Leicester 53 Sheffield Tigers 37: Away day woes continue

Tigers were in with a shout of getting something out of the fixture at the mid-meeting stage at the Paul Chapman and Sons Arena.

But the Owlerton outfit suffered a damaging spell in the second half to crush any chances as the hosts maintained their unbeaten home record.

Tigers fell behind early on and were made to rue a mixture of bad luck and errors.

Todd Kurtz, who won the league with Sheffield in 2017 and rejoined the club earlier this week, looked set to pick up a point in his first race back before mechanical gremlins robbed him of third place on the last lap of Heat One.

Reserve Zaine Kennedy had a scary encounter in the second as he lost control on lap three, clattering into the back straight fence and giving up third place.

Ty Proctor, who was axed by the Tigers at the beginning of last week, led a 5-1 maximum on his Leicester debut in the third before Josh MacDonald slid off in the fourth, again gifting the hosts points.

Tigers No.1 Danny King won Heat Five - but was unable to replicate his quick start in the sixth as a tactical substitute.

Sheffield moved to within four when Kurtz and MacDonald combined for a 4-2 in the eighth and Tigers started the ninth positively too as captain Kyle Howarth and Kennedy gated on a 5-1.

But Proctor deliberately stayed down after sliding off on bend two, forcing a re-run with Tigers unable to take advantage of having the extra man.

Leicester kicked on with four straight heat advantages to create plenty of breathing space, with the pick of the drama coming in Heat 11 with King ruthlessly blocking the run of Joe Lawlor before Kurtz’s machine burst into flames on the final lap whilst in second.

Debutant Justin Sedgmen won his final ride before King and Howarth found a heat advantage in the last - but Tigers still left the East Midlands empty handed.

They now head to Edinburgh on Friday before hosting the Monarchs at Owlerton on Sunday (5.30).

LEICESTER 53: Aaron Summers 13+1, Scott Nicholls 12, Ryan Douglas 9+1, Connor Mountain 6, Ty Proctor 5+1, Ellis Perks 5+1, Joe Lawlor 3+2.

SHEFFIELD 37: Danny King 11+1, Kyle Howarth 8+1, Josh MacDonald 5, Justin Sedgmen 5, Todd Kurtz 4, Drew Kemp 3+1, Zaine Kennedy 1+1.