COVENTRY are through to the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup after a superb performance at Lakeside on Saturday evening..
The Buildbase Bees took an eleven-point first leg lead to Purfleet, one of the toughest away tracks in the league, but did far more than just defend their advantage, as they won the meeting itself by an identical margin to complete an emphatic aggregate victory.
Skipper Chris Harris gave probably his best performance at the venue for Coventry, dropping just one point in five rides, and Kenni Larsen put in a sensational display on his first-ever visit.
Edward Kennett won three races and a steady flow of points were accumulated by Aaron Summers and Henning Bager which kept Bees in control throughout the evening.
The home side weren’t helped by two of their riders, Kauko Nieminen and Kim Nilsson, receiving disqualifications for falls in their opening rides, and this prevented the Hammers from making any early inroads, Larsen and Summers racing to maximum points in Heat 3.
Bees were in front on the night from Heat 5 onwards, and the hammer blow for Lakeside came in Heat 8 when early leader Nieminen ground to a halt on the back straight, and Larsen then surged inside Robert Mear to link up with Bager for a 5-1 to put Bees six-up.
When the lead moved to eight, the home side did claw three back with a match-race win for Davey Watt over Kennett, but Harris supplied the ride of the night in Heat 11 with a brilliant inside pass on Peter Karlsson after the Swede himself had ridden a fine first lap to hit the front.
With conditions beginning to worsen as rain moved in, Bees secured their aggregate win with a Harris/Larsen 5-1 over Watt in Heat 12 before Kennett dominated Heat 13 and then Adam Roynon gained some reward for a weekend of misfortune with a battling effort to pass Mear for third place in the following race.
The meeting was then curtailed one race early due to the weather, and Bees advance to the semi-finals which are likely to take place in the latter stages of the season. Poole are also into the last four, with quarter-final ties between Birmingham and Belle Vue, and Swindon and Peterborough, still to be staged.
Coventry co-boss Colin Pratt said: “It was a good all-round performance from the boys tonight, and very pleasing. It gets us through to the next round which means at least two more meetings to look forward to, and obviously Scott (Nicholls) will be back by then as well.
“They went about it the right way throughout the tie, and there’s a good spirit there. You do have the occasional down-side such as losing at home to Birmingham – obviously you don’t want to lose to your neighbours, but everyone is trying, and this meeting showed a very positive side to the Coventry team.
“The three heat-leaders were exceptional. We were looking to make sure we scored from all the races with how we set the team up, and the one time we lost a 5-1 we got it back straight away in the next, so it all worked out well.â€
LAKESIDE 38: Peter Karlsson 12, Davey Watt 11, Justin Sedgmen 6+1, Robert Mear 6+1, Kauko Nieminen 3+1, Kim Nilsson 0, R/R.
BUILDBASE BEES 49: Chris Harris 13+1, Kenni Larsen 12+1, Edward Kennett 10, Henning Bager 8, Aaron Summers 5+2, Adam Roynon 1+1, Scott Nicholls R/R.
LAKESIDE 38 Davey Watt 2 2 (3) 3 1 = 11 Kauko Nieminen X 1 1* R 1 = 3+1 Peter Karlsson 3 2 3 2 2 = 12 Kim Nilsson X R R 0 = 0 Rider Replacement Justin Sedgmen 2* 1 0 0 3 = 6+1 Robert Mear 3 1 2 F 0 = 6
