The Birmingham Brummies are up and running after taking a league point against reigning champions the Sheffield Tigers.
The Rowe Motor Oil Premiership Perry Barr opener ended in a 45-45 draw before the visitors claimed the extra point that was up for grabs in an anticlimactic Super Heat which saw Curtis Sport Brummies No.1 Vaclav Milik excluded after he came down in the opening turns.
A bumper crowd, unsurprisingly, turned out for the first top flight fixture in the Second City in a decade – and the home faithful were blown away by what they saw, particularly early doors.
The Brummies stunned the Tigers by hitting three 5-1s in the opening four races to open up a ten point advantage.
Tom Brennan and Milik outgated Grand Prix star Jack Holder to take the first before reserve pairing Leon Flint and Zach Cook also made the most of their lightning quick reactions in Heat Two.
Flint then teamed up with Scott Nicholls to register another maximum, this time against triple World Champion Tai Woffinden.
Wiktor Lampart won Heat Five in only his second ever outing on the Perry Barr circuit before Sheffield reduced the gap back down to six with a 5-1 in Heat Six.
Brennan picked up his second win of the night in the eighth whilst Flint worked hard to charge under Dan Gilkes in the closing stages to snatch a pivotal third place.
Milik and Brennan then combined for their second maximum of the night in Heat Ten to restore their ten point lead – but the visitors responded instantly leaving the gap at six heading into the interval.
Woffinden led a 4-2 as a tactical substitute in Heat 12 before making it four on the spin in Heat 13 to put things on a knife edge.
Cook and Steve Worrall claimed the minor places in Heat 14 to take it down to the wire – putting the pressure on Sheffield who needed a 5-1 to force a Super Heat.
Whilst Jack Holder stormed clear, Nicholls and Woffinden raced handlebar-to-handlebar for over half the race before the Sheffield man found a way around the outside to grab the result they needed.
Tension could be sensed around the stadium, but it was short lived as just seconds into the Super Heat, Milik was judged to have taken a tumble on his own in the opening bends by SCB referee Seth Perkin and that disqualification handed the extra league point to the Tigers.
There was definitely a feeling of ‘what could’ve been’ surrounding the camp at the end of the night, but there were, once again, plenty more positives the Brummies can take with them into Thursday’s (March 28, 7.30) trip to last year’s Grand Finalists Ipswich.
BIRMINGHAM 45: Leon Flint 9, Vaclav Milik 8+1, Tom Brennan 8+1, Scott Nicholls 7+2, Zach Cook 5+2, Steve Worrall 5+1, Wiktor Lampart 3.
SHEFFIELD 45: Tai Woffinden 15+1, Jack Holder 9, Josh Pickering 8, Kyle Howarth 5+2, Chris Holder 4, Jason Edwards 3+1, Dan Gilkes 1.
Sheffield beat Birmingham 7-2 in Super Heat
Referee’s official scorecard
birmingham_25.03.24_resWords and Images by Birmingham Speedway
