COVENTRY rounded off their Elite League campaign with a 48-46 win over King’s Lynn in a meeting which boiled up to a dramatic conclusion.
The Buildbase Bees had eased into a 13-point lead with four races to go, with both of their reserves having given outstanding displays, only for the Stars to fight right back and almost snatch victory before falling just short in the decider.
The performances of Aaron Summers (16+1) and guest Kyle Howarth (9+2) were crucial, and Bees then required a clever Heat 15 effort from captain Scott Nicholls and Grzegorz Zengota to see them over the finishing line.
They had taken the advantage despite new signing Linus Sundstrom having to pull out of the meeting after two rides after aggravating a shoulder injury, whilst Olly Allen was also below his best after a crash at Ipswich the previous night.
And those problems in the Bees’ top five kept the Stars in the match with their skipper Mads Korneliussen unstoppable, and Jason Bunyan proving a lively reserve as the visitors made a late comeback in their bid to remain in the play-off battle.
Bees raced into a 10-2 lead as King’s Lynn guest Chris Harris fell on the first turn of Heat 1 and Howarth opened up with two unbeaten rides, but the visitors pulled one 5-1 back in Heat 3 when Allen came down on the last bend as Bunyan steamed through on the inside.
Zengota had been left trailing in that race but he quickly corrected matters with a win over Harris in Heat 5, the former Bees skipper passing Allen to prevent a 5-1 – but Bees then took full advantage in the next race when a fast-gating Rory Schlein went too wide on the second bend allowing both Summers and Nicholls to go through.
A tactical ride win for Korneliussen in Heat 7 brought the gap back to seven, but Bees retained control with Summers’ fourth victory on the bounce in Heat 8 and a 4-2 in the next as Zengota held Schlein at bay.
Summers and Nicholls both lost their unbeaten tags to Korneliussen in Heat 10 but a stunning 5-1 in the next from reserves Summers and Howarth over Harris and Richie Worrall meant Bees were apparently cruising with a 41-28 scoreline.
The Stars’ only option was to hand Bunyan their second tactical ride in Heat 12 and his outside pass on Howarth on lap three gave him two points to add to another Korneliussen win – but the comeback was still a long shot for the visitors, even with Schlein and Harris trapping to notch a 5-1 over Nicholls in Heat 13.
With the gap at six points the Stars needed to defeat Summers in the next and the Bees reserve initially pulled off a brilliant move to go inside first Bunyan and then Worrall on the second lap – but as he locked slightly coming off the fourth turn, he was collected by Worrall and fell, and it was Summers’ blue disqualification light which shone.
It was a decision which Bees contested, but the Stars duly made it 15 points from three races in the re-run by getting the better of Allen, and that left them needing another 5-1 in the last heat to complete an incredible turnaround.
However, although Korneliussen again shot from the gate, Nicholls made a crucial move on turn one to clamp down Schlein, and that gave Zengota the opportunity to make it into third place. The Pole then had to defend resolutely as Schlein threatened to come through, but Zengota held on to the relief of the home fans, for Bees’ first win in six matches.
Manager Gary Havelock said: “That was a great performance by the lads, especially with the referee’s decision against Aaron in Heat 14 – I couldn’t work out how he could exclude him, but it’s done and we managed to hang on.
“Heat 15 was a real toss-up with what to do with the choice of gates and Scott wasn’t making the best of starts. Zengi decided he wanted to go off four, so Scott’s main job was to try to stop Rory off one, and he managed to do it.
“The reserves were excellent, and Kyle got us a lot of points early on. He won Heat 1 and to get a 5-1 in that race and follow it up with another one in Heat 2 – I can’t remember us doing that all season!â€
BUILDBASE BEES 48: Aaron Summers 16+1, Grzegorz Zengota 10+1, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Scott Nicholls 8+3, Olly Allen 3, Linus Sundstrom 2, Michal Szczepaniak r/r.
KING’S LYNN 46: Mads Korneliussen 18, Jason Bunyan 8+3, Rory Schlein 8, Richie Worrall 6, Chris Harris 5+1, Ryan Douglas 1+1, Lasse Bjerre r/r.
BUILDBASE BEES 48 Scott Nicholls 2* 2* 1* 1 2 = 8+3 Michal Szczepaniak Rider Replacement Grzegorz Zengota 1 3 3 2 1* = 10+1 Olly Allen F 1 0 1 1 = 3 Linus Sundstrom R 2 = 2 Kyle Howarth 3 2* 1* 3 0 0 = 9+2 Aaron Summers 3 3 3 3 2 2* X = 16+1
KING’S LYNN 46 Chris Harris X 2 1 2* = 5+1 Richie Worrall 1 0 2 0 3 = 6 Mads Korneliussen 3 6^ 3 3 3 = 18 Lasse Bjerre Rider Replacement Rory Schlein 2 1 2 3 0 = 8 Jason Bunyan 1 2* 0 1* 0 2^ 2* = 8+3 Ryan Douglas 0 1* 0 X = 1+1
