WHEN Freddie Lindgren is in the opposing side, Heat 15 is never over until the chequered flag - and another last-lap dash from the Swede sent Coventry out of the KO Cup at the quarter-final stage.
Last year it was Lindgren's effort in the final race of an Elite League fixture which took him past both Chris Harris and Edward Kennett to snatch a draw for his side; this time he managed to split Harris and Krzysztof Kasprzak to book a semi-final place for Wolves against Eastbourne.
When the Bees duo led the deciding race for three laps, and then again when Kasprzak charged down the inside off turn four to finish neck-and-neck with Lindgren, it looked like the Midlands rivals would have to meet again in a replay with the scores tied.
But in fact it was Lindgren who had got to the line first by a fraction, the freeze-frame confirming that referee Dale Entwistle had called it correctly as Bees go out of the Cup before the semi-finals for the first time since 2005.
That season, of course, still ended in drama and glory as Bees secured the Elite League title at Belle Vue, and that now becomes their sole focus ahead of Monday's second leg showdown at Poole.
And that meeting is one they seem certain to go into without Kennett after an unfortunate Heat 5 incident left Coventry's third heat-leader with a broken ankle when he hit the fence on the third bend - meaning even more effort will be required from the remaining six riders to cover for his likely absence.
Track conditions for the Cup-tie were thankfully much easier for the riders than in the Grand Final three days earlier, another soaking throughout the afternoon on Wednesday having given way to a sunny and warm day on Thursday offering good drying conditions. Another advantage was that the track team were denied the expert preparation skills of the South coast's ace Midlands weather forecaster, whose tiresome ramblings over recent days suggest that he is the only person in the sport who is not aware of the consequences of blading (or even shovelling?) an already-saturated track.
The much-delayed second leg tie got underway in almost exactly the same fashion as in the aborted attempt to run the meeting last week, with another close-fought battle up-front between Lindgren and Kasprzak in Heat 1 with the two riders swapping places twice before Lindgren moved through into lap two. Behind them, Ty Proctor rode hard to get on terms with Richard Sweetman and rounded his fellow Aussie at the start of the last lap to give Wolves an opening 4-2.
Heat 2 also followed an identical pattern to last week with the Coventry reserves romping to a clear 5-1, Przemyslaw Pawlicki and Lewis Bridger racing away from Ludvig Lindgren - but the Wolves No.7 would recover to play a key part in the remainder of proceedings.
Heat 3 produced close action from first to fourth, and Wolves looked set to level the scores on the night with captain Tai Woffinden leading from the gate - but Ben Barker appeared to have plenty of speed, and he turned back inside his opponent into the third bend for the final time for an excellent win as Kennett was pegged at the back by Nicolai Klindt.
Bees were called into more overtaking in Heat 4, Harris being out-trapped by Adam Skornicki who led for a couple of laps before Harris made his move off the second bend on the inside - but with Ludvig Lindgren showing clear signs of improvement, Pawlicki was left at the back and Bees had only pulled back two of their eight-point deficit.
A defining moment followed in Heat 5, which begun with good starts for the Coventry riders only for Lindgren to make use of the outside and sweep clear up the back straight. Second and third into bend three, Barker and Kennett got rather too close, and although there didn't appear to be contact Kennett ran wide and was unable this time to perform one of his trademark saves. The damage from the fall itself may not have been too great - but unfortunately he went into the fence with his bike, and it was clear immediately that he was in trouble, freeing his leg from under his machine and then beating the track in frustration.
After treatment on-track, Kennett was able to walk into the medical vehicle but it was clear that his meeting was over, and hospital x-rays later showed the ankle to be broken - a crushing blow for both rider and club, and the first setback during the spectacular run of the last two months.
That put Bees up against it on the night, and Wolves took advantage in the re-run with Lindgren again hitting the front and Proctor again showing that he was going to be a dangerman as he reeled in Barker and finally made his move off the last bend to secure a big 5-1 for his side.
Bees needed to hit back straight away and they did so in Heat 6 when Kasprzak clamped Skornicki into the first bend and Sweetman charged around the outside for a 5-1, but at that stage of the meeting the home side could find no continued momentum.
