Stars shine with fifth successive win

King’s Lynn rounded off their home campaign with another terrific performance to see off play-off qualifiers Leicester 48-42 at the Adrian Flux Arena on Monday.The PSH Environmental Stars have now won their last five matches on the trot, and the last three of those at the AFA have seen them take down the top three teams in the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership.The Lions arrived on a ten-match unbeaten run, one of which was an emphatic victory at the AFA last month, and still with a chance of finishing top of the table.But the mix-and-match Stars, tracking two guests in their line-up, were again good enough to see off much higher opponents, and they did it with a stirring last race 5-1 from Jan Kvech and Niels-Kristian Iversen.Both riders have performed superbly this season, and there was another strong showing from Anders Rowe, promoted into the main body of the team and handling the step up with no trouble – whilst recent signing Lewis Kerr continues to add stability to the lower order.Stars manager Rob Lyon said: “When you consider that we’ve to patch the team up every week, it’s testimony to the Lynn riders and also all the guests that we’ve used that we’ve managed to pull off these wins.“It’s been tremendous really, and tonight topped it off. Leicester are the in-form team, possibly favourites for the play-offs, and they had a full squad apart from Sam Hagon, so it’s a fantastic result for us. “Fair play to our boys, they’ve given it 100 per cent all the way through, and they’ve deserved these results.” Lynn did have to come from behind as Leicester started well, the visitors providing each of the first four race wins en route to a 14-10 advantage in the first phase of the match.But Iversen notched the Stars’ first win in Heat 5 when he got the better of the super-strong combination of Max Fricke and Richard Lawson, and three successive 4-2s to Lynn followed.Guest Chris Harris rode a trademark stormer in Heat 6 to reel in and pass Ryan Douglas for the win, whilst another stand-in Simon Lambert snatched third place from Sam Masters in Heat 7 as Kvech raced clear. Kerr stormed inside Lawson to win Heat 8 with Rowe supplying third, and after Douglas broke the run of Lynn wins in Heat 9 there was a first 5-1 of the night in the hosts’ favour in the next.It came from Harris and Rowe who got the better of Masters and Luke Becker to make it 33-27 with five heats to go, although that margin was short-lived as Lawson and Fricke responded immediately against Kvech in the next. However, Stars worked to rebuild their lead with Iversen and Kerr taking a key 4-2 in Heat 12 after fast-starting Craig Cook dropped back, and Kvech rode a fine first lap to edge out Fricke in Heat 13 with Harris in third place.Predictably the Lions took the opportunity for a tactical substitute in Heat 14 and it worked out as Fricke came into the race and partnered Becker to a 5-1 to send the match into a last-heat decider. But after a nervous start when Iversen was warned for movement, the Stars duo got it right in the re-run and delighted the crowd as Kvech and Iversen defeated Fricke and Lawson to win the match for Lynn and sign off in style at home.Lynn have one match remaining in 2024, which is the return fixture at Leicester on Thursday.King’s Lynn 48: Jan Kvech 12, Niels-Kristian Iversen 10+1, Chris Harris 8+1, Lewis Kerr 7, Anders Rowe 6+1, Norick Blodorn 3+1, Simon Lambert 2+1.Leicester 42: Max Fricke 10+1, Richard Lawson 9+1, Ryan Douglas 8, Sam Masters 6, Luke Becker 5+1, Craig Cook 4, Max James 0.