King's Lynn birthday boy enjoys a night to remember as Stars beat Witches in League Cup

Monday’s Premiership League Cup home derby triumph over Ipswich Witches was a memorable birthday occasion for King’s Lynn Stars’ Norfolk rider Jack Thomas, who turned 23.

Lynn last night (Thursday) bid to make it a League Cup clean sweep at Ipswich.

Their 56-34 victory at the start of the week meant the Minors & Brady Stars sealed a place in the final irrespective of what happened at Foxhall Heath.

The rest of Lynn’s one-to-seven gave the Norwich-born prospect a rendition of ‘happy birthday’, both in the pits and at the post-meeting press conference.

The reserve rider said: “The boys got a cake, brought in by Josh (skipper Pickering) which is probably better than mum’s, I’m not going to lie.

“She was a baker but they are pretty good.”

Thomas scored 4+2 against the Witches and said: “Tonight I’m really pleased with how I got on. Last week was the same, I took every high from the meeting I could.

“Personally, I felt I rode well, I just wasn’t on the pace from the off.

“It’s a hard track to come to and learn for any reserve as it’s a tough place.

“Tonight I felt like I started to get somewhere with set-ups with everyone helping me.

“Everyone’s support is just great. Yeah I started to feel like I was getting somewhere, definitely.”

This followed a 13+2 return for Oxford in the Championship at Newcastle.

Thomas added: “Not many people like Newcastle and to be honest the track was diabolical but I got to where I enjoyed it. (Seven-times British champion) Scott Nicholls is a craftsman of the sport and told me how to ride it.”

After some social media banter from the Foxhall camp before the derby, team boss Alex Brady observed: “The boys did our talking on the track tonight.”