SHEFFIELD failed to recover from a slow start as they were beaten 53-37 at Leicester on Monday.
It was the heaviest defeat of the season so far for the Tru Plant Tigers - and their third straight away loss in the Sports Insure Premiership.
They left themselves with an uphill task when they conceded four heat advantages in the opening four races as Leicester built up a ten point lead.
Sheffield steadied the ship somewhat when a hat-trick of shared races came from Heats Five to Seven, with Jack Holder and Tobiasz Musielak winning their respective outings.
The Tigers moved to within eight points when they bagged their first advantage of the evening in Heat Eight - but they could and should have been closer.
Rising Star Dan Gilkes took the chequered flag, but captain Kyle Howarth let second place slip after an error on the final bends.
Leicester then found back-to-back 5-1s before Holder led a 4-2 with Howarth in Heat 11.
But the hosts found themselves 20 points ahead when they recorded successive advantages again in Heats 12 and 13.
With the aggregate point back on the line in 2023 though, the Tigers’ finish could prove important when the sides meet in South Yorkshire next month (June 22).
First, Musielak won Heat 14 before picking himself up from a high speed crash to follow Holder home for a 5-1 in Heat 15.
Reacting after the meeting, Holder said: “We just gave them too much of a head start.
“They were banging out of the starts early on and then a little too late, we started to climb back a little bit.”
Sheffield will be looking to add more Sports Insure Premiership points to the board when they host struggling King’s Lynn at Owlerton this Thursday (May 25, 7.30).
LEICESTER 53: Max Fricke 12+1, Richard Lawson 10+1, Nick Morris 9+1, Justin Sedgmen 7+1, Chris Harris 7+1, Jake Allen 5+2, Dan Thompson 3. SHEFFIELD 37: Tobiasz Musielak 11+1, Jack Holder 11, Lewis Kerr 6, Adam Ellis 4+1, Dan Gilkes 3, Kyle Howarth 2, David Bellego 0.
