Monday evening will be easily the biggest date in the Kent CTA Fire Kings short history as they take on Coventry Storm in the National League play-offs.

Having finished third in the league in only their second season, after a great run of results including five wins from their last six NL fixtures, the Central Park based club take on the side just one point above them in the table, second-placed Coventry Storm.

The first leg is on Monday at Central Park at 6:30pm with the CTA Fire Kings aiming to build as big as possible a lead to take into the second leg up in the West Midlands which follows 11 days later.

All indications suggest this two legged encounter is too close to call, as when the sides met home and away earlier in the campaign the aggregate score was 92-91 in favour of the Kent side.

With a number of changes since those early season encounters though, it is difficult to judge that as an indicator of what will happen over the two legs of the play offs; but the CTA Fire Kings will be cheered by going into the fixture at full strength and buoyed up by their brilliant away win at King’s Lynn a week ago.

For the visitors, they have lost their twice GB Under 19s champ Stefan Nielsen to injury but of course now they do have the current holder of that title at number one Oliver Greenwood making a quick fire return after his national title heroics and defending a remarkable unbeaten record around the Central Park circuit which now stretches to 11 successive heat wins.

He’s joined by namesake (though no relation), Daniel Greenwood himself also a former national champ: in Dan’s case, the GB under 15s back in 2007.  Missing back in June but reporting for duty as the Storm’s skipper this time is James Sarjeant (unless he is called upon by the senior Bees side who go into regulation Elite League action the same evening at Belle Vue – Sarjeant being the Fast track draftee for the Coventry side who’ve done the ‘double’ by reaching the EL play-offs too).

With Luke Crang out after a prang and on the long-term injury list (alongside Nielsen), the unlucky Storm have enlisted the services of a Priest, Luke Priest to be exact, the former Stoke & Mildenhall man adding an experienced backbone to a strong line-up.

At reserve both Martin Knuckey and Ryan Terry-Daley have shown glimpses of good form at the Kent circuit before, the popular Anglo-Kiwi, Terry-Daley having scored an impressive paid nine in the Storm’s last visit.

With a rider replacement being utilised for Nielsen, we shouldn’t be surprised if the Coventry management make use of their named no. 8, the Mercia Vikings junior who did so well on his Central Park competitive debut in the GB under 19s, Gravesend-based Ellis Perks.