Speedway: Another late show secures Sheffield smiles in first trip to Northampton
Tigers battle back in first trip to Brafield
With just four heats left, Sheffield looked set for defeat in their first ever trip to Rowe Motor Oil Premiership new boys Northampton.
But a stunning last four heats saw the battling Tigers overturn an eight point deficit after heat 11 into a six point victory, with former World Champion Chris Holder top scoring with 16.
With their skipper Josh Pickering riding in Poland, Sheffield had gone into the meeting missing one of their most important riders
But going into heat 14 two points behind, reserve Jye Etheridge, who had struggled earlier in the meeting, roared to victory, backed by Leon Flint, who rode a battling team performance ahead of the Foxes’ Kye Thomson. It put Tigers two ahead.
And it then fell to brother Chris and Jack Holder to team up for another 5-1 in the final heat to secure a happy night for the travelling Tigers fans and win the meeting.
Jaimon Lidsey held off second placed Jack Holder in the first heat, with Anders Rowe in third, as the teams shared the points.
But the Foxes went ahead with a 5-1 in heat two, Kye Thomson finishing first ahead of Luke Harrison, both starting quickly, Luke Killeen scoring Tigers' point.
Chris Holder won heat three, with a fast getaway from gate two, as Tiger levelled the scores with their own 5-1, Leon Flint taking second ahead of Lewis Kerr, guesting for Northampton.
Heat four ended 3-3, with Jack Holder taking the rider replacement slot for skipper Josh Pickering, who was riding in Poland. Holder was first out of the tapes to win the heat, Nicolai Klindt and Luke Harrison took second and third.
Rowe, who revealed he has a new engine this week, took first place in heat five, leading from the gate, with Jack Holder team riding with him as Tigers took a 5-1, to lead for the first time, Lewis Kerr taking third.
But the scores were level again after heat six, as Foxes' Troy Batchelor and Jaimon Lidsey finished ahead of Sheffield’s Anders Rowe, third.
Northampton won heat seven with another 5-1, Thomson and Klindt finishing ahead of Tigers' Chris Holder
Batchelor won heat eight, but Tiger’s Rowe passed Thomson with a wide pass to take second for Sheffield, but the Lions 4-2 put them six clear.
Jack Holder was brought in as a tactical substitute in place of Jye Etheridge in heat nine, with Flint in for Pickering as rider replacement. But Jonas Jeppeson got ahead of Flint on lap one, with Holder finishing third after a poor start, on a 3-3.
Chris Holder was ahead early in heat 10 finishing well clear of Lidsey, with Flint passing Batchelor to take third, Batchelor then retiring, as Tigers took a 4-2.
Klindt led heat 11 from the gate, ahead of Thomson, who found a way past Rowe to take second. Jack Holder finished at the back, with the 5-1 reverse leaving Tigers eight behind on the night.
But that was the point at which things changed
Tigers pulled two points back after heat 12, Chris Holder winning from the gate, and Etheridge taking a point after an early tussle with Jeppeson. Harrison was second.
Chris Holder was back out for heat 13, as rider replacement. And with brother Jack alongside, he won the heat, leading from the gate. Jack passed Klindt after the second bend of lap one as Tigers took a 5-1.
Etheridge came into heat 14 in a reserve switch. And it was he who won the heat from the gate, as Flint battled to keep Thomson back in third in a fine display of team riding, to put Tigers two points ahead with a 5-1.
The Holders were back out together in heat 15. Chris was first out of the gates, and Jack outmuscled Klindt on the back straight on lap one, as a 5-1 secured a 48-42 victory.
Northampton 42: Nicolai Klindt 9+1, Kye Thomson 9+1, Jaimon Lidsey 7+1, Luke Harrison 6+2, Troy Batchelor 6, Jonas Jeppesen 3, Lewis Kerr 2.
Sheffield 48: Chris Holder 16, Jack Holder 12+4, Anders Rowe 8+1, Leon Flint 7+2, Jye Etheridge 4, Luke Killeen 1, Josh Pickering r/r.