Stars are up and running in Premiership

King’s Lynn are up and running in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after a dramatic 46-44 home win over Leicester.The PSH Environmental Stars recovered from an early eight-point deficit to turn things around and seal their first league points in a last-heat decider.The victory may have come at a cost however with the club waiting anxiously on an update on No.1 Ben Cook who was withdrawn with a wrist injury after crashing out of Heat 10.Team manager Rob Lyon said: “A win is a win, I guess. We’ve got two points on the board, which is good.“But ironically, we probably lost more points tonight than we did here against Belle Vue and we’ve still managed to win on this occasion.“We’re a little bit too inconsistent at times, so we need to try and iron those out for the next one.”Cook’s night got off to a far-from-ideal start when he lost a spark plug cap and suffered ignition problems as he began to mount an early challenge for first in Heat 1 as the visitors earned an opening maximum. Experienced reserve Chris Harris took the chequered flag in Heat 2 before a further pair of 3-3s followed with Richard Lawson winning Heat 4. Leicester created their early eight-point advantage when Luke Becker and Max Fricke registered their second 5-1 – but the Stars instantly got back to within four when Nicolai Klindt made a flying start to Heat 6 whilst Cook charged underneath Sam Masters on lap two.Harris made it two from two with a brilliant ride to round Kyle Howarth in Heat 7 whilst Lawson got the better of Douglas for third.It looked nailed on that the hosts would then edge ahead for the first time on the night as Klindt and Ashton Boughen were coasting on a 5-1. But the Rising Star got it all wrong on the final turns and crashed out, keeping King’s Lynn two behind. But the very next race did see them hit the front when Jan Kvech and Niels-Kristian Iversen fully capitalised on their extra man advantage following Drew Kemp’s exclusion for falling on his own in the initial staging.Heat 10 saw another lightning gate from Klindt before Cook came steaming under both Lions into bend three. A lap later, the Aussie picked up too much grip, lifted spectacularly and hit the ground hard, resulting in required medical attention and the end of his night.Klindt couldn’t produce the same in the re-run and the scores were back level. Lawson and Harris claimed the minor placings in Heat 11, with the latter reeling in Becker to snatch third on the line.That would be the first of five successive heats for Harris who, after finishing behind Douglas in Heat 12, then demonstrated more of his true class by winning Heats 13 and 14.That fourteenth race looked set to be a key 5-1 after Iversen crept underneath Howarth off bend four, but the Dane then lifted off bend two off the third lap, allowing Howarth to reclaim second.Two points up, a shared race would do it for the Stars. So even when Klindt was passed on the line by Fricke, with Harris comfortably in third ahead of Douglas, the hosts had successfully wrapped up their first league points of 2025. The PSH Environmental Stars are back in action in a fortnight on Monday, April 28 (7.30pm), when Oxford make its second trip of the season to the Adrian Flux Arena, this time in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.King’s Lynn 46: Chris Harris 16+2, Nicolai Klindt 11, Jan Kvech 6+1, Richard Lawson 6, Niels-Kristian Iversen 5+2, Ben Cook 2+1, Ashton Boughen 0.Leicester 44: Max Fricke 11+3, Ryan Douglas 9, Luke Becker 8, Sam Masters 6, Kyle Howarth 5, Sam Hagon 3+3, Drew Kemp 2.