Speedway: Tough Picko gets back on bike after spill to guide Sheffield back to winning ways against Ipswich
Tigers end winless run with Owlerton victory
Team mate Leon Flint described Josh Pickering as a ‘tough lad’ as the Sheffield skipper got up from a dramatic crash to win the re-run and help Tigers return to winning ways against Ipswich.
Pickering and Ipswich Captain Danny King’s bikes came together on the third bend of lap one, just as a red light came on for a moving start.
Pickering limped back to the pits after several minutes on the ground, before getting straight back on his bike to win the re-run of what was heat 11, to secure a 3-3 shared heat.
Flint, who scored 10, paid 13, in one of his best nights so far this season, payed tribute to skipper’s battling performance.
He said: “It’s never nice to see anyone get hurt. But luckily for Josh he wasn’t too banged off. He’s a tough lad - he went and did a captain’s job after that and helped us get the win.”
Tigers were already operating rider replacement on the night for the injured Jack Holder, and Flint was pleased with the team’s 51-39 victory, which put the side two points clear in fourth place in the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership, ahead of King’s Lynn. It ended a run of three without a win.
He said: “It was tough, they’re a good team. But we just led from the front and put a good shift in. It was an all round good team performance.
He felt he endured some bad luck on Monday, when he struggled for points until coming up with a dramatic and important heat win in heat 14 as Tigers drew at Northampton, and felt that his score at Owlerton showed what he was about.
On Sheffield’s return to winning ways, he added: “Obvious it’s tough without Jack. That’s just what it is and there’s no point crying about it. We just need to get on with it and pull our weight to try and cover for him.”
And Tigers did pull their weight. No one scored less than four, and three riders scored double figures.
Flint and Anders Rowe had got Sheffield off to a winning start with a 4-2 in heat one, with reserves reserves Jye Etheridge and Luke Killen doing the same in heat two, although the scores were back level after hear four, when ex-Tigers Jason Edwards and Tobiasz Musielak recorded a 5-1 for the visitors, Edwards winning the race.
But Tigers hit back with a 5-1 of their own in the next heat, Chris Holder leading from the start and Flint passing King on the outside at the end of the first lap to secure maximum points for the home side.
By heat nine, Tigers led by 12 points, a lead they held until heat 13, which saw Tom Brennan and Musielak take the visitors second 5-1 of the night.
But Tigers restored the 12 point margin in heat 15, as Pickering took second behind team mate Chris Holder.
Sheffield 51: Josh Pickering 12+1, Chris Holder 12, Leon Flint 10+3, Anders Rowe 8, Jye Etheridge 5, Luke Killeen 4+1, Jack Holder r/r.
Ipswich 39: Richard Lawson 10, Tobiasz Musielak 9+3, Scott Nicholls 5+2, Danny King 5+1, Tom Brennan 5, Jason Edwards 3, Nathan Ablitt 2.