Sheffield speedway: courageous Kyle celebrates the win

Tigers were already without top two Simon Stead and Jason Garrity for their must-win clash with Scunthorpe on Wednesday. And supporters were fearing the worst when in-form ace Howarth was sent hurtling over the handlebars having tangled with Scorpions man Fritz Wallner in heat three.

But the former British U21 Champion dusted himself down to bag a stunning 13+1 point haul in their 54-35 success.

Howarth said: “It was a good night for us, we did what we had to do by getting a win. I had a pretty nasty crash and felt pretty knocked about, but I knew what an important meeting it was and we had to get the win. I got through the meeting and had another good night to help us get the three points.

“We should be into the play-offs now, so everything starts again now and hopefully we can take some confidence from this win and move forwards.”

It has been a superb few days for Howarth, who struck a five-ride paid maximum for Elite League side Wolverhampton on Monday before notching paid 18 in Sheffield’s defeat at Rye House on Tuesday.

The talented 22-year-old is delighted to be hitting top form at the perfect time entering the business end of the season.

“I’ve been busy but I’ve had a great week,” he added. “I had an awesome night at Wolves, a good one at Rye House and another good score at Sheffield so things are looking good. It’s the right time to hit form with the play-offs starting, so I’ll just look to keep this confidence going now.”