A stirring late comeback from the Kent SLYDE Kings meant that the Sittingbourne-based side finished off their City Gearboxes National League campaign with a deserved bonus point up in Norfolk – going down to the King’s Lynn Young Stars by 43 points to 49.

The bonus had seemed a very long way off with just five heats remaining: 14 points behind and staring down the barrel of a big defeat. Only the efforts of the ever reliable skipper Ben Morley (currently in the best form of his season, arguably of his whole career) and a very lively James Shanes had kept the SLYDE Kings’ heads above water at that juncture: Shanes unbeaten from three rides including a double points win in heat 9 and Morley carrying on from where he’d left it on Monday making it 8 straight wins (5 versus Rye House at Central Park and a further three at the start of this match).

But despite five heat winners in the opening ten heats, three damaging 5-1s by the hosts saw the Kings’ trailing by a distance. For Danny Ayres it was shaping up into a night to forget – the visiting Kent fans making a quickfire return to the Adrian Flux Arena scene of Morley & Ayres’ glorious Pairs victory of just six days previously, were left to ponder how Danny then had been so immaculate but today opened up with two exclusions, two falls and no points from three outings. Certainly though in the scheme of things the Newmarket racer had picked the right day (last Saturday) to leave those kind of foibles behind in his kit bag!
Guest for the absent Aaron Baseby, Georgie Wood battled gamely but Danno Verge and the injury-hit Ben Basford (battling on bravely despite a broken finger) were struggling.

The final third of the meeting saw a turnaround though in the Kings’ fortunes. Heats 11 & 12 saw consecutive 4-2s to the visitors – Morley with that third unbeaten ride and Basford getting off the mark; and then Ayres at last securing some points with a win in heat 12 – Verge adding the one extra point .

Morley & Shanes’ respective maximum hopes were dashed by the Young Stars’ top scorer Bailey in heat 13 but a 3-3 mean there was still a slim hope of getting the bonus. And that became reality with Wood & Basford securing a shared heat in the penultimate race and the imperious Shanes & Morley combining for the 5-1 needed in the nominated riders race to reduce the losing margin for the SLYDE Kings to just six points.

Looking back then it was a meeting where of the 15 heats the SLYDE Kings produced the majority of race winners (8 to 7) and so one could only rue the misfortune of Ayres’ utterly uncharacteristic zero return from his first three rides; and note too how yet again a high-scoring reserve had scuppered the Kent side’s chances: Bailey’s cream of the crop paid 15 from seven rides for the hosts making all the necessary difference.

So the Kent SLYDE Kings finish the season on 18 points and are currently laying in 8th. position. A fourth bonus point gained away from home added to the draw achieved back in May at Rye House has been a not wholly unsatisfactory return from the side’s travels. Ultimately team boss Chris Hunt and his charges will rue the five home defeats rather more than poor away days when they stop to conduct an inquest on this CGNL campaign.

Next up though for the squad is a chance to scrap for individual glory with a highly competitive looking open meeting to be held at Central Park on Monday: the Silver Ski Holidays Championship, start time 6.30pm.
King’s Lynn Young Stars 49
Ellis Perks [G] 2 ,2, 3, 3, X 10
Scott Campos 1′, 1′, 1′, 3, 2′, 1 9+4
Ryan Kinsley – 3,1′ ,1′ 5+2
Shane Hazelden 2′, 2, 2, 3, 0 9+1
Rider Replacement – Tom Stokes
Layne Cupitt 2′, R, F, 0 2+1
Josh Bailey 3, 2, 2′, 2, X,2, 3 14+1

Kent SLYDE Kings 43
Ben Morley 3, 3, 3, 2, 2′ 13+1
Rider Replacement – Jamie Couzins
Danny Ayres X, X,0,3 3
Georgie Wood [G] 1, 2, 1, 1, 2 7
James Shanes 3, 3, 6^, 1′ ,3 16+1
Danno Verge 1, 0, F,0, 1 2
Ben Basford 0, 0, 0, X, 1, 1′ 2+1

Heat Results
Heat 1 Morley, Perks, Campos, Basford 62.51 [3-3]
Heat 2 Bailey, Cupitt, Verge, Basford 61.91 [8-4]
Heat 3 (rerun) Kinsley, Hazelden, Wood, Ayres (exc.) 62.31 [13-5]
Heat 4 Shanes Bailey Campos Basford (fell rem.) 61.00 [16-8]
Heat 5 Morley, Hazelden, Kinsley, Verge 62.11 [19-11]
Heat 6 (awarded) Shanes, Perks, Campos, Verge (fell) no time [22-14]
Heat 7 (rerun) Perks, Wood, Cupitt (ret.), Ayres (fell exc.) 62.22 [25-16]
Heat 8 (rerun) Campos, Bailey, Wood, Basford (fell exc.) 62.94 [30-17]
Heat 9 Shanes [T/R],Bailey, Kinsley, Verge 61.46 [33-23]
Heat 10 Perks, Campos, Wood, Ayres (fell rem.) 63.26 [38-24]
Heat 11 (awarded) Morley, Hazelden, Basford, Bailey (exc.) no time (40-28)
Heat 12 (rerun) Ayres, Bailey, Verge, Cuppit (fell) 63.32 [42-32]
Heat 13 (rerun) Bailey, Morley, Shanes, Perks (exc.) 62.84 [45-35]
Heat 14 Hazelden, Wood, Basford, Cupitt 64.57 [48-38]
Heat 15 Shanes, Morley, Campos, Hazelden 62.69 [49-43]