Speedway: Sheffield home fixtures underway with convincing win over King's Lynn

Sheffield finally got their home fixtures underway in speedway’s Rowe Motor Oil Premiership with a dominant victory over Kings Lynn.

Racing at Owlerton had been due to start last month, but a series of wet Thursdays had led to several postponements.

And as the action started against Kings Lynn, a team the Tru7 Group Tigers have not lost to since returning to the sport’s top flight, the club got off to a strong start on their own track.

This time, Tigers had secured victory by the end of heat 11. After having trailed 7-5 after heat two, Tigers took the lead as Chris Holder and Josh Pickering won 5-1 in heat three against Michael Palm Toft and Tom Brennan, who was riding as a guest in place of the injured Benjamin Basso.

And the Tigers never looked back from there, securing nine heat advantages over night, on their way to a 58-32 win.

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Tai Woffinden and Chris Holder topped the individual points for Sheffield with 12 apiece, while Jack Holder noted a 10 point paid maximum from his four rides.

The evening was not without drama. Tigers skipper Kyle Howarth taking what looked like a nasty fall in the last lap of heat eight, as he attempted to overtake Vadim Tarasenko. Tarasenko appeared to have broken down, leaving Howarth with nowhere to go. But the skipper got back up and rode the rest of his heats.

The race was awarded to Dan Gilkes, who was leading at the time, with Tarasenko excluded and Howarth awarded the point for third place.

Then heat nine saw an exciting finish as Josh Pickering overtook Tobiasz Musielak on the third bend of the final lap to secure a last gasp win against the Pole, a popular former Sheffield rider who moved to the Stars this season.

Musielak, however, did enjoy two heat wins on the night, on his way to 12 points from six rides.

The win puts Tigers third in the early Premiership table, three points behind leaders Ipswich, and won point behind second placed Oxford, who have ridden one more meeting than the Tigers.

Sheffield 58: Tai Woffinden 12+1, Chris Holder 12, Jack Holder 10+1, Josh Pickering 8+1, Dan Gilkes 7+2, Kyle Howarth 5, Jason Edwards 4+1.

King’s Lynn 32: Tobiasz Musielak 12+1, Tom Brennan 9, Anders Rowe 7, Michael Palm Toft 2+1, Patryk Wojdylo 2, Vadim Tarasenko 0, Niels-Kristian Iversen r/r.