BIRMINGHAM will take a six-point lead to Eastbourne later this month for the second leg of the National League KO Cup Final.
The Brummies won 48-42 at Perry Barr on Wednesday despite only providing five of the 15 race wins as Adam Ellis and Ellis Perks dominated that department for the Eagles.
Ellis raced to a 15-point maximum against his old club whilst Perks was only beaten in Heat 15 by Tom Perry – but home reserves Jack Smith (14+2) and Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (13+3) both put in remarkable displays to keep their side in front.
Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “After being ten points up half way through the meeting, I'm a little disappointed to only be going into the second leg six up.
“We threw away some silly points and there was a lot of panicking mechanical wise in the pits tonight as well.
“Our two reserves were the difference in the end and they were absolutely superb.”
Eastbourne chairman Martin Dugard said: “We would have been happy with an eight-point defeat, so six points down is better.
“We know what we can do at home. If we can’t pull that back at Arlington, Birmingham deserve to win the trophy.
“Nobody in our team had a bad night. We were racing against the league winners, last year’s champion and they built a fantastic team for this year. These are our hardest meetings of the year.”
Poole 52 (Hans Andersen 12) Leicester 40 (Danny King 13+1) SGB Premiership points: Poole 3 Leicester 0
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE Birmingham 46 (Tom Bacon 12) Lakeside 44 (Zach Wajtknecht 15) National League points: Birmingham 3 Lakeside 1
MONDAY JUNE 19:
BRITISH FINAL, Belle Vue 1 Craig Cook (Belle Vue/Workington) 2 Steve Worrall (Belle Vue/ Newcastle) 3 Rory Schlein (Wolverhampton/Ipswich) 4 Ben Barker (Redcar)
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE Cradley 47 (Tom Perry 11) Kent 37 (Luke Bowen 10) Abandoned after 14 heats - Curfew - RESULT STANDS National League points: Cradley 3 Kent 0
