SHEFFIELD closed the gap on Championship leaders Leicester with a 46-44 win over the Lions at Owlerton.
It was another nervy, yet entertaining, contest which went down to a last heat decider for the fifth time in the last six home meetings.
And for the third Owlerton outing in succession it was Tigers’ No.1 Danny King who was the Heat 15 hero.
The former British Champion made a brilliant start from the inside to wrap up the victory and even with captain Kyle Howarth stuck out at the back, it was enough to ensure Tigers maintained their 100 per cent home record in the league.
Things could’ve been different though, but stunning rides from Zaine Kennedy and Broc Nicol in the penultimate race to get by former Sheffield man Connor Mountain denied the visitors a maximum which would’ve seen them retake the lead with one to go.
Team boss Simon Stead said: “We knew we were in for a tough one tonight but full credit to the lads - it was a great effort.
“They all worked together as a team, they battled, they dug deep and they got the result we wanted.
“We’d like to start making lives a bit easier for ourselves but we’ll take any sort of win against Leicester with the form they’ve been in.”
Former Lion King dropped just one point against his old employers as Leicester suffered just their second defeat in their last 12 meetings.
Ty Proctor recovered from a spill in his opening ride to reel off a hat-trick of straight wins on a much better night for the Aussie.
Captain Howarth made a bright start to the meeting but got squeezed out in the opening turns of both Heat 13 and 15.
Home debutant Josh MacDonald showed plenty of encouraging signs, including an impressive race win in Heat Four where he got the better of Richie Worrall to lead a 5-1.
Fellow reserve Kennedy also contributed five points while Broc Nicol had to settle for four straight third places with Drew Kemp’s battling two points also proving vital in the final outcome.
Tigers travel to Scunthorpe a week on Friday (June 21).
SHEFFIELD 46: Danny King 14, Ty Proctor 9, Kyle Howarth 7+1, Zaine Kennedy 5, Josh MacDonald 5, Broc Nicol 4+1, Drew Kemp 2. LEICESTER 44: Ryan Douglas 13, Scott Nicholls 8+1, Ellis Perks 7+1, Cameron Heeps 6+2, Richie Worrall 6+1, Connor Mountain 4+1, Jack Thomas 0.
