Stars suffer cruel luck

The Stars suffered some cruel luck against the Belle Vue Aces on Monday night, which contributed massively to a 44-46 defeat at the Adrian Flux Arena.In heats 2, 4 and 6, Lynn were sitting on comfortable 5-1 advantages only to suffer two snapped chains (Boughen and Lawson) and a broken fuel pipe for Ben Cook, which effectively wiped out a dozen points worth of heat advantages.Despite those setbacks the Stars were in with a shout if winning the meeting with the scores level but Belle Vue’s big guns came out on top in a crackerjack heat 15 with Dan Bewley stealing the win from Chris Harris by a cigarette paper on the line after Brady Kurtz had slipped past skipper Nicolai Klindt a lap earlier.It was a bitter pill to swallow for home fans as the Stars had arguably been the better side and didn’t deserve to lose although credit must go to the Aces’ middle order who managed to take the chequered flag in heats 12 and 14 to set up the last heat decider when on paper Lynn looked likely to grab heat advantages.Harris continued his fine start to the season with paid 17 and Klindt returned to form with 10, but those lost points in the early stages proved crucial in the final analysis.The Stars move on to the return fixture in Manchester on Monday seeking revenge – and hopefully some better fortune.Last Thursday saw the Stars overcome the Oxford Spires comfortably on aggregate to progress into the semi-finals of the Premiership Knockout Cup where we will face old foes the Ipswich Witches over two legs. Having won by a very handy 16 points on home shale, Lynn repeated the feat at Cowley with another rock-solid display to go through 106-74 and continue an extremely encouraging start to the season. Our septet recorded just four last places across the 15 heats (and only ten in the whole tie) with the evergreen Niels Kristian Iversen leading the way by dropping just a point to the opposition from five outings, and everyone bar skipper Nicolai Klindt recording at least one win or paid win.Nicolai has had a quiet start to the season by his standards, although it must be remembered that he had an awful crash last June and is only now returning to competitive action.Once he fully gets going I believe the sky is the limit for this team if the seemingly annual injury curse stays away and a semi-final against those pesky Witches is a mouthwatering prospect. They have also started very well, indeed and look on paper at least, to be the team to beat so those two meetings should be absolute belters with big crowds and a proper sense of occasion.Bring ’em on! I’m sure I speak for all speedway fans across the world in wishing former World Champion Tai Woffinden a full and speedy recovery after an awful crash in Poland at the weekend.Tai suffered serious multiple injuries in a first bend crash in Krosno on Sunday and was airlifted to hospital. The Pride of the East podcast were part of a full house at the Adrian Flux Arena one evening in October when Tai visited as part of a national tour.He was great value in talking about his life and career, and it was apparent how determined he was to get back to his best form and have another crack at the Grand Prix series.Best wishes go to Tai and his family at this very difficult time.