IT might have looked like a tough ask before the meeting - it might have looked even tougher halfway through...but the Buildbase Bees dug deep and showed exactly why they sit top of the Elite League.
There will surely be no other night throughout the whole season when Coventry are so vulnerable for a home meeting, going into it as they did without skipper Scott Nicholls and fellow heat-leader Rory Schlein, concussed in Poland on Thursday, yet despite conceding double the number of heat winners to their local rivals, they still came away with victory in a tense finale.
In many ways, this was the meeting which might have taken place at Brandon last August when Bees, similarly weakened without Nicholls and Schlein, were due to face a full-strength Wolves side who fancied their chances only for torrential thunderstorms in the afternoon to wash the meeting out. The re-staging saw Coventry book their place in the play-offs, and whilst it's far too early to be talking about that stage of the season now, this has to be the kind of result which is looked back on when assessing whether things went right or wrong.
Pre-meeting talk was that Bees would need a big score from guest Lee Richardson if they were to cover adequately from their rider absences, but things did not start according to plan as Peter Karlsson and David Howe raced clear of Richardson and Billy Janniro in Heat 1 to take maximum points.
However, what turned out to be a more significant pointer to the rest of the meeting came in Heat 2, which was always a clear target for Bees yet made more difficult by Martin Smolinski's pre-race mechanical problem. However, he emerged from the pits on Janniro's machine and still partnered a fast-gating Olly Allen to a 5-1 with neither Carl Wilkinson nor Magnus Karlsson able to challenge.
Allen was straight out of the start quickly in Heat 3 too, as rider replacement, but this time the Brandon experience of Billy Hamill paid dividends as the former Coventry skipper made his move on the inside going into the second lap. Even so, the shared heat with Morten Risager third was not a bad outcome - but Wolves then began to edge in front with two consecutive 4-2s.
The first was unlucky for Coventry as Smolinski blew another engine on the last bend of Heat 4, allowing Magnus Karlsson through for third place as Fredrik Lindgren held off the challenge of Chris Harris - but the second could arguably have been worse as, after a re-start which saw Howe warned for moving at the start, Risager had to ride a good race to split the Wolves pairing, first passing Howe on the back straight and then riding both inside and outside to protect his position, with Richardson again at the back.
Wolves' four-point lead was maintained through three shared races, each of which were won by visiting riders. Lindgren took Heat 6 from Richardson and Janniro with Carl Wilkinson fallng on turn three, and Hamill then flew from the start to taken seven as Harris was initially bogged down in traffic, eventually staying behind Allen for the 3-3.
Howe, who looked fast and smooth all evening, was a convincing winner of Heat 8 after a competitive first bend, and Magnus Karlsson was nearly allowed another gift from Smolinski, who slowed on the last bend but fortunately had enough of a gap to bring his machine home in third place.
Bees were remaining in touch, but they needed to do more than that - and it took a ride of brilliance from Harris in Heat 9 to inspire everyone to think that, just possibly, the meeting was not lost. Harris was out-gated by Lindgren but, with Risager safe in third place, simply wound things up on the outside, reeled in the Swede and then squeezed around the narrowest of gaps exiting turn two on lap three for a terrific win, one which halved the gap to two points.
Heat 10 was a congested affair with Theo Pijper gating alongside Billy Hamill but quickly being shifted back by Richardson - and as the Dutchman tried to respond, he lost control on the second lap and crashed into the fence. Fortunately he emerged unscathed, and Hamill limited the damage for Wolves with a high-quality first bend to make it around the outside having been out-gated.
Bees urgently needed to start beating the Wolves heat-leaders, Harris having been the only man to do so, and the stand-in captain was at it again in Heat 11 to build himself a big lead over Peter Karlsson in the early stages. Unfortunately, Allen - having made another good start - fell on the first bend when at least third place may have been his reward, and that kept Wolves in front at 34-32.
The meeting boiled up in a dramatic Heat 12 when Risager, off gate 2, made the best start and Hamill - who had not made a great one - found himself at close quarters with Allen who was trying to come around the outside. There was unintentional contact between the two - as acknowledged by both riders in the pits afterwards - which resulted in Allen going down heavily into the fence, and the decision to exclude Hamill did come as something of a surprise. Without question it was the kind of scenario where you had to ask yourself what your reaction would have been had you been supporting the other team...
But Wolves did gain the benefit of another Coventry mechanical failure in the re-run, having themselves changed reserves and selected Magnus Karlsson in place of Wilkinson. Allen bravely returned to contest the race and seemed set to be partnering Risager to a 5-1, only for his machine to expire on the last lap to allow Karlsson into second place, Allen pushing home for third to level the scores at 36-36.
Bees were still looking at Heat 14 as their potential escape route, and that situation was still alive after a satisfactory shared heat in 13, Harris unable to make a passing move on Karlsson but Lindgren making a couple of early errors and Richardson hanging on for third place.
With the scores level, Coventry simply had to take big points from Heat 14 - and that was exactly what they got as Allen proved he could also make the start on his second bike, and Risager rode a dominant race to win. Wolves had carried out the reverse switch at reserve, Wilkinson coming in for Karlsson, but it made little difference as he and Pijper were left trailing by a 5-1 which ensured Bees couldn't lose the match.
Then the discussions commenced about who would partner Harris in Heat 15, and quite clearly the decision to track Richardson alongside him against Peter Karlsson and Hamill was not one which met with universal approval. However, whilst accepting the fact that everyone has an opinion, some important factors should be noted.
Firstly, decisions such as this are discussed in the pits with all relevant parties - they are not simply arrived at at the drop of a hat. Secondly, whilst both Morten Risager and Olly Allen played crucial roles in winning the meeting for Coventry, Lee Richardson was the only Coventry rider apart from Chris Harris to beat any of the Wolves top three, as he had done in Heat 13 (and also chased Hamill to the line in Heat 10). Experience got the verdict - and, most important of all, it worked...
Coventry took a 3-3 from the race when a 2-4 would have done, with Harris forcing Hamill aside on the first bend, Richardson cutting back for third place and then holding that position as insurance should anything have happened to Harris. Karlsson, who rode a superb meeting for Wolves, held on for the win ahead of Harris - but Bees were the team celebrating at the end of the race.
A remarkable win for the Buildbase Bees as their unbeaten home run goes on despite the most testing of circumstances - they once again showed the battling spirit when other teams may have crumbled, to add another two vital points to their Elite League total. And on this occasion, it was the last places which made the difference - Bees had just four, and that made up for only five heat wins on a night when they genuinely took a win against all the odds.
Coventry 47 Wolves 43 (Elite League A)
BUILDBASE BEES 47 Lee Richardson 0 0 2 2 1* 1* = 6+2 Billy Janniro 1 1* 2 1* = 5+2 Rory Schlein R/R Morten Risager 1* 2 1 3 3 = 10+1 Chris Harris 2 1* 3 3 2 2 = 13+1 Olly Allen 3 2 2 F 1 2* = 10+1 Martin Smolinski 2* 0 1* = 3+2
WOLVES 43 Peter Karlsson 3 3 2 3 3 = 14 David Howe 2* 1 3 1* = 7+2 Billy Hamill 3 3 3 X 0 = 9 Theo Pijper 0 0 X 1 = 1 Fredrik Lindgren 3 3 2 0 = 8 Carl Wilkinson 1 0 0 0 = 1 Magnus Karlsson 0 1 0 2 = 3