Kent SLYDE Kings’ away draws are like London buses… They never come and then two come along at once! 
Yes, a second consecutive away match ended in 45-45 parity: the difference being on this occasion (at Brandon on Friday night versus the Coventry Storm) that, as this was the second leg of a cup tie which Kent led by 14 points from the first leg, there was only team celebrating at the end of a fairly extraordinary evening’s racing!
The bottom line was the 14 point lead gained last Monday at the SLYDE Kings’ Central Park home was never put under any threat whatsoever – with the opening eight heats all drawn. Such a run of 3-3s is barely precedented and was made up of five wins from home stars (the Storm having to utilise for their top scorer from Monday, Dan Greenwood who was absent on Premier League duty) and three from the visitors: two apiece by the Kent skipper Ben Morley who was to have a totally dominant evening’s racing and James Shanes, returning to his former home track.
This was Speedway team racing at its best showing how the scoring system requires both riders to gain dominance over opponents in order to move ahead: the fact was for every heat winner, there were opponents in second and third places and that means no one side is gaining an advantage. Certainly no-one in the Kent camp was going to be troubled by such a run of 3-3s, which saw the meeting more than half way through and not one point knocked off that hard gained first leg advantage.
They’d been moments where it had looked as if the deadlock on the night could be broken. Danny Ayres tried everything in his power in an eventful heat three to get past the Storm’s skipper Luke Crang; meanwhile as Ayres efforts fell just short, his racing partner Aaron Baseby took Rob Shuttleworth on the final lap to keep the run of shared heats going.
Heat six started as if the run was to be broken with Crang and the impressive Martin Knuckey gating ahead of the SLYDE Kings’ pairing – but James Shanes (who’d travelled through the night from Germany to take his place after his midweek Long Track exploits on the Continent) was having none of it. picking off both opponents to take his second win on the night.
Danny Ayres’ over-exuberance at the start of heat 7 could’ve caused a problem: the tapes were touched and he was back off a 15 metres handicap in the restart. However, the buccaneering Ayres was in determined mood, passing the Storm’s rookie reserve Callum Walker and then getting past team-mate Baseby before running the Storm’s top scorer Darryl Ritchings very close.
Heat 8 has proven Kent’s bet noire on previous away outings but in a rerun race after both Adam Sheppard and the Storm’s Connor Dwyer had gone down heavily, Sheppard and team mate Danno Verge were solid enough this time behind Knuckey. Punters were racking their brains: had there ever been a match of all 3-3s before? Could a record be set?
The answer (to the first question at least) was ‘no’ – as heat 9 finally saw an advantage gained. The unbeaten Shanes was lining up against Ritchings & Shuttleworth with Jamie Couzins the other Kings’ man. Exiting bend two young James was the unfortunate ‘meat in the sandwich’ with Ritchings who was leading and Shuttleworth coming through hard on the inside: a nasty tumble ensued with Shanes badly shaken and unfortunately excluded. On his own in the rerun, Couzins could make little impression on the Storm pairing: at last a 5-1 and a four point gap on the night.
The ship needed steadying so cue Danny Ayres – in a superb battle with Crang where the two passed and repassed with the Kings’ 2014 Rider of the Year prevailing in the end. Knuckey was in third: the run of 3-3s began again.
Morley blew away the opposition in the next race and the surprise packet of the night for the homesters Dwyer was a victor in heat 12.
Heat 13 saw Morley and Shanes paired together versus the home side’s top two, Crang & Ritchings. Something would have to give here surely but though Ben was brilliant in winning, James was now clearly feeling the effects of his bad tumble and fell at the back.
The referee’s decision not to stop the race led to a rather hairy moment as the teenager just managed to clear the track in time. Another shared heat meant the SLYDE Kings’ place in the semi final was assured but could they snatch something on the night from the two remaining races?
A shed chain by Sheppard in the penultimate race meant Ayes’ second win of the night lead to a remarkable 13th. shared 3-3 of the match. Another one in heat 15 would give the plucky Coventry outfit the consolation of a win on the night at least: for the visitors, represented by Morley & Ayres only a 5-1 would ensure a share of the spoils in the second leg.
And to the delight of another healthily sized contingent of travelling Kent fans, a 5-1 was duly delivered: Morley completing his 15 point maximum and a resurgent Ayres taking the all-important second place, impressively keeping Crang & Ritchings at bay. 45-45 on the day and a healthy 97-83 win on aggregate!
All that was left was for the Bronze Helmet to be contested.
The Match Race Championship had gone Coventry’s way the previous Monday when Dan Greenwood had out muscled the holder Morley. Sadly Greenwood was not available to defend it because of his absence, but the rule is a team mate is nominated to assume the mantle – the pick was Ritchings but as had been the case during the preceding match, the Storm top scorer proved no match for the imperious Morley.
Ben’s maximum means he remains top of the NL averages: the first rider in the history of the Kent club to top the ratings.
Coventry Storm 45 ( agg: 83)
1 Luke Crang 1′,3,1′,2,1′,1 9+3
2 Martin Knuckey 2,1′,2,3,1′ 9+2
3 R/R
4 Rob Shuttleworth 0,2,2′, F,2 6+1
5 Darryl Ritchings 2,3,3′,2,2,0 12+1
6 Callum Walker 0,0,1′ 1+1
7 Connor Dwyer 3,1′,0,1′,3 8+2
Kent Kings 45 (agg: 97)
1 Ben Morley 3,3,3,3,3 15 (M)
2 Danno Verge 0,0,2,0 2
3 Aaron Baseby 1′,1′,0,2 4+2
4 Danny Ayres 2,2,3,3,2′ 12+1
5 James Shanes 3,3,X,F 6
6 Jamie Couzins 1′,0,1,1′ 3+2
7 Adam Sheppard 2′,0,1′,R 3+2
Heat 1 Morley, Knuckey, Crang, Verge (3-3)
Heat 2 Dwyer, Sheppard, Couzins, Walker (6-6)
Heat 3 Crang, Ayres, Baseby, Shuttleworth (9-9)
Heat 4 Shanes, Ritchings, Dwyer, Sheppard (12-12)
Heat 5 Morley, Shuttleworth, Knuckey, Verge (15-15)
Heat 6 Shanes, Crang, Knuckey, Couzins (18-18)
Heat 7 (rerun) Ritchings, Ayres, Baseby, Walker (21-21)
Heat 8 (rerun) Knuckey, Verge, Sheppard, Dwyer (24-24)
Heat 9 (rerun) Ritchings, Shuttleworth, Couzins, Shanes (fell exc.) (29-25)
Heat 10 Ayres, Crang, Knuckey, Baseby (32-28)
Heat 11 Morley, Ritchings, Dwyer, Verge (35-31)
Heat 12 Dwyer, Baseby, Couzins, Shuttleworth (fell) (38-34)
Heat 13 (rerun) Morley, Ritchings, Crang, Shanes (fell) (41-37)
Heat 14 Ayres, Shuttleworth, Walker, Sheppard (EF) (44-40)
Heat 15 Morley, Ayres, Crang, Ritchings 1-5 (45-45)
BRONZE HELMET: Morley beat, Ritchings to regain Match Race Championship
Image courtesy of Elizabeth Leslie