COVENTRY Storm go into their Easter Monday showdown with Cradley at Brandon (7.30pm) on top of the fledgling National League table – after a stunning victory at Mildenhall.
The City Gearboxes Storm were 48-42 winners at West Row on Sunday in a result which clearly shows they are set to be a force this season.
It continued an excellent Easter for the club after the senior team banked six points out of seven against Leicester, and the Storm superbly maintained the momentum in Suffolk.
In-form Luke Crang kept his fine run going with paid-eleven, including three race wins, whilst Oliver Greenwood was a double heat-winner on his way to 12, and there was terrific back-up down the order.
Mildenhall were without ex-Coventry duo Joe Jacobs (concussion) and Brendan Johnson (illness), Jacobs’ replacement Ben Morley scoring seven points whilst the rider replacement facility for Johnson accrued nine.
The Storm led almost throughout the meeting after Morley was disqualified for bringing down Stefan Nielsen in Heat 1, and after the one occasion they did go behind Nielsen and Crang combined in Heat 5 to resume the advantage.
Mildenhall suffered a spate of further falls and disqualifications, including Connor Coles and Jack Kingston consecutively in Heats 7 and 8 as the Storm went six points up, and despite a home 4-2 in Heat 9 Greenwood combined with namesake Dan for a big 5-1 in Heat 10.
With an eight-point advantage the Storm were in control despite a string of wins for the Fen Tigers’ excellent skipper Daniel Halsey, and the home side made no headway in any of the next four races – their day being summed up when Halsey fell in Heat 13 as Morley took the win.
Dan Greenwood’s fine victory over Halsey in Heat 14 made sure the Storm would win the meeting, with a Fen Tigers’ 4-2 in the final race as Crang fell seeing Coventry return to Brandon with three league points.
Co-boss Laurence Rogers said: “We’re absolutely proud of the lads, and for Mick (Horton), Blayne (Scroggins) and I to go back to our old hunting ground and take victory made it a sweet success!
“We were dominant all the way through, and all in all it was a great team effort. We feel we’ve got the best top five in the country, and Ryan (Terry-Daley) popped out and won Heat 2 which was important.
“Luke won his first three rides, Olly had his two wins and three seconds, and Dan got better as it went on - he had a bash into the fence when he banged his arm again but he bounced back with two superb rides. His win over Daniel Halsey in Heat 14 was unbelievable.
“Dan and Luke have both had very expensive weekends, they’ve both wrecked bikes in crashes on Friday, and when the boys aren’t earning that much it’s hard for them to get it all sorted.â€
MILDENHALL 42: Daniel Halsey 14, Connor Coles 9+4, Ben Morley 7, Jack Kingston 5+1, Josh Bates 4, Connor Mountain 3, Brendan Johnson r/r. COVENTRY 48: Oliver Greenwood 12, Luke Crang 10+1, James Sarjeant 8, Stefan Nielsen 7+3, Dan Greenwood 6+2, Ryan Terry-Daley 5+1, Martin Knuckey 0.
MILDENHALL 42 Ben Morley X 2 1 3 1 = 7 Jack Kingston 1 3 1* X 0 = 5+1 Josh Bates 1 X 1 2 = 4 Brendan Johnson Rider Replacement Dan Halsey 3 3 3 F 2 3 = 14 Connor Mountain 2 1 0 = 3 Connor Coles 1* 2* X 1 3 1* 1* = 9+4
CITY GEARBOXES STORM 48 Stefan Nielsen 2* 2* 2 1* = 7+3 Luke Crang 3 3 3 1* F = 10+1 Oliver Greenwood 2 2 3 3 2 = 12 Dan Greenwood 0 1* 2* 3 = 6+2 James Sarjeant 1 3 2 2 = 8 Ryan Terry-Daley 3 0 2* 0 0 = 5+1 Martin Knuckey 0 0 0 = 0
