COVENTRY suffered their first away defeat of the Elite League season - but still retuned with a valuable point from a 42-48 reverse at Wolverhampton on Monday.
In a pulsating local derby, the Buildbase Bees fought back from an eight-point deficit to force the match into a last-heat decider, but on this occasion they were not quite able to secure the result.
In the final analysis, Bees had no answer to Wolves No.1 Freddie Lindgren who roared to a five-ride maximum, whilst Swedish veteran Peter Karlsson was also in inspirational form, dropping just one point.
But all the grit, spirit and determination associated with Coventry was on show in what was a fabulous advert for the Elite League as they made sure they came home with some reward.
Every point gained can be crucial, both in an individual match and the league itself – and that could easily be the case for the one collected by James Sarjeant’s stand-in Dan Greenwood who pulled off a great third place over Lewis Blackbird in Heat 12, ultimately keeping Bees within the six-point margin required for a league point.
There were incidents aplenty, starting in the very first race when Ricky Wells crashed after the Bees duo had almost tangled in front of him, whilst in Heat 3 skipper Chris Harris took a heavy fall with Jacob Thorssell in a similar area on the second bend.
Both races were re-called with all four riders, and that was also the case when Jason Garrity fell going into the first bend of Heat 5 and there were some worrying moments before he was able to walk away.
Amongst the carnage, there were some racing highlights with all four riders changing positions on the first lap of Heat 3 before Harris passed Tobiasz Musielak for the lead going into the last lap only for the Pole to hit back on the inside.
And Garrity picked himself up from his crash to produce a stunning move between Blackbird and Wells in Heat 5 to partner Stuart Robson to a match-levelling 5-1.
Wolves edged their lead up to four points by Heat 8, helped by a fall for Danny King when in third place in the seventh, and disaster struck Garrity in successive races with a last in the eighth and then a disqualification in Heat 9 when he fell on the first bend in what appeared an identical incident to Heat 5.
Wolves took advantage with a 5-1 in the re-run, Joonas Kylmakorpi having been ahead in the initial staging, but their eight-point lead was immediately cut back by a brilliant ride by Robson to go inside first Thorssell and then Musielak in Heat 10 to partner Andersen to a 5-1.
The teams traded 4-2s across the next two heats, Garrity passing Josh Bates for the win in Heat 12 as Greenwood collected his excellent third place – and with rain beginning to fall, Harris and Andersen both forced their way past Thorssell for a share in Heat 13 as the gap remained at four points.
With conditions rapidly worsening, Bees sat on a 5-1 for a time in Heat 14 before Karlsson found more traction on the inside than King on the outside to split him from Kylmakorpi – and discussions then took place as to whether the meeting could continue.
The rain eased and the riders came out for Heat 15, with Bees always having been keen to race – but they needed a 5-1 to win the match, with Wolves having choice of gates, and as it turned out Andersen was forced out by Lindgren into turn one, and Karlsson was there to ensure no way through for Harris either.
But the point gained from the meeting means Bees still maintain a seven-point lead at the top of the table, with Wolverhampton themselves now moving into second place.
Manager Gary Havelock said: “We weren’t really at it from the start tonight, nobody in particular, but you can pick several incidents and accidents that went on and we might have got more from it.
“We’ve lost our first away match but we’ve still got a point, and that keeps us well at the top of the league with two tough away matches this week, so we’ll regroup from that.
“There were just a few incidents tonight that didn’t go our way, and I found the disqualification of Jason beyond belief because I didn’t see it as any different to the other races which had been stopped when all four riders had been put back in. I think everywhere we’ve been we haven’t had one thing go for us - but I guess that’s speedway!â€
WOLVERHAMPTON 48: Freddie Lindgren 15, Peter Karlsson 13+1, Ricky Wells 6, Josh Bates 6, Tobiasz Musielak 4, Lewis Blackbird 3+2, Jacob Thorssell 1. COVENTRY 42: Hans Andersen 9+1, Jason Garrity 8+1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 8, Stuart Robson 7+1, Chris Harris 5+1, Danny King 4+1, Dan Greenwood 1. Elite League points: Wolverhampton 3 Coventry 1
