Injury jinx strikes again as King’s Lynn’s play-off hopes suffer a blow with defeat at Birmingham
Lynn’s play-off hopes took a hit with a 49-41 defeat at ROWE Motor Oil Premiership basement club Birmingham on Monday.
The PSH Environmental Stars did secure the aggregate point from Perry Barr, but it was a meeting that they really had been looking to win in order to put pressure on fourth-placed Leicester.
But on the night their previous injuries caught up with them as both Ben Cook and Jan Kvech were victims of the undulations in the Birmingham track, and they were withdrawn after two and three rides respectively, having aggravated their existing wrist and shoulder problems.
That left skipper Nicolai Klindt leading the charge and the remainder of the top five all chipping in, whilst Rising Star youngster Luke Harrison put in a terrific performance, including his first race win at this level.
Manager Rob Lyon said: “It’s always going to be tough when you’ve got five riders away from home, and once again the injury bug has beaten us unfortunately.
“We were strong enough to win tonight, but fair play to Birmingham, they’ve taken advantage. The track was very difficult, especially early on, and it played its part in our boys having to pull out.
“Ben just couldn’t hold on, the wrist wasn’t strong enough, and although both he and Jan with his shoulder felt this place would be okay to cope with the problems they have, it wasn’t to be.
“It’s a big blow for us because obviously we were looking to get three points here and managed to get one, but you can’t avoid injuries and they’ve beaten us again.
“Luke was tremendous, and you can see the progress the boy is making meeting after meeting, he’s getting better and better. He rode really well, and ironically it was a good team performance but you just can’t carry two riders.”
Lynn were outgated in the early stages and conceded 5-1s in Heats 1 and 3 as a result, and they had a fortunate escape in Heat 2 when the home duo tangled on turn three as Ben Barker ran into Sam Hagon when his team-mate hit mechanical trouble.
As Harrison took a super win over Barker in the re-run, Kvech was left in third place and it was clear that the rough Perry Parr surface would not suit his injured shoulder.
With Stars trailing 15-9, Klindt began to take control with fast wins in both Heats 4 and 6, the latter turning out to be the only defeat of the night for former Stars rider Tobiasz Musielak.
Kvech added third place ahead of Paco Castagna to reduce the gap to four points, but the race of the night in Heat 7 was the final involvement for Cook who was clearly struggling as he dropped to the back, whilst Chris Harris won a ding-dong last lap scrap with Matej Zagar for the win.
Stars battled their way back to just two points down with a 4-2 in Heat 8 as Niels-Kristian Iversen took the win with Harrison neatly moving inside Hagon for third place, and Klindt kept up his winning run in the next – but a ragged start from the outside spelt the end of any further involvement for Kvech.
Harrison took another excellent third place at the expense of Castagna in Heat 10 and Stars moved level at 33-33 in the next as Richard Lawson defeated Zagar and Iversen added third place.
The double withdrawal, though, was going to make the closing stages tough, and Jonas Jeppsen frustrated the Stars by winning a shared Heat 12, whilst Musielak fended off every attack from Richard Lawson and Klindt in the next.
With no options available, Stars had to go with just youngster Harrison in Heat 14 and he lost out from the start to Keynan Rew and Barker to take the Brummies to the brink of victory.
A 5-1 back for Lynn in Heat 15 would have set up a Super Heat, but the odds were against them as Birmingham had gate choice, and this proved significant with Rew and Musielak racing clear in from Lawson and Klindt to seal the home win, with Stars edging the aggregate outcome by a single point.
The Stars will now await fitness updates on Cook and Kvech ahead of their important trip to Leicester on Thursday.
Birmingham 49: Tobiasz Musielak 13+1, Keynan Rew 12+2, Jonas Jeppesen 8, Matej Zagar 6, Ben Barker 5+2, Paco Castagna 4+1, Sam Hagon 1+1.
