COVENTRY were involved in more last-heat drama at Brandon on Friday – and this time things went their way as they edged a 47-43 win over Poole in another terrific contest.
British Champion Danny King and an outstanding Krzysztof Kasprzak were the Buildbase Bees’ heroes as they brought home a sensational 5-1 over Chris Holder and Bjarne Pedersen to seal a deserved victory.
It was the latest in a string of classic contests between the sides with never more than four points between them as the lead swung one way and then the other.
An inspired performance from Josh Bates helped keep Bees afloat in the early stages, as the British Under-21 Champion clocked the two fastest times of the night and took the big scalps of Holder and former Coventry No.1 Hans Andersen in Heat 6.
Whilst Andersen experienced a nightmare return to Brandon, his countryman Pedersen excelled as expected at reserve – an area where Bees had problems with guest David Bellego unable to make an impact, although with James Sarjeant out injured Adam Roynon battled to second places in both of the reserves’ races.
Poole provided the first three heat winners, the first race proving to be Kasprzak’s only defeat as clutch trouble forced him to switch bikes after the parade – and it took a determined effort from King and skipper Chris Harris to secure a 3-3 in Heat 3 as both made their way past Andersen to prevent a Pirates maximum.
The visitors still led by four after Heat 5 but a stunning 5-1 in the next from Bates and King over Holder and Andersen was immediately backed up by Kasprzak and Harris in Heat 7 to put Bees four-up themselves.
There was drama prior to the re-start of Heat 8 with Pedersen penalised for returning to the tapes via the infield, but he did retrieve third place from the 15-metre handicap whilst Bates just missed out to Adam Ellis at the front.
A Poole 5-1 in the next when a combative Ben Barker was forced too wide on turn two turned the match back the Pirates’ way, and Holder controlled Heat 10 over Harris and King after team-mate Ellis had fallen on turn two.
Bees clawed level with a 4-2 in Heat 11 as Andersen came to grief on the opening lap, but with Pedersen taking his third win of the night in the second reserves’ race, guest Ellis Perks secured what looked a vital point by moving inside Bellego.
Coventry stormed back again in Heat 13, levelling the scores with a sublime ride by Kasprzak who chased Holder before diving inside him going into the third bend, and with Harris third ahead of Pedersen it was all-square with two races to go.
King then stepped up to the mark with a trademark Heat 14 effort, quickly getting to the dirt on the outside against Krzysztof Buczkowski and Brady Kurtz, and establishing a clear lead in a race which was awarded after three laps with Bates having fallen.
So it was 42-42 with one heat remaining, and the Bees elected to pair Kasprzak off gate two with King off the outside, whilst Holder was joined for the Pirates by Pedersen, in what must have been a close decision with Buczkowski.
Poole made the better initial starts but King surged around the outside, and as the Pirates moved wide in an attempt to cover Kasprzak produced a brilliant inside move to emerge from bend two in second place, and the Bees duo then raced off for the 5-1 the crowd had been desperate for.
Manager Gary Havelock said: “I’m delighted with that, the boys rode great, and for Josh Bates to score eight points at No.4, beating Chris Holder and Hans Andersen in one race, was sensational.
“Then with the boys at the end, it reminded me of last year with Danny in the semi-final against Poole when he came off gate four twice in a row, and it was brilliant from Krzysztof as well with the 5-1 to wrap it up.
“The pass he did on Chris Holder earlier was vintage, and it also shows he’s on the right track with his mind especially after the problem he’d had before Heat 1.
“I did say to Middlo (Poole manager Neil Middleditch) after about Heat 8 that this was going down to the last race, you could just tell. Nearly all of our meetings are last-heat deciders, so it would be nice to have a comfortable win one night!â€
COVENTRY 47: Krzysztof Kasprzak 13+1, Danny King 10+3, Josh Bates 8, Chris Harris 7+1, Ben Barker 5+1, Adam Roynon 4, David Bellego 0. POOLE 43: Bjarne Pedersen 13+1, Krzysztof Buczkowski 8, Chris Holder 8, Brady Kurtz 6+1, Adam Ellis 4, Ellis Perks 3+1, Hans Andersen 1.
