King’s Lynn are the first team through to the League Cup Final after their 56-34 win over Ipswich thanks to a powerful performance by new captain Josh Pickering, an Edinburgh Monarchs racer.
Aussie-born Pickering (pictured by Nigel Duncan) scored a paid maximum of 14 points and one bonus point in their third straight win as Stars kept up their impressive start to the season.
They top the group standings ahead of Peterborough Panthers, who have completed their fixtures, and they will face either Sheffield Tigers or Wolverhampton Wolves in the final with the Northern group to be resolved at Owlerton next month.
Jason Doyle scored 11 points and Troy Batchelor ten for Witches who travelled without three riders due to illness and injury – including former Stars man Erik Riss, a former Edinburgh captain, who crashed in Germany at the weekend.
King’s Lynn boss Alex Brady said: “The first couple of heats were nip and tuck but then we took control and it was a great night.
“There have been a lot of words on social media from certain individuals and I think they were swallowed tonight. It was very pleasing. The boys did their talking on the track and it was brilliant.”
Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was always going to be a tough night with only having half a side, and so it proved to be, but the main thing is that the positives came out of our own actual riders.
“King’s Lynn have definitely improved on what they were in the last couple of seasons, they’ve started the season very well and fair play to them for winning the group.”
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
