A magnificent all-round team performance by Mildenhall Fen Tigers – proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery – on Friday evening (17/6/22), saw the reigning champions get their title defence off and running at the very venue where last year they clinched the National Development League [NDL], comfortably seeing off the Armadale Devils by 50 points to 38.

All four available match points secured was the perfect start to the ‘Northern Tour’ (with table toppers Berwick to come on Saturday) and this was an evening in Edinburgh when Malcom Vasey & Jason Gardner’s charges made a healthy capital return.

There’s no doubting the man in form in British Speedway at the moment – Jason Edwards has been recording double figure score after double figure score wherever he’s ridden this term and the ‘Billericay Blaster’ was utterly imperious, reeling off a quartet of race wins from his four programmed rides and then completing his full 15 points maximum with a third to first win in the final heat!

Partnering the skipper to three 5-1s (crucial on an evening when the winning margin was indeed the dozen points that trio of 5-1s garnered for the side) was Sam Bebee. Surely Sam must be right up there as the most improved rider in this year’s NDL and a superb paid 11 put the worries about his back following the nasty knock in the Fen Tigers’ last home match which had then seen him side-lined, way behind him.

The match started indeed with the first of those 5-1s and then in heat two another of the previously walking wounded in the Mildenhall ranks, Luke Muff joined the party – and how; with a tapes to flag victory showing that none of his early season sharpness as another in the column of ‘much improved riders’ has been blunted by the neck injury he suffered in the previous away match.

The other injury victim on that torrid evening at Leicester in May had been Muff’s reserve partner Josh Warren.  It was an important match back too for the 22-year-old from Peterborough and he had his own impressive moments including passing the highly rated Gregor Millar in heat 9.  The 4-2 then (with very capable ‘Guest’ Greg Blair recording the second of his two heat wins on the day) had increased the visitors’ lead to 11 points - with the real stand out man of the opening stanza of the match having been the Fen Tigers’ Jack Kingston.

They’d be no Armadale based side in the NDL when Essex boy Kingston previously rode and indeed Jack had never even visited the track before or even ridden north of the border – so to reel off a hat trick of wins from his opening three rides leaving the likes of heat leader trio of William Lawson, Tom Woolley and Danny Phillips in his wake was simply awesome stuff.  Alex Spooner contributed to the total too with his paid four including an unlucky tumble in his opening ride.

Even unluckier to fall and miss out on a maximum was Kingston in a heat 12 which also saw team mate Warren excluded for a fall and was the only blot on an otherwise perfect evening, with the 5-0 to the hapless hosts giving a slight veneer of respectability to what was, in truth, a comprehensive beating by the rampant visitors.

Next it’s a slight incursion back over the English border to take on the significantly greater challenge of league leaders Berwick Bullets – but for a Fen Tigers side which looks every bit as solid as that Wall Mr. Hadrian built around those parts, there has to be every confidence that more NDL points can be tucked away in their kit bags for the long journey home.

Armadale Devils 38

William Lawson           1, 1', 2, 1'            = 5+2
Rider Replacement - George Rothery
Tom Woolley               2, 1, 2, 2', 1'        = 8+1
Gregor Millar               0, R, 0, 0, 0         = 0
Danny Phillips              3, 2, 3, 1, 2, 2     = 13
Josh Embleton             2, 2, 1, 0, 0, 3, 3 = 11
Lewis Millar                 1', 0, 0                = 1+1

Mildenhall Fen Tigers 50

Jason Edwards             3, 3, 3, 3, 3         = 15 [M]
Sam Bebee                  2', 2', 2, 2', 0       = 8+3
Jack Kingston               3, 3, 3, FX           = 9
Alex Spooner                F, 1, 1, 1'            = 3+1
Greg Blair [G]               2, 3, 3, 0            = 8
Josh Warren                 0, 0, 1, FX          = 1
Luke Muff                     3, 1', 0, 2           = 6+1

Heat details

1 Edwards, Bebee, Lawson (Exc. 2M; 15 m), G. Millar  58.2  [1-5]
2 Muff, Embleton, L. Millar, Warren (fell rem.)  60.7  [4-8]
3 Kingston, Woolley, Spooner (fell), G. Millar (ret.) 59.3  [6-11]
4 Phillips, Blair, Muff, L. Millar  61.1  [9-14]
5 Edwards, Bebee, Woolley, G. Millar 58.6 [10-19]
6 Blair, Embleton, Lawson, Warren 3-3 (13-22) 60.4
7 Kingston, Phillips, Spooner, L. Millar 59.3  [15-26]
8 Phillips, Bebee, Embleton, Muff (fell rem.)  61.3 [19-28]
9 Blair, Woolley, Warren, G. Millar  61.3  [21-32]
10 Kingston, Lawson, Spooner, Embleton   60.0  [23-36]
11 Edwards, Bebee, Phillips, Embleton  59.9  [24-41]
12 (rerun/stpd, awarded) Embleton, Woolley, Warren (fell exc.), Kingston (fell exc.)  no time [29-41]
13 Edwards, Phillips, Lawson, Blair  59.8 [32-44]
14 Embleton, Muff, Spooner, G. Millar 61.7 [35-47]
15 Edwards, Phillips, Woolley, Bebee  60.1 [38-50]

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Club Honours

2023 NL KOC Winners
2022 NL Runners Up
2021 NL Champions
2018 NL Trophy Winners
2017 NL Trophy Winners
2014 NL Trophy Winners
2012 NL Champions
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NL KOC Winners
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2011 NL KOC Winners
NL Runners Up
2004 CL Champions
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1987 Fours Champions
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