IT was nearly eight months in the making - Coventry's first win since August 27, 2009 has finally arrived, and hopefully there will never be another run like this again.
A day on from being torn apart 63-29 at Poole, and against a team unbeaten from their opening three Elite League matches, this had the potential to be another difficult, difficult night.
The statistics of the meeting make interesting reading. The Buildbase Bees actually only provided six heat wins - but how they took full advantage of them, because on five occasions the heat win was backed up by a second place for a 5-1. There were just two Coventry last places all night - and not a single 4-2 across the whole match!
Clearly there are still areas to work on, but this at least was a stepping stone to, hopefully, better things. Certainly, it was hugely encouraging to see Rory Schlein and Edward Kennett scoring big and enjoying their racing - and then the superlatives can begin about doubling-up reserve Richard Sweetman.
The young Australian is building his confidence with Birmingham, scoring points for fun for the Brummies, and his paid-15 display showed that he's ready to mix it with the big boys on a regular basis.
Niels-Kristian Iversen, whilst not making the best of starts, was an all-action guest and his one race win came at a crucial stage of proceedings in Heat 13, when the Hammers threw everything in with their second tactical ride.
Iversen had chased Krzysztof Kasprzak all the way in Heat 1 to no avail, with Sweetman moving inside Stuart Robson on the third lap when the former Bees man began to slow, and there were more problems for the visitors in the reserves race when Paul Hurry fell on the last bend when chasing Filip Sitera, as Daniel Davidsson took his trademark Heat 2 win.
But when Bees won, they won with back-up, as in Heat 3 Schlein and Ben Barker trapped from gates 2 and 4, both looked for each other into the first bend, and moved clear of Jonas Davidsson with Kauko Nieminen retiring at the back.
That was positive, and what followed was even better with Adam Shields relegated to third place behind Kennett and Sweetman, who was looking more and more assured with every ride. Suddenly Bees had an eight point lead to defend, a margin they maintained through three shared heats - first when Kasprzak held off a strong Schlein challenge in Heat 5, then with Shields making it four Lakeside wins but with Hurry at the back in Heat 6, and then with a quality first bend by Kennett in the next to block the outside run of Jonas Davidsson.
The meeting then took a bizarre twist as Bees were left baffled by decisions coming from the officials' box, firstly when Robson spun and fell on turn two of lap three of Heat 8, leaving Bees with a clear 5-1 position ahead of Daniel Davidsson.
Although all four riders had completed two laps and the Bees were well set for a 5-1, referee Darryl Clark ruled that a re-run would be required, and justice was fortunately done as Barker and Sweetman squeezed out Davidsson and extended the Coventry lead to twelve.
Shields then took a tactical ride in Heat 9 and there was near uproar as, with Schlein chasing hard and almost moving alongside his opponent, Hurry fell - like Robson - on turn two of lap three, and yet on this occasion the race was awarded - despite the precedent set in Heat 8, the fact that Shields' own team-mate had caused the stoppage, and the race situation being much closer!
With the riders somewhat baffled by the application of the regulations, it was important that Coventry didn't let themselves be dragged back into their own inconsistencies, and still defended their nine-point lead.
Heat 10 was shared as Iversen found himself chasing again, this time with Jonas Davidsson taking the race win, but the Hammers appeared to be in real trouble in Heat 11, when Kasprzak, who had made a great start, suddenly reared up mid-bend and careered across the track and into the fence.
The Pole was lucky not to collect any other riders along the way, and amidst ironic calls for the race to be awarded, Robson kept Lakeside in play with a remarkable effort to switch inside Kennett off the fourth bend at a time when the Coventry captain over-slid slightly whilst looking out for partner Sitera.
In Heat 12, for once both Bees riders missed the start - but what happened next was stunning, as Schlein pegged the inside to go from third to first, whilst Sweetman set about using the outside route on Nieminen and Hurry. He had to throttle back briefly to avoid the fence going into turn three, but then a further application power around the bends took him clean around Hurry and into second place going into lap two, in an absolutely supreme ride.
So Lakeside's second tactical ride was with Kasprzak in Heat 13, the Hammers needing 8-1, 5-1, 5-1 to snatch the win but realistically trying to save a point - but the Bees were ready for it. Iversen picked the perfect moment for a fast start and was never troubled, but the battle between Kennett and Kasprzak was almost X-rated at times with the two swapping positions on several occasions and seemingly coming into contact more than once. Kennett it was who prevailed, holding off a late lunge from Kasprzak, and after the misery of the last month, the Buildbase Bees had all three points in the bag.
Hurry replaced Daniel Davidsson in Heat 14 and produced a consolation 5-1 with Jonas Davidsson, Hurry moving past Sitera going into the last lap after more contact, whilst Barker had a grandstand view as he found his way blocked by the battling pair in front of him.
Shields took the last race, recovering from a Heat 13 last place, with Schlein again chasing hard, but on this occasion it was the all-round strength that was with Coventry, and it was the match win which was with Coventry - and it was undeniably relief all round Brandon.
LAKESIDE 40 Krzysztof Kasprzak 3 3 X 1^ = 7 Stuart Robson R R X 3 = 3 Kauko Nieminen R 1* 0 0 = 1+1 Jonas Davidsson 1 2 3 3 0 = 9 Adam Shields 1 3 6^ 0 3 = 13 Paul Hurry 0 0 X 1 2* = 3+1 Daniel Davidsson 3 0 1 = 4
