KING’S Lynn had to settle for third place in Round 3 of the Premiership Pairs at the Adrian Flux Arena - as they suffered a narrow semi-final defeat to Sheffield.
The Minors & Brady Stars looked likely winners for much of the meeting, but they lost the leadership in the closing stages and were then edged out by the Tigers in an exciting showdown.
Skipper Josh Pickering chased Jason Doyle strongly as the Stars faced Ipswich in their first race, but the Witches took a 6-3 as Danny King held off Richard Lawson.
But the home side got up and running in Heat 4 when they faced Wolverhampton, as Lawson trapped from the inside and Pickering took advantage of Sam Masters lifting on turn two to shoot inside the opposing combination.
That was the first maximum 7-2 advantage of the meeting, and it saw the Stars tucked in just behind early leaders Belle Vue and Ipswich after two rides apiece.
And another emphatic Lynn 5-1 followed in their next outing as Lawson and Pickering saw off Aces duo Max Fricke and Matej Zagar on the first bend of Heat 7.
The clash with Sheffield in Heat 12 produced some excellent racing with the Stars initially another 7-2, until Adam Ellis forced his way inside Lawson going into the third bend.
Jack Holder threatened to follow him through, but Lawson held off his outside move on the run to the line.
But with Ipswich taking their own 7-2 over Wolverhampton in Heat 14, the Witches set a 27-point target at the top of the standings, and it was a total Lynn could only match in Heat 15 even though Pickering became the first man to beat the flying Chris Harris.
A battle between the Rising Stars saw Peterborough’s Jordan Jenkins pass the Stars’ Jason Edwards, and that meant the home side were sent into the semi-final against Sheffield as they lost out to Ipswich on countback.
Stars were up against it when the Tigers duo shot from the gate, but Pickering did all he could from the back and eventually split the pairing – then immediately slowing in a bid to delay Ellis and bring Lawson back into play.
But the Sheffield man held on to take his side through, although they were then defeated by Ipswich in the Final as Doyle and King packed in behind Holder.
Pickering said: “We were so close, but not close enough. I feel like in these Pairs meetings every home team should win, so it’s a bit of a shame.
“But fair play to the other boys, they all rode good tonight and it was good, safe racing.”
PREMIERSHIP PAIRS Round 3, King’s Lynn QUALIFYING SCORES: IPSWICH 27: Jason Doyle 14, Danny King 10, Danyon Hume (RS) 3. KING’S LYNN 27: Josh Pickering 17, Richard Lawson 10, Jason Edwards (RS) 0. SHEFFIELD 23: Jack Holder 14, Adam Ellis 9, Connor Mountain (RS) 0. PETERBOROUGH 21: Chris Harris 19, Hans Andersen 0, Jordan Jenkins (RS) 2. BELLE VUE 20: Matej Zagar 12, Max Fricke 6, Tom Brennan (RS) 2. WOLVERHAMPTON 17: Steve Worrall 10, Sam Masters 5, Leon Flint (RS) 2.
