Speedway: Sheffield left with work to do after first leg KO Cup loss at King's Lynn

Sheffield lost their first clash with King’s Lynn since the Tru7Group Tigers joined the Premiership, to leave themselves with work to do if they are to make the KO Cup Final.

Home side King;s Lynn won the meeting 50-40, having led from the first heat at the Adrian Flux Arena, getting off to a flying start with a 5-1 heat advantage, Richard Lawson and Patryk Wojdylo getting the better of Jack Holder and Kyle Howarth.

By the end of heat four, they had charged into a 10 point lead, although Sheffield rallied to narrow the gap to two points by the end of heat seven after changes to the riders’ set ups. Those heats included Holder and Howarth securing Tigers’ only 5-1 of the night in heat five, against Neils Kristian Iversen and Benjamin Basso.

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But Sheffield were unable to pull back the deficit on the night. Only two heats were won by a Tigers rider, both by Jack Holder, who was the visitors’ top scorer with 10 points from five rides.

King’s Lynn won back to back 5-1 in heats nine and 10 to restore their 10 point lead, with the remaining five hears all drawn 3-3.

It leaves Sheffield needing to win by more than 10 points at Owlerton, when they will face a Stars side which will include Grand Prix rider Jan Kvech, the Czech racer having been announced today as a new signing for the East Anglian club, as well as former Tiger Tobi Musielak, who missed tonight’s game for the Stars through injury.

The winners will face Ipswich, who beat Birmingham in the second leg of their semi-final this evening. Premiership KO Cup semi final, first leg

King’s Lynn 50: Nicolai Klindt 13, Patryk Wojdylo 11, Benjamin Basso 8+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7, Richard Lawson 6+4, Simon Lambert 3, Anders Rowe 2.

Sheffield 40: Jack Holder 10+1, Chris Holder 9+1, Tai Woffinden 6, Kyle Howarth 5+1, Josh Pickering 5, Jason Edwards 3+1, Dan Gilkes 2+2.