KING’S Lynn notched their first away win of the season with a 47-41 triumph at newcomers Northampton in the Knockout Cup on Thursday.
Max Fricke and Jan Kvech secured victory for the PSH Environmental Stars by taking a 5-1 in Heat 15 after the Foxes had fought back from 12 points down to force a last heat decider.
But the result was marred by the withdrawal of Rising Star Jody Scott along with his Northampton colleague Luke Harrison after a frightening pile-up in Heat 2. Harrison clipped the rear wheel of Cooper Rushen entering the home straight, and as he fell it left the closely following Scott with nowhere to go but into the melee.
Both youngsters thankfully walked away after extensive treatment, but Harrison was ruled out with concussion and Scott with muscular pain down his left side.
When the action got back underway, the Stars suffered a setback when Chris Harris fell in Heat 3 with Ben Cook having already retired, meaning the home side took a 5-0.
But Lynn quickly settled back into the contest and regained the advantage with a 5-1 in Heat 6 from Rushen and Jan Kvech, with Rushen going close to the track record which had been set earlier in the meeting.
Paco Castagna returned to the team with a paid win behind Fricke in Heat 1, and he then took a race victory in Heat 8 ahead of Kye Thomson, who provided the bulk of the home side’s scoring at reserve.
Rushen and Kvech raced to another 5-1 in Heat 9 as the Stars went 10 points up, before Harris pulled off a splendid outside pass on Jaimon Lidsey in Heat 10 to further extend the margin.
There was a Northampton fightback in the closing stages, with Thomson teaming up with first Zach Cook in Heat 12 and then Lewis Kerr in Heat 14 for 5-1s which cut the gap to four points.
But despite the home side having choice of gates in Heat 15, Fricke and Kvech got the job done from the start as they raced clear of Cook and Kerr to secure the away win.
Stars manager Rob Lyon said: “It was a dead rubber being a KO Cup match but we wanted to put on a good show, and obviously it was a pay day for the boys so they wanted to do as well as they could.
“Hopefully we put on a decent show for the fans, and that’s what it’s all about.
“Jody is a little battered and bruised. He’s hurt his neck but we’re not quite sure what that is. I think he’ll be a bit sore tomorrow as you’d expect, but we’ll see how he goes over the weekend.”
With their KO Cup campaign now complete, the Stars’ firm attention is on ROWE Motor Oil Premiership matters, starting with the visit of Belle Vue to the Adrian Flux Arena on Monday.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (SOUTHERN) NORTHAMPTON 41: Kye Thomson 18+1, Zach Cook 11+2, Lewis Kerr 7+1, Jaimon Lidsey 3, Troy Batchelor 1, Nicolai Klindt 1, Luke Harrison 0 KING'S LYNN 47: Max Fricke 13, Cooper Rushen 11, Jan Kvech 10+4, Paco Castagna 5+1, Chris Harris 5+1, Ben Cook 3, Jody Scott 0 King's Lynn win aggregate point
