SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead says leaving King’s Lynn empty handed on Monday was a timely example of how vital dominant outings at Owlerton could prove to be in the most important weeks of the season.

The Tru7 Group Tigers were beaten 47-43 at the Adrian Flux Arena - the same scoreline they beat the Stars by back in June.

It meant the aggregate point went down to a Super Heat which saw them miss out 5-4 despite Jack Holder taking the chequered flag with Josh Pickering unable to find a way by Ben Cook or Jan Kvech.

There were four shared races in the opening six heats with just two points separating the two teams.

But the hosts then produced four advantages in the next five to open up a 12 point gap.

Successive 5-1s, both involving Jack Holder, brought them back to within four on the night and level on aggregate though.

But it was King’s Lynn who did enough to get the job done in the final stages with Sheffield now looking to get back to winning ways on home shale against leaders Ipswich on Wednesday (September 3, 7,30pm).

“Obviously we’re all disappointed but the effort from the boys was great,” Stead said.

“It takes a lot of determination and a lot of focus to come back the way that we did towards the end to bring us back into contention.

“We were always going to be settling into these new riding positions; Leon (Flint) had a baptism of fire at No.2 on a track that he admits himself he finds tough and it’s a bit of a new routine for the other lads as well.

“The Super Heat probably came down to the toss of a coin in my opinion and we missed out on that.

“Gate four was tough for most of the night, particularly in the second half of the meeting, and unfortunately Picko just couldn’t get the point we needed him to like he did from there in Heats 13 and 15.

“But it once again reiterates the importance of a good home display which we didn’t really have in our own leg of this one; I would say we lost this aggregate point at home more so than away here and we need to bear that in mind.”

KING’S LYNN 47: Ben Cook 12, Jan Kvech 9+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7+1, Chris Harris 7, Richard Lawson 6+1, Nicolai Klindt 5, Luke Harrison 1+1.
SHEFFIELD 43: Jack Holder 14+1, Josh Pickering 9+2, Chris Holder 6, Anders Rowe 5+1, Nick Morris 4, Jye Etheridge 3+1, Leon Flint 2.
Aggregate scores tied – King’s Lynn win the aggregate point after winning a Super Heat 5-4