They shared Heat 7, Harris taking a second opportunity to beat Woffinden by moving inside him off turn two after Bridger had crashed on the second lap of the initial staging - but a Heat 8 which looked like it could very much go either way went very much Wolves' way with Proctor and Ludvig Lindgren flying away from gates 2 and 4, with Sweetman and Pawlicki unable to respond.
That left Wolves with a ten-point aggregate lead with seven heats to go, but Coventry raised their game in the next two races to set up a dramatic conclusion. Bridger, replacing Kennett, shot out of the start in Heat 9 to join Barker for a 5-1, and Bees made it back-to-back maximums in Heat 10 with another super gate from Sweetman from the inside, whilst Kasprzak recovered from a slight error on turn two to beat Woffinden in the run to the third bend.
Ahead of Heat 11, the talk was of whether Harris could become the first man to beat Fredrik Lindgren - but in fact it was the two GP stars who found themselves in third and fourth places as Bridger got the run around Lindgren on the back straight and frantically defended his position as Harris tried to make ground. Up-front, though, was the impressive Proctor as Wolves took a key 4-2 to extend their lead back to four points.
Back came Coventry in Heat 12 with Barker and Pawlicki making the start from gates 2 and 4, carrying out an unusual swap of positions on the first two bends and still holding their places ahead of Ludvig Lindgren at Klindt - all of which levelled the aggregate scores with three heats to go.
A Coventry advantage in Heat 13 would have led to a Wolves tactical ride in the next race - but in fact it was advantage Wolves instead, and once more from an unexpected source as Skornicki, after missing the gate in his previous two rides, came up with a stunner from the outside to lead a great battle for all four places, ending in a Wolves 4-2 as Kasprzak took second place with Fredrik Lindgren third.
When Lindgren's brother shot away from the start in Heat 14 with Woffinden, all looked lost for Bees, and it got worse for the home side when Bridger locked up off turn four and retired. The 5-1 would have taken Wolves though but Pawlicki suddenly started to generate speed, and sliced inside Woffinden midway through the race although Lindgren remained frustratingly out of reach. Wolves didn't have the 5-1, but they had a 4-2 which guaranteed a replay, and left Bees needing nothing less than a 5-1 in Heat 15.
Wolves won the toss and took gates one and three, but away from the start it was the dream scenario for the Bees as Harris and Kasprzak led away and knew they simply had to ride together to keep Lindgren back, with the Swede in attendance right from the word go. For three laps they kept him out before Lindgren took a wide line into lap four which took him past Kasprzak, and nearly round Harris as well - and then as Lindgren tried to defend second place on the last bend, Kasprzak switched tight for the inside and the two crossed the line together. Bees fans were convinced Kasprzak had it, and the full-speed replay couldn't split them - but the scoreboard was already displaying the bad news, and the freeze-frame confirmed that the referee had correctly called Lindgren second.
Exit KO Cup for the Bees, then, and now one more official fixture to look forward to. It won't be with their entire first-choice team that has played such a part in eleven straight wins, but that statistic alone has to mean confidence in the camp must remain high ahead of the big one at Poole on Monday.
BUILDBASE BEES 48 Krzysztof Kasprzak 2 2* 2* 2 1 = 9+2 Richard Sweetman 0 3 1 3 = 7 Ben Barker 3 1 2* 2* = 8+2 Edward Kennett 0 X = 0 Chris Harris 3 3 0 0 3 = 9 Lewis Bridger 2* X 3 2 R = 7+1 Przemyslaw Pawlicki 3 0 0 3 2 = 8
WOLVERHAMPTON 42 Fredrik Lindgren 3 3 1 1 2 = 10 Ty Proctor 1 2* 3 3 0 = 9+1 Nicolai Klindt 1* 1* 0 0 = 2+2 Tai Woffinden 2 2 1 1 = 6 Adam Skornicki 2 1 1 3 = 7 Paul Clews 0 0 0 = 0 Ludvig Lindgren 1 1* 2* 1 3 = 8+2
