Bullets work hard for victory

Grant Henderson Tankers Berwick Bullets 53 

Kent Iwade Garage Royals 37 

Start-line twitches threatened to undermine the GHT Bullets’ bid to cement their place at the top of the National Development League on at typically eventful Shielfield Park Saturday.

A midweek purchase of new starting ribbons proved to be a wise investment as skipper Kyle Bickley, Ben Rathbone and Ace Pijper all ploughed through the tapes and set themselves the task of earning their points the hard way by starting off 15 metre handicaps.

After skipper Bickley had imperiously beaten Kent number one Alfie Bowtell in heat one the fun and games started as Rathbone became the night’s first start-line offender. Despite the handicap he always seemed to have the beating of the visiting reserves but he chose the moment that Sam Woolley got horribly out of shape to attempt the pass for second and was unceremoniously dumped on the ground on the home straight, referee Dave Watters awarding a 5-1 to the home side.

A typical last bend swoop from Greg Blair shared the spoils in heat three in a move similar to the one with which Bowtell reeled in Ace Pijper after the teenage sensation had led heat five.

Bickley was next to taste ribbon and, despite his best efforts, he was still a couple of metres behind Morley when the chequered flag fell on heat six. Luke Crang and the hugely impressive Kieran Douglas opened up a ten point lead when they combined effectively in heat seven and when Blair showed uncharacteristic speed from the gate in heat nine the game was well and truly up for the previously unbeaten visitors.

Mason Watson let two points slip away when he overcooked it on the third bend of heat ten and then it was Pijper’s turn to rip the tapes from their moorings in heat 12. He responded well to pass Chris Watts and had Danno Verge in his sights only to run out of laps.

Bowtell with sporadic support from Joe Alcock and Morley, led the Kings’ superbly but he had to lay his bike down quickly in heat 13 when Morley fell in front of him on the outside of Bickley, the big guns having gone into the third bend three abreast. Morley’s night was over and there was a highly unusual occurrence of a referee reversing his decision.

Watters initially excluded both Morley as the cause of the stoppage and Crang, whose cutout had come adrift at the start but had managed to get going again, albeit almost a lap behind the front three, because he erroneously ruled that the Bullets’ heat leader was not under power when the red lights came on. A quick telephone call from the pits saw Watters reinstate the Bullets’ man.

While Morley left the track in an ambulance having suffered a severe dead leg , Bowtell picked himself up to reappear in the re-run and enjoyed a stroke of luck as Bickley suffered a puncture on the back straight of the final lap while leading comfortably.

Blair again jetted from the start to win heat 14 but he couldn’t repeat the feat in the nominated riders’ race, skipper Bickley avenging his earlier misfortune by keeping the hard-charging Bowtell at bay.

Six of the Bullets won one or more races on the night, once again underlining the solidity which has now seen them win five of their six NDL matches this season.

Having swapped to reserve, Douglas enjoyed one of his most productive returns for the Bullets who now cannot wait for the weekend double header against Leicester in two weeks’ time.

Bullets team manager Gary Flint said: “The boys worked hard to earn the right to celebrate victory and had to dig deep at times on a night when not everything went smoothly.

“Once again our reserves were the key. It may be different personnel but Ben and Kieran really backed up the top five and their points were crucial in the final analysis.

“Kent are a good side and in Alfie Bowtell have one of the league’s top riders so to win by 16 points is an outstanding performance.

“Every Bullets’ rider gave it their all tonight and the reward is that they are looking good at the top of the NDL.

Bullets: Kyle Bickley 11+1, Mason Watson 4+1, Ace Piper 6, Greg Blair 9+2, Luke Crang 9+1, Kieran Douglas 8+1, Ben Rathbone 6+1

Royals: Alfie Bowtell 13, Jamie Halden 3+1, Danno Verge 3, Joe Alcock 9, Ben Morley 7, Chris Watts 1, Sam Woolley 1+1