Speedway: Late fightback secures Sheffield win as Jye and Luke star against Belle Vue
Reserve duo notch big points to play starring role in important home win
Sheffield’s reserves capped their best Owlerton nights of the season with a matchwinning late heat to secure two vital points for the Tigers against runaway league leaders Belle Vue.
Both Luke Killeen and Jye Etheridge enjoyed superb nights with important points throughout the meeting, which Sheffield had not led until the end of heat 13.
Tigers were trailing 35-37 in the Rowe Motor Oil Speedway Premiership clash, going into heat 13, having trailed for most of the evening ever since a 4-2 reverse in heat one.
Heat 13 was restarted after the visitors’ Jason Doyle had moved before the tapes went up. And then Tigers skipper Josh Pickering, and guesting Tiger Max Fricke, led from early on to win 5-1, Belle Vue’s world number two Brady Kurtz back in third.
Tigers manager Simon Stead brought in Killeen into heat 14 in place of Leon Flint. Flint rode for GB in the World Cup at the weekend, but had struggled for points on Monday night
And the Sheffield Rising Star rewarded Stead’s decision with a fast start which saw him lead from the tapes, before team riding with Etheridge to secure the team’s second consecutive 5-1, giving them an unassailable 45-39 lead.
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Kurtz won heat 15 ahead of Pickering, as the visitors took the final heat 4-2, but it was too late to affect the result.
Killeen, who scored paid 10, a score beaten in the Sheffield team only by skipper Pickering, was delighted after the meeting. He could have scored more but for a fall in heat eight while in second.
He said: “I’m over the moon. I’m a bit down with that crash in heat seven, or eight, but a good haul of points. I think I made a few starts tonight, I’m quite happy with the way that’s turning around now, and really working the bike in the first corner, and its all starting to pay off.
He was pleased with the vote of confidence of being brought into heat 14. He said: “It means that I’m having a good night, so it’s a great start. I think the pressure was on gate three . When I turned up there, there wasn’t much to work with, but I still was able to work the bike to that first corner and make it round.
He said the win for Sheffield, who are still battling for a play-off place with rivals Ipswich and King’s Lynn, was huge for the team.
“We’re in that play-off race, and I think we’re edging ever so closer now, so it’s a really good start,” he said. “Our home form is on point at the minute and hopefully we can keep it going.”
He said he feels he is now riding the Owlerton track the way it needs to be ridden.
Of the play-off hopes, he added: “I’ve had belief in the team all the way through. It’s unfortunate losing Jack (Holder, out of the team with injury). We’re working hard as a team, we’re really gelling well and we’ve got one hand on it now.”
The win put Tigers three points clear in third place, with three meetings to go, ahead of fourth placed Ipswich, who have ridden a meeting fewer, and five ahead of fourth placed King’s Lynn.
Tigers’ scheduled away meeting at Belle Vue, which had been planned for early Monday afternoon, was postponed due to rain.
Sheffield 47: Josh Pickering 11+2, Luke Killeen 9+1, Chris Holder 7+1, Max Fricke 7+1, Jye Etheridge 7+1, Anders Rowe 5+1, Leon Flint 1
Belle Vue 43: Brady Kurtz 10, Jason Doyle 10, Norick Blodorn 8+1, Peter Kildemand 6+1, Tate Zischke 4, Zach Cook 3, Will Cairns 2.