REPORT: Spires suffer heavy defeat at King’s Lynn
BETGOODWIN Oxford Spires .concluded their away fixtures with a 27-63 heavy defeat in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at King’s Lynn last night (Monday).
Spires have been in improved form of late, proving competitive both home and away, but it all went wrong in Norfolk, and King’s Lynn Stars racked up a large victory.
No 1 Charles Wright aggravated a shoulder injury at Plymouth on Saturday evening, and with six out of the seven Premiership clubs already in action, Spires were forced to use rider replacement in his absence.
Rohan Tungate was blighted my machinery problems throughout, and only took two outings throughout the meeting. The Australian later apologised to the club and the supporters on his Facebook page.
Skipper Maciej Janowski provided Spires’ only heat-winner in Heat 6, as he combined with Peter Kildemand for a 4-2. These two riders top scored for Spires with eight points apiece. Kildemand deserved more, since he provided much of the entertainment on the night, in tussles with various King’s Lynn riders.
Both Mitch McDiarmid (5+1) and Victor Palovaara (3) were not disgraced on their first-ever visit to the circuit, and McDiarmid defeated King’s Lynn skipper Nicolai Klindt in Heat 11, while Rising Star Luke Killeen put in plenty of effort and defeated opposite number Luke Harrison in Heat 2.
Spires’ manager Peter Schroeck said: “It’s not been our day. Neither Rohan or his mechanic could get his bikes working and it unsettled our whole side of the pits, especially since we are already using rider replacement for Charles. We lost the points from two of our big hitters and you can’t compensate for that.
“I didn’t expect to win here, but I did expect to score more points. But we weren’t in the best shape to take on a King’s Lynn side who are very strong around this track.
“This can be quite an intimidating track and I was pleased how Mitch and Victor did on their first visit here. Peter Kildemand got stuck in, while Maciej Janowski found his feet during the meeting. Luke struggled a bit tonight, but he’s been done an excellent job for the club recently and he’ll come on strong again.
“Of course, we wanted to do better here, but we will bounce back, and we’re looking for good results in our two concluding meetings for the Spires this season, at home to King’s Lynn and Leicester.”
The next meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies entertain fierce rivals Poole Pirates on Wednesday evening (August 20) at 7.30pm, with Oxford gunning for revenge, after the corresponding fixture at Wimborne Road ended in controversy. Tickets are on sale at the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
King’s Lynn Stars 63: Jan Kvech 8+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 10+1, Chris Harris 15, Richard Lawson 10+3, Nicolai Klindt 8+1, Ben Cook 9+1, Luke Harrison 3.
BetGoodwin Oxford Spires 27: Charles Wright R/R, Mitch McDiarmid 5+1, Rohan Tungate 1, Victor Palovaara 3, Maciej Janowski 8, Peter Kildemand 8, Luke Killeen 2+1.
PHOTO by Steve Edmunds