King's Lynn 41: Nicolai Klindt 10+1, Luke Harrison 8+1, Richard Lawson 7+1, Chris Harris 7+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7+1, Jan Kvech 2, Ben Cook 0.
The PSH Environmental Stars did secure the aggregate point from Perry Barr, but it was a meeting that they really had been looking to win in order to put pressure on fourth-placed Leicester.
But on the night their previous injuries caught up with them as both Ben Cook and Jan Kvech were victims of the undulations in the Birmingham track, and they were withdrawn after two and three rides respectively, having aggravated their existing wrist and shoulder problems.
That left skipper Nicolai Klindt leading the charge and the remainder of the top five all chipping in, whilst Rising Star youngster Luke Harrison put in a terrific performance, including his first race win at this level.
Manager Rob Lyon said: “It’s always going to be tough when you’ve got five riders away from home, and once again the injury bug has beaten us unfortunately.
“We were strong enough to win tonight, but fair play to Birmingham, they’ve taken advantage. The track was very difficult, especially early on, and it played its part in our boys having to pull out.
“Ben just couldn’t hold on, the wrist wasn’t strong enough, and although both he and Jan with his shoulder felt this place would be okay to cope with the problems they have, it wasn’t to be.
“It’s a big blow for us because obviously we were looking to get three points here and managed to get one, but you can’t avoid injuries and they’ve beaten us again.
“Luke was tremendous, and you can see the progress the boy is making meeting after meeting, he’s getting better and better. He rode really well, and ironically it was a good team performance but you just can’t carry two riders.”
Lynn were outgated in the early stages and conceded 5-1s in Heats 1 and 3 as a result, and they had a fortunate escape in Heat 2 when the home duo tangled on turn three as Ben Barker ran into Sam Hagon when his team-mate hit mechanical trouble.
As Harrison took a super win over Barker in the re-run, Kvech was left in third place and it was clear that the rough Perry Parr surface would not suit his injured shoulder.
With Stars trailing 15-9, Klindt began to take control with fast wins in both Heats 4 and 6, the latter turning out to be the only defeat of the night for former Stars rider Tobiasz Musielak.
Kvech added third place ahead of Paco Castagna to reduce the gap to four points, but the race of the night in Heat 7 was the final involvement for Cook who was clearly struggling as he dropped to the back, whilst Chris Harris won a ding-dong last lap scrap with Matej Zagar for the win.
Stars battled their way back to just two points down with a 4-2 in Heat 8 as Niels-Kristian Iversen took the win with Harrison neatly moving inside Hagon for third place, and Klindt kept up his winning run in the next – but a ragged start from the outside spelt the end of any further involvement for Kvech.
Harrison took another excellent third place at the expense of Castagna in Heat 10 and Stars moved level at 33-33 in the next as Richard Lawson defeated Zagar and Iversen added third place.
The double withdrawal, though, was going to make the closing stages tough, and Jonas Jeppsen frustrated the Stars by winning a shared Heat 12, whilst Musielak fended off every attack from Richard Lawson and Klindt in the next.
With no options available, Stars had to go with just youngster Harrison in Heat 14 and he lost out from the start to Keynan Rew and Barker to take the Brummies to the brink of victory.
A 5-1 back for Lynn in Heat 15 would have set up a Super Heat, but the odds were against them as Birmingham had gate choice, and this proved significant with Rew and Musielak racing clear in from Lawson and Klindt to seal the home win, with Stars edging the aggregate outcome by a single point.
The Stars will now await fitness updates on Cook and Kvech ahead of their important trip to Leicester on Thursday.
Birmingham 49: Tobiasz Musielak 13+1, Keynan Rew 12+2, Jonas Jeppesen 8, Matej Zagar 6, Ben Barker 5+2, Paco Castagna 4+1, Sam Hagon 1+1.
King's Lynn 41: Nicolai Klindt 10+1, Luke Harrison 8+1, Richard Lawson 7+1, Chris Harris 7+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7+1, Jan Kvech 2, Ben Cook 0.
