SpeedwayRye House 50 Mildenhall 41(Rye win 97-84 on aggregate)

Speedway

Rye House 50

Mildenhall 41

(Rye win 97-84 on aggregate)

By David Crane

MILDENHALL led after six heats and, following some close-fought races, trailed by just two points with four heats left as the destination of the silverware was still in the balance until a couple of late home heat advantages, helped by some suspect refereeing decisions, secured Rye House victory.

The Tigers' performances almost mirrored those of the first leg at West Row with Daniel King (14), Jason Lyons (10) and Jon Armstrong (8+1) all in top form for their club, with some good back-up from second strings James Brundle and Jason King.

But the away supporters were surprised to see captain Shaun Tacey have, in footballing terminology, 'a nightmare' as he failed to score after starting the meeting with two exclusions in his first two races through a fall and touching the tapes. Rockets asset Barry Burchatt will also have been disappointed with his 1+1 contribution from reserve.

After Lyons and Jason King got the Tigers off to a 4-2 start, Tacey was caught out by the tight first couple of turns in heat three as he fell and the resulting home 5-1 max put the Rockets 10-8 ahead.

Tacey's eagerness to make amends backfired as he shot through the tapes in heat seven and a Rockets 5-1 in heat eight swung the lead back in their favour at 25-23. It was left to Daniel King and Armstrong to pull the Tigers level with a 4-2 in the next, Armstrong producing a sweet move around the outside of Edward Kennett, but two home 4-2's and 5-1 over the next four heats put Rye House 43-35 ahead with just two races left.