COVENTRY Storm fell just short of another National League point as they went down 41-48 at Kent on Monday.
Missing skipper Luke Crang and reserve Conor Dwyer due to injuries, the City Gearboxes Storm were always going to be up against it at Central Park but another outstanding display from stand-in captain Dan Greenwood almost enabled them to add to their league total.
Greenwood won five of his six rides - dropping his only point when he was penalised for touching the tapes in Heat 15 - often charging through from behind past some acknowledged track experts, and he also retained the Bronze Helmet in a match race with the Kings’ top-scorer Danny Ayres.
Rider replacement for Crang did account for nine points, but Dwyer was sorely missed at reserve although debutant Jamie Halder did take an excellent win in Heat 2.
Greenwood overtook all of Kent’s big guns throughout the meeting, with both Ayres and Ben Morley coming to grief as he made his way through with referee Mick Bates rightly unmoved by the Kent protests.
But the Storm had their own problems, including a fall for Rob Shuttleworth in Heat 1 from which he recovered well to score nine, mechanical trouble for Martin Knuckey who stopped when leaving the start in Heat 10, and a heavy crash for Darryl Richings, who went through the boarding on the exit of turn two in Heat 13 and thankfully escaped with just bruising.
The first half of the meeting saw neither side able to pull clear, Kent briefly going four points up, but Greenwood helped to halve that by storming past James Shanes in Heat 7.
However, the first and only 5-1 of the night went the Kings’ way in Heat 9 as Ritchings was left chasing Ayres and Aaron Baseby, and realistically that left the Storm battling to salvage a point.
The gap was eight on the night with three heats to go before Ritchings came to grief - and Morley was then disqualified in the re-run for coming down as Greenwood swept through, giving Coventry a 3-2.
But Kent went nine-up with a 4-2 in Heat 14 as Knuckey split Ayres and Verge, meaning Coventry needed a 5-1 from the last race to take a league point.
Ayres fell on the third bend as Greenwood went past, leading to a re-run with just one home rider, but it was Morley who led almost all the way until Greenwood made it through right on the finish line; Morley’s second place ahead of Shuttleworth leaving the Storm just short of the mark required to take a point.
Boss Laurence Rogers said: “It was a good performance really and we were unlucky not to get something, but we really missed Conor.
“Rider replacement worked well for us with nine points, but we had two tapes exclusions, a plug lead go for Marty (Knuckey), and a couple of falls as well.
“It was good for Jamie to start with a win in his first ride, it was another fantastic performance from Dan, and the referee got the decisions absolutely right. It’s so close but so far, but we’re still up there and we’ll bounce back.â€
CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE KENT 48: Danny Ayres 12, Ben Morley 10, James Shanes 9, Aaron Baseby 6+1, Danno Verge 5, Jamie Couzins 4+2, Ben Basford 2. COVENTRY 41: Dan Greenwood 16+1, Rob Shuttleworth 9, Darryl Ritchings 7, Martin Knuckey 5, Jamie Halder 3, George Hunter 1, Luke Crang R/R. National League points: Kent 3 Coventry 0
BRONZE HELMET Dan Greenwood (Coventry - Holder) beat Danny Ayres (Kent)