Stars triumph at Oxford

King’s Lynn completed a highly productive week with a 52-38 win at Oxford to pull clear of their opponents in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership table.It was the PSH Environmental Stars’ first away league victory of the season, and it came at the same venue where they had triumphed in the KO Cup back in March.Niels-Kristian Iversen and Chris Harris had scored a combined total of 25 points in that meeting, and it was exactly the same total from the pair again as they led a superb solid Stars team effort which left them as fully deserved winners, collecting all three points from the meeting with the aggregate point also firmly in the bag.It was also a terrific night for Young Stars captain Jody Scott who picked up his first-ever points at Premiership level and was on the pace throughout as he battled with several far more experienced riders.Manager Rob Lyon said: “We said at the start of the year that you target which teams you’re potentially going to be up against, and Oxford are one of those.“We had to come here and get a result to give us any real consideration of making the top four, and the boys put on a great show.“That’s five points from the week which is what we aimed for at the start of the week, and we move into Monday with hopefully a lot of confidence to keep this momentum going. “I’m really pleased for Jody. It wasn’t necessarily what points he scored but it was how he scored them. He was in the mix all the way through, and I gave him his last ride because I thought he deserved it, although he was off the graveyard gate four, and I was very pleased with him.” Kyle Howarth proved an ideal guest for the injured Ben Cook, and he got Lynn off to a winning start with Richard Lawson in third place for a 4-2 in Heat 1, and that result was repeated as Jan Kvech outgated Peter Kildemand to win Heat 2 with Scott in third over Luke Killeen.But there was then a comeback from the Spires with Harris forced to come from the back to split Kildemand and Erik Riss in Heat 4, and then he rounded Maciej Janowski in his next outing to prevent a home 5-1 with Charles Wright.Meanwhile in Heat 5 Lawson took a fall on the fourth bend whilst Howarth held off the challenge of Rohan Tungate despite a nervous moment on the third lap when he lifted, and it all meant the scores were level after six races. Iversen and captain Nicolai Klindt then came up with a big result in Heat 7 taking a 5-1 as Klindt outgated Riss and controlled the first lap to allow Iversen around the outside.There was nearly a sensation in Heat 8 as Scott headed former World No.3 Janowski for more than half of the race until the Pole came through, but Howarth held on out front to extend the Stars’ lead to six points. That became eight in a remarkable Heat 9 which was won by Harris with all the drama behind as Tungate nudged Kvech towards the fence on turn two with the Lynn rider doing well to remain on the bike but being left way adrift. Kvech, however, refused to give up and got his reward on the run to the line by getting past Craig Cook for a well-deserved third place.The next two races were shared, leaving the Stars 37-29 ahead of Heat 12, which saw Oxford make their tactical move. However, although Riss won the race by holding off the fast-finishing Kvech, Kildemand crashed out of third place on turn four, and Lynn could see the victory line approaching.That was effectively secured in a brilliant Heat 13 in which Harris chased Riss around the outside and then spectacularly dive-bombed his opponent at the start of the third lap, maintaining control when he then went wide on turn two for a superb race win, with Lawson supplying third place.It put Lynn ten points up with the result mathematically secured when Iversen won Heat 14, but things became even more emphatic with a clear 5-1 from Harris and Iversen in Heat 15.The result moves the Stars on to nine points in the Premiership table, five adrift of fourth-placed Leicester. The Lions are not in action on Monday, which makes Lynn’s home clash with local rivals Ipswich all the more important as they have the chance to move to within three points.Oxford 38: Rohan Tungate 10, Erik Riss 10, Maciej Janowski 7, Peter Kildemand 6+1, Charles Wright 6+1, Craig Cook 1+1, Luke Killeen 0.King’s Lynn 52: Chris Harris 13, Niels-Kristian Iversen 12+2, Kyle Howarth 10+1, Jan Kvech 6, Nicolai Klindt 5+2, Richard Lawson 4, Jody Scott 2.King’s Lynn win the aggregate point