COVENTRY will be glad to see the end of their away Elite League programme for 2013 after another heavy defeat on the road, this time 35-61 at table-topping Birmingham.
Whilst the Buildbase Bees never sank to the depths of their mauling at Peterborough last Friday, they also never looked likely to get any serious joy from the visit to Perry Barr with Birmingham showing exactly the form which has made them major title contenders.
Bees did take five race wins – which was five more than they had managed at the Showground – but they also ran last places in 13 of the 15 heats, leaving the home side to extend their lead throughout much of the meeting.
In fact, there were seven 5-1s in the first ten races for the Brummies and in the first half of proceedings they looked set to leave the Bees on the end of a similar thumping to the Peterborough outcome.
Coventry did have some success in Heat 2 with a controlled win from Michal Szczepaniak, whilst guest Josh Grajczonek was shuffled out of the points by some hard riding from the Birmingham reserves – but disaster struck in Heat 4 when Szczepaniak and Scott Nicholls held a 5-1 position on the opening lap.
Szczepaniak was clipped from behind by Martin Smolinski going into the third bend, and not only was the Pole somewhat harshly disqualified after both riders had come to grief, his effectiveness for the rest of the night was very much compromised.
Nicholls won the re-run ahead of Smolinski but the next four races were all 5-1s to Birmingham with Krzysztof Kasprzak, who again started the meeting slowly, on the receiving end of maximums in his first two rides.
Nicholls stemmed the flow in Heat 9 with a terrific tactical ride win for six points, getting the better of the Brummies’ strongest pairing of Danny King and Ben Barker with some committed racing on the first two turns.
But a third 5-1 from the similarly powerful Chris Harris/Jason Doyle combination put the Brummies 44-19 up at the interval, at which point Bees at least pegged things over the closing races.
Kasprzak popped up with a tactical ride win in a fast time in Heat 11, and Grzegorz Zengota was close to a notable victory over King in Heat 12 only to miss out on the final turn after a spectacular race-long battle.
Kasprzak was a convincing winner of Heat 13 with Nicholls edged out by Harris and Smolinski, but there was one more 5-1 for the Brummies as Barker and guest Tyson Nelson shot either side of a faster-starting Aaron Summers in Heat 14.
The meeting ended on a disappointing note with a heavy crash in Heat 15 as Barker and Nicholls collided going into the third bend as Barker attempted to defend second place. Nicholls came to grief but walked away unscathed but Barker, who was disqualified as the cause of the incident, was carrying high speed into the corner and after almost collecting team-mate Harris he hit the fence with real force.
Barker was taken from the circuit for checks on rib and back complaints, with Harris producing a quality second bend ride in the re-run to take his side over the 60-point mark.
Bees boss Gary Havelock said: “We’re a team really low on confidence at the moment and it’s another disappointing performance but at least we saw a bit of battling.
“Some of the guys got stuck in but Birmingham are a top team and we seem to keep meeting top teams at the moment! It’s tough, but we have to regroup and try to plan for next year.
“I do thank the Coventry fans for coming along, especially with their team struggling at the bottom of the league – they are the true fans, and you have to take your hat off to them.â€
BIRMINGHAM 61: Chris Harris 11+3, Jason Doyle 11+1, Ben Barker 10+1, Danny King 9+2, Martin Smolinski 9, Josh Auty 6+4, Tyson Nelson 5+2.
BUILDBASE BEES 35: Krzysztof Kasprzak 13, Scott Nicholls 11+1, Grzegorz Zengota 4, Michal Szczepaniak 3, Aaron Summers 2, Josh Grajczonek 1+1, Olly Allen 1.
BIRMINGHAM 61 Chris Harris 3 2* 2* 1* 3 = 11+3 Jason Doyle 2* 3 3 3 = 11+1 Danny King 2* 2* 2 3 = 9+2 Ben Barker 3 3 1* 3 X = 10+1 Martin Smolinski 2 3 2 2 = 9 Tyson Nelson 2 1* 0 2* = 5+2 Josh Auty 1* 2* 2* 1* = 6+4
BUILDBASE BEES 35 Krzysztof Kasprzak 1 1 6^ 3 2 = 13 Olly Allen 0 0 1 0 = 1 Grzegorz Zengota 1 1 0 2 = 4 Aaron Summers 0 0 1 1 = 2 Scott Nicholls 3 1 6^ 0 1* = 11+1 Josh Grajczonek R 0 0 1* = 1+1 Michal Szczepaniak 3 X R R = 3
