The Kent CTA Fire Kings made it third time lucky on Bank Holiday Monday as they took victory over Mildenhall Fen Tigers.
A large Central Park crowd saw the home side’s resources stretched to the very limit to emerge triumphant after the most traumatic of weekends was capped with victory!
Having lost key men Benji Compton (broken hand) and Brandon Freemantle (concussion) after the travails of long and ultimately unsuccessful road trips to Coventry and Stoke earlier in the piece, the Bank Holiday weekend certainly got no easier for the CTA Fire-sponsored Kings when Luke Chessell crashed out in heat one of the National League battle versus 2012 champions Mildenhall and after bravely opting to ride on for two more outings the Kent number two rider was forced to withdraw with severe bruising.
The visitors got the better of the early salvoes of a battle which from the outset was destined to go to the wire, with former Kings favourite Jack Kingston realising the fears of Kent fans by heading home the current side’s skipper Simon Lambert and his vice-captain David Mason to win both his opening rides on what was at that point shaping up to be a triumphant return for the Barking & Dagenham-born youngster.
What was even more of a potential dagger through the heart of a beleaguered Kings’ outfit was when fellow defector to the ranks of the Suffolk side, Connor Coles also headed home Lambert in heat six. On the positive side, current form man Ben Morley was at that point well into a winning roll which was to see him record a career-best full maximum; and Mason – looking back to his very best – was to shake off the reverse by his young prodigy Kingston, to serve up a paid 15 points return also.
The efforts of the ‘M’ squad was certainly keeping the Kings afloat, aided and abetted by a crucial comeback win by Lambert over an impressive Brendan Johnson and sterling efforts against the odds by the very inexperienced reserve duo of Luke Harris and NL debutant Danny Ayres. Thrown in at the deep end in a huge injury crisis for their brand-new employers, the 2014-newcomers pairing plucked out a double figures return between them which ultimately was to decide the match in Kent’s favour.
Heats 11 through to 14 sealed the win for the home side, with Messrs Morley and Mason winning two races apiece in this crucial endgame part of proceedings; and to turn what had been a difficult day of spills and stoppages (with paramedic duty and fence rebuilding so crucial) into a day of celebration, the two top scorers teamed up in heat 15 to record a 5-1 to send a patient Bank Holiday crowd into raptures.
Vice captain Mason – in charge of post-match reflections as skipper Lambert headed off at double quick speed to represent his Elite League side Birmingham in an away match way down the M4 at Swindon later in the evening.
He said: “Well that was certainly a match full of incident, great for a large Bank Holiday crowd to watch, I’m sure – but it certainly wasn’t good for my heart! To take all three league points when it looked at one stage as if we wouldn’t get anything was pretty special. I knew going out in Heat 15 that Ben and I needed a 3-3 to win the meeting but to get a 5-1 was fantastic. “
Result:
Kent CTA Fire Kings 48 (Ben Morley 15 (Maximum); David Mason 14+1; Simon Lambert 7; Luke Harris 6+1; Danny Ayres 4; Niall Strudwick 1+1; Luke Chessell 1+1) Mildenhall 40 (NL)
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