Skipper Klindt’s pride as Northampton Foxes secure first away point of campaign

And, after a couple of near misses that ended in defeats in recent weeks, skipper Nicolai Klindt was proud of how the team held their nerve to secure a share of the spoils.

Indeed, it could have been victory for the Foxes in Norfolk, but this still was a morale-boosting result ahead of Thursday night’s huge home match against runaway league leaders Belle Vue at Brafield on Thursday (start 7.30pm).

Foxes provided the winners in 10 of the 15 races at the Adrian Flux Arena, and Niels-Kristian Iversen was the hero in Heat 15 on his old home track as he kept Grand Prix star Max Fricke behind him to ensure the visitors would leave with a draw.

That was Iversen’s third win of the night whilst skipper Klindt won his opening three rides and Jaimon Lidsey his opening two.

Klindt said: “I would say that’s a small win.

"We’ve been so close so many times, yet so far, but we had a full one-to-seven and we showed we are there or thereabouts.

“I think we should be proud of our efforts, looking at the score from last week for King’s Lynn against Ipswich here (54-36), so we’re happy with the result but we’re still wanting more.

“Niels had a really, really good night after his first ride, I started off well, Jaimo was superb, solid all night, so it was a team effort for sure and Zagar pulled out a win in Heat 12 which was very important.

“A couple of times at home we’ve let it slip because we haven’t been strong enough towards the end, but this time we were.

"We wanted more out of Heats 13 and 15 but that’s how the table turns sometimes, and I think we should be happy with the one point.”

Lidsey defeated Fricke in the opening race with Kye Thomson third ahead of Chris Harris to give the Foxes an early lead, although this was cancelled out in the next race despite the efforts of Luke Harrison to split Jody Scott and Jordan Jenkins.

The home side recorded what would be their only 5-1 of the night as Ben Cook and Cooper Rushen controlled Heat 3 ahead of Iversen and the returning Matej Zagar, but the Foxes then quickly got to grips with the meeting.

Remarkably they provided each of the next six race wins, starting with a shared Heat 4 as Klindt held off Jan Kvech, and they pulled back two points with a 4-2 in Heat 5 as Lidsey got the better of Cook with Thomson in third place.

Klindt impressively pulled clear of Fricke in Heat 6 as the Foxes’ fast gating threatened to bring them level, and they did so in Heat 7 with Iversen heading Kvech whilst Zagar was an unchallenged third after Jenkins had fallen and been disqualified.

A brilliant ride by Thomson in Heat 8 saw him overcome Harris in race which saw multiple passes, and parity was maintained when Klindt was the winner of a re-started Heat 9 after Troy Batchelor had been disqualified for touching the tapes.

Fricke turned back inside Iversen to win Heat 10 with Harris third to edge Lynn back ahead, and Kvech ended Lidsey’s unbeaten run in the next, but the Foxes brought the match level again in Heat 12 as Zagar came up trumps with a win over Cook whilst the previously scoreless Batchelor got on the board with third ahead of Scott.

At 36-36, King’s Lynn collected what looked to be an important 4-2 in Heat 13 when Fricke rounded Lidsey at the end of lap one with Kvech third as Klindt was relegated to the back. But the Foxes fought back again, gating on a 5-1 in Heat 14 before Rushen took the wide line to pass Harrison as Iversen stretched clear up front.

All square at 42-42 heading into the last race, Iversen and Lidsey were selected to represent the Foxes, and from the gate the dream result looked possible as the visiting duo got away well, before Fricke and Cook went past Lidsey on the exit of turn two.

Then it was all down to Iversen to protect the draw, and he held his nerve superbly despite Fricke exploring every line in his efforts to past the Dane, and Northampton had a point on the road which was the least they deserved.

The Foxes can now prepare for Thursday’s showdown at the Shaleway against Belle Vue, featuring World No.2 Brady Kurtz.

Tickets are available from https://northampton-speedway.com/ticket-office .

King’s Lynn 45: Max Fricke 12, Ben Cook 10+1, Jan Kvech 8, Cooper Rushen 5+2, Jody Scott 5+2, Chris Harris 4+1, Jordan Jenkins 1.

Northampton Foxes 45: Niels-Kristian Iversen 11, Jaimon Lidsey 10, Nicolai Klindt 9, Kye Thomson 6+1, Matej Zagar 5, Luke Harrison 3, Troy Batchelor 1.