The Kent SLYDE Kings took another huge step towards the Travel Plus Tours National League [TPTNL] Play Offs with a narrow victory over Birmingham in a thrilling match at Central Park Stadium on Bank Holiday Monday with Kent running out 46-43 winners.

For the home side it was all round strength in depth which won the day, as unusually for a winning side they only took the chequered flag on five occasions to the visitors 10 – the difference was that apart from one occasion, Kent converted heat winners into heat advantages to gain the crucial match points advantage. Recent signing Paul Hurry topped the scorechart with 11 from his 5 rides and there was strong backup from Alex Spooner with 8+3, Nathan Stoneman 8 and Anders Rowe 6+2.

The Brummies were essentially a dual attack force formed of Tom Bacon, who was on the boil with four heat wins in his 13 point haul and former Kent rider James Shanes who dropped just one point (to Hurry) to register 13+1.

The only time the Kings were behind was after the opening race when Bacon sizzled away from the gate and took the win in the quickest time of the evening from Hurry. In the reserves race the Kings went ahead through a maximum heat advantage from pairing Spooner (defying injury to turn in another excellent performance) and Jamie Couzins. Couzins was having a good fight over second spot with Josh Embleton before the Newcastle based rider fell at the end of the second lap.

In a meeting with lots of close racing heats four and five were two thrillers. Heat four saw Kent captain Jack Thomas gate with the Brummies pair of Shanes and Embleton holding the minor places; then Shanes found the drive to get pass Thomas before Spooner wound it on round the outside on bends one and two on the last lap to pass Embleton.

Heat five then saw a great race between Nathan Stoneman and the Brummies’ skipper, Bacon. Welsh Dragon, Stoneman gated and held the lead until the very end when Bacon turned up the heat and found the drive off the last bend to steal the win on the line.

The two sides swapped 4-2 heat advantages in heats six and seven – two more excellent races to thrill the large holiday crowd. The first saw the vastly experienced Hurry come hard inside his young rival Shanes after swapping places to take the lead and firmly shut the door to take the win.

Heat seven saw the West Midlanders’ highly rated teenager Leon Flint come to the party, making a a stunning outside pass on the home captain Thomas – this left the Kings two points to the good, before the home side registered their second maximum heat advantage in the eighth race to pull a very useful six ahead.

The Kings led 33-27 at the interval during which the annual Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund (SRBF) collection. The SRBF is the charity which helps injured riders both currently racing and those whose careers have been cut short by injury and in a fantastic effort, the fans of both teams raised £1,122.90.

Kent’s lead was cut to four points after Heat 11 which featured a heart stopping moment for Thomas who hit a hole on bend three and was launched from the saddle of his bike, amazingly landing back on the bike and keeping second place! This was followed by an even more eventful Heat 12.

Stoneman gated from Danyon Hume; the Brummies’ rider not long back from injury then fell on the opening lap but remounted not too far behind the rest of the pack. His team mate Sheldon Davies then fell, clearing the track; on the last bend Hume tried to catch Spooner to claim second spot but got too much drive and crashed spectacularly giving the Kings an ultimately match-winning 5-0 heat advantage. Hume was taken from the track in the ambulance with a suspected collarbone injury.

The away side staged a fight back in the last three heats claiming a 5-1 and a 4-2 but the hosts had just enough about them to hold on and claim all three match points for their efforts; whilst Birmingham take a consolation bonus point for their efforts. The last race saw a controversial initial staging, Stoneman being disqualified for a first turn incident which could easily have been called as all four back.

Co-promoter Len Silver was a very happy man at securing the vital three points, “It’s a massive step towards the Play Offs to get the league points we needed against a very powerful and determined Birmingham side. And the architect of our win was undoubtedly our battered and bruised reserve, Alex Spooner.”

“He struggled all evening with severe pain after his bad crash just six days earlier and was pleased to get it all behind him! But he was not alone as everyone dug deep and each producing some occasional brilliance. And the large Bank Holiday attendance confirmed the popularity of Speedway in Kent.”

The SLYDE-sponsored Kings are now six points clear of Birmingham in second place in the TPTNL table. Defending champions Belle Vue are one point further behind and they are Chris Hunt’s charges’ next opponents – up in Manchester on Friday (31/8). The next day (Saturday 1/9) the Play Off chase takes the Kings’ to their most local rivals, Eastbourne – the Eagles looking for a late charge into the top four as they play ‘catch up’ in terms of fixtures.

The next home action at Kent Speedway is next Monday (3rd. September) and it couldn’t be a bigger challenge to the Kings’ long unbeaten home record in the TPTNL, as runaway division leaders Mildenhall Fen Tigers visit Central Park Stadium – normal start time of 6.30pm (gates at 5pm).