COVENTRY Storm extended their remarkable away record with a dramatic 46-43 win at King’s Lynn on Wednesday.
The City Gearboxes Storm are just one point behind the new National League leaders Birmingham, but have gained all of their points on the road so far (three wins and two ‘consolation’ points) as they are yet to race a home fixture - all of which puts them very much in the title race.
The drama was not just over on-track matters as Storm No.1 Dan Greenwood’s van broke down en route at Peterborough, and team-mate Callum Walker’s father returned from King’s Lynn to collect Greenwood and manager Laurence Rogers and get them to the Adrian Flux Arena just in time for the meeting - whilst Martin Knuckey blew an engine even before the start of racing.
The Young Stars went ahead with 5-1 in Heat 3 when both Storm riders fell, but the home side suffered a blow with the loss of Tom Stokes to injury after a crash in Heat 4.
Even so, King’s Lynn moved into a 21-14 lead before the visitors began to dominate the race wins with Darryl Ritchings recovering well from his first-ride fall, whilst Luke Crang was out-gated in Heat 9 but quickly passed Shane Hazelden and Scott Campos.
Three successive 4-2s in Heats 10, 11 and 12 put the Storm ahead for the first time and they would have extended the advantage but for Greenwood suffering clutch failure in Heat 13.
A key 3-3 in Heat 14 saw Knuckey and Rob Shuttleworth close out Hazelden behind winner Josh Bailey, which took the Storm into the last race one point ahead.
And a tense finale saw Greenwood overhaul James Cockle for the lead on the second lap of Heat 15 with Campos hitting mechanical trouble as the Storm collected a 4-2 just as the Young Stars threatened to turn the match back in their favour.
Rogers said: “That was a brilliant performance - we were throwing points away at the beginning but we bounced back superbly in the end.
“The boys put 110 per cent in. We must have the strongest three heat-leaders in the league, and it was great to see Crangy get a couple of good wins from behind because he’s been lacking a bit of confidence and hasn’t had many meetings.
“It was unlucky for King’s Lynn that they lost Tom Stokes, which did affect them, although Ryan Kinsley did make up for it for them.
“I’ve got to say a big thank-you to Callum’s dad James who came back from King’s Lynn to pick us up, because when we pulled in with smoke billowing out of the van and oil everywhere we were really wondering what to do!
“We’ve got 12 points on the board from five away matches and no other club has got that, so we must be worrying the top two at the moment as we’re there without having ridden a home match!â€
KING’S LYNN 43: Ryan Kinsley 14, James Cockle 12, Scott Campos 8+1, Shane Hazelden 5+2, Layne Cupitt 2+2, Josh Bailey 2+1, Tom Stokes 0. COVENTRY 46: Dan Greenwood 11, Luke Crang 11, Darryl Ritchings 10, Martin Knuckey 7+1, Rob Shuttleworth 4, Conor Dwyer 3+2, Callum Walker 0. National League points: King’s Lynn 0 Coventry 3
