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.”
25/09/17 1930 Wolverhampton v Belle Vue (SGBP POSF)
26/09/17 1930 Glasgow v Sheffield (SGBC POSF)
26/09/17 1930 Peterborough v Scunthorpe (SGBC)
27/09/17 1930 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton (SGBP POSF)
27/09/17 1930 Cradley v Eastbourne (TPNL) (at Birmingham)
29/09/17 1915 Plymouth v Eastbourne (NLKOC)
30/09/17 1900 Workington v Peterborough (SGBC)
30/09/17 1930 Eastbourne v Plymouth (NLKOC)
LATEST RESULTS...
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 18:
SGB PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL, 1st leg Belle Vue v Wolverhampton - OFF Re-staging date: Wednesday September 27, 7.30pm
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP Sheffield v Redcar - OFF
REVENGE CHALLENGE
Kent 49 (Ben Hopwood 12+1) Birmingham 41 (Taylor Hampshire 15+2)
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP Glasgow 40 – Richard Lawson 11 Peterborough 50 – Jack Holder 12 Championship points: Glasgow 0 Peterborough 4
Newcastle v Redcar - OFF
Scunthorpe 39 – Jake Allen 9 Workington 21 – James Sarjeant 7+1 Abandoned after Heat 10 (rain) – Result stands Championship points: Scunthorpe 3 Workington 0
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE Buxton 53 – Max Clegg 14 Lakeside 37 – Ben Morley 10/Paul Hurry 10 National League points: Buxton 3 Lakeside 0
Buxton 47 – Max Clegg 13 Kent 43 – George Hunter 12 National League points: Buxton 3 Kent 1
Mildenhall v Isle of Wight - OFF
EAST MIDLANDS BOWL Leicester 50 – Danny King 14 Coventry 43 – Hans Andersen 14
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 8, Leicester 500cc 1 Drew Kemp 2 Leon Flint 3 Daniel Gilkes 4 James Laker 250cc 1 Joe Thompson 2 Dan Thompson 3 Jordan Palin 4 Nathan Ablitt
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16:
SGB PREMIERSHIP RIDERS INDIVIDUAL, Belle Vue 1 Freddie Lindgren (Wolverhampton) 2 Max Fricke (Belle Vue) 3 Craig Cook (Belle Vue) 4 Jacob Thorssell (Wolverhampton)
TEESSIDE SILVER HELMET, Redcar 1 Charles Wright (Somerset/Redcar) 2 Aaron Summers (Glasgow) 3 Richard Lawson (Somerset/Glasgow) 4 Ryan Douglas (Scunthorpe)
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13:
SGB PREMIERSHIP King’s Lynn 44 – Michael Palm Toft 13 Rye House 46 – Scott Nicholls 11 Premiership points: King’s Lynn 0 Rye House 3
