COVENTRY charged into the Elite League play-offs with a double demolition of closest rivals Eastbourne at Brandon on Friday.
The Buildbase Bees required five points from the meeting but actually took all six with 60-32 and 60-33 victories which also ensured a top-three finish in the table for the first time since 2007.
The fact that Eastbourne failed to take at least a point also mathematically resolved the final play-off spot in Swindon’s favour, although the semi-final line-up cannot be determined until top position is confirmed.
Naturally with the margin of their wins, there were big scores throughout the Bees’ order, with their top two of Hans Andersen and Chris Harris in awesome form, dropping their only points of the evening to Rory Schlein in Heat 13 of the second meeting.
Fast Track Reserve Jason Garrity collected a paid maximum in the second meeting, whilst there was a return to form for Kenneth Hansen who won four of his last five rides on the night.
Kyle Howarth dropped only one point in the first match, James Sarjeant supplied plenty of entertainment with his battles with the Eastbourne reserves, and there was also a fighting show from guest Josh Auty who had to re-build a bike after being brought down in his first ride but recovered to share in three 5-1s – two of them over Eagles’ No.1 Bjarne Pedersen.
The opening meeting was eventful in the early stages with Auty collected by Stuart Robson on turn four of Heat 3, Harris slicing under Schlein to win the re-run, and there were further incidents as Timo Lahti brought Hansen down in Heat 8 and Garrity fell in the re-run in a tight tussle with Robson.
At that stage Bees were under a little pressure as a 21-9 lead had been whittled back to 26-24 thanks to a successful tactical ride 8-1 from the visitors – Pedersen re-passing Hansen off turn four for second place - coupled by two more race advantages.
But the Coventry response was stunning, as they blew Eastbourne away with a spectacular run of five 5-1s in succession, Auty with a remarkable burst in Heat 10 to get the better of Schlein with Robson coming to grief on the first bend.
26-24 became 51-29 in short order, and although the run of 5-1s was broken in Heat 14 that race still enabled Hansen to take a win and Sarjeant to pass Adam Ellis for third, whilst normal service was resumed when Andersen and Harris completed their paid maximums with a final 5-1 in Heat 15.
If Eastbourne were planning a response in the second meeting, they got off to almost the worst possible start, suffering a setback when Ellis impeded team-mate Max Clegg in Heat 2 allowing Sarjeant to pass both for a Bees 5-1.
Coventry led 23-7 after five races allowing for another Heat 6 tactical ride – and another Heat 6 8-1 from Schlein and Pedersen, but on this occasion the nine-point gap was the closest the Eagles got.
Hansen and Auty hit back with an excellent 5-1 over Lahti and Robson in Heat 8, and the reserves produced the goods again in the next although both Garrity and Sarjeant had to work their way past a fast-starting Clegg.
Eastbourne’s second tactical ride went spectacularly wrong in Heat 11 as Pedersen was undone by a superb second-bend switch by Auty to team up with Harris for a 5-1, a result which confirmed Bees’ victory and their place in the play-offs.
The top two were finally beaten in Heat 13 as Schlein scraped the fence to make it around Andersen, whilst Sarjeant did well to clear the track in Heat 14 going into the fence on the first lap when he got too close to Joonas Kylmakorpi.
Schlein looked like he may steal a march in Heat 15 as the Bees were initially delayed by Pedersen, but he came to a halt at the start of the second lap allowing Harris and Andersen to take the home side to the 60-point total again.
Bees boss Gary Havelock said: “I’m over the moon with that. I wasn’t going to get on to the lads about Monday night (at Swindon) because everyone has an off-day, and tonight the bounce-back was sensational.
“The point Chris dropped was the first one he’s dropped here in a long time, and when you have two lads like him and Hans in that kind of form, it certainly makes the away team think. You become slightly formidable – and that’s what we want!
“Josh really impressed me, I’d given Mick (Horton) a few riders’ names and I’d spoken to two of my Premier League spies who both said we should get him in because he’s in good form. If he hadn’t got knocked off in his first ride, he would have got a lot more points, and coming in at No.3 on this format is very hard, but paid-seven in the second meeting was excellent.
“We certainly don’t fear anyone in the play-offs. I’ve said from day one I feel there’s a lot more to come from this team, and our away record has been very good. I’m quietly confident whoever we get in the play-offs that we can more than give them a run for their money.â€
COVENTRY 60: Chris Harris 14+1, Hans Andersen 13+2, Jason Garrity 10+1, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Kenneth Hansen 7+1, James Sarjeant 4+1, Josh Auty 3+1 EASTBOURNE 32: Rory Schlein 11, Joonas Kylmakorpi 5, Timo Lahti 5, Stuart Robson 4, Adam Ellis 4, Bjarne Pedersen 3+1, Max Clegg 0 Elite League points: Coventry 3 Eastbourne 0
