood team ride to perfection to give the Kings a second 5-1 in three heats and see the final margin of victory stand at 8 points.
The next meeting for Kent is the visit to Stoke on Saturday – this sees the Kings have an opportunity to finish top of the league depending on what happens in the fixture between Belle Vue and Eastbourne.
The next action at Central Park, sees the Kent ‘Code’ Kestrels take on Plymouth and Reading in a Southern Development League Double Header: Admission prices for this fixture are £6 for Adults.
KENT
L.Bowen 3 3 2 2* – – – 10+1
A.Rowe 0 1 1* 1* – – – 3+2
B.Hopwood 2 3 2 3 2* – – 12+1
D.Greenwood 1* 1 1* 1 – – – 4+2
J.Thomas 1 2 3 3 3 – – 12
J.Laker 1 0 1 0 – – – 2
G.Hunter 3 0 2 1 – – – 6
BIRMINGHAM
Rider replacement Jack Parkinson – Blackburn
L.Cupitt 2 0 0 X 0 – – 2
T.Woolley 0 2 1 0 2 0 – 5
T.Bacon 1* 3 3 3 3 1 – 14+1
L.Carr 3 2 X – – – – 5
A.Spooner 0 0 – – – – – 0
T.Hampshire 2 2* 3 3 2 1 2* 15+2
HT
1. Bowen, Cupitt, Bacon, Rowe, 59.3 (3-3)
2. Hunter, Hampshire, Laker, Spooner, 62.0 (7-5)
3. Bacon, Hopwood, Greenwood, Woolley, 59.1 (10-8)
4. Carr, Hampshire, Thomas, Hunter, 60.5 (11-13)
5. Hopwood, Woolley, Greenwood, Cupitt, 60.1 (15-15)
6. Bowen, Carr, Rowe, Spooner, 60.6, (19-17)
7. Bacon, Thomas, Woolley, Laker, 60.4 (21-21)
8. Hampshire, Hunter, Rowe, Cupitt, 60.8 (24-24)
9. ( re-run) (awarded) Hampshire, Hopwood, Greenwood, Carr ( f.exc),Spooner ( exc.2 mins), no time (27-27)
10. Bacon, Bowen, Rowe, Woolley, 60.4 (30-30)
11. (re-run) Thomas, Hampshire, Laker, Cupitt (f.exc), 61.7 (34-32)
12. Hopwood, Woolley, Hunter (f.rem), 61.8 (38-34)
13. Thomas, Bowen, Hampshire, Cupitt, 60.7 (43-35)
14. ( awarded) Bacon, Hampshire, Greenwood, Laker ( f.exc), no time (44-40)
15. Thomas, Hopwood, Bacon, Woolley, 60.8 (49-41)
Picture supplied by Elizabeth Leslie.