It’s a massive fixture at Mildenhall Speedway – proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery – this Sunday, 31st. July, with the Fen Tigers taking on Kent Royals in a make or break match in the fight for the Play Off positions in the National Development League [NDL].

To qualify for the Play Offs (which will decide the destiny of the NDL title, a title of course won last season by the team from Suffolk) one needs to finish in the top four.  Currently Mildenhall lie in sixth place in the table on 12 points, five points behind fourth-placed Oxford Chargers; with Kent Royals between these two clubs, in fifth on 13 points. The Fen Tigers’ next four matches are home and away to Kent and then away and home against Oxford - and it’s clear that four wins from those fixtures would be a massive step achieved in securing qualification for the Play Offs.

One step at a time means that all attention now is on West Row this Sunday with Co-Team Managers Malcolm Vasey and Jason Gardner issuing a call to arms to their charges to bounce back from the misfortune of last weekend’s home loss to third placed Belle Vue Colts and get their bid back on track to be a position to defend their hard-won league title when the season reaches its climax in September & October.

With the Fen Tigers’ wretched run of bad luck with injuries this term showing no sign of abating, the side go into this crucial fixture now without Sam Bebee – whose concussion suffered last Sunday, albeit quite mild meaning he has to sit out the match against the Royals. The better news though is that due to Bebee’s much improved average gained from some excellent high scoring performances this term, as one of the NDL’s most improved riders, the ‘Guest’ facility in place to cover his absence has given Vasey & Gardner a very good option.  And coming in as that ‘Guest’ for Sam is a rider very well-known to the West Row faithful, Cumbrian-born former Fen Tiger, Adam Roynon.  Adam was a member of the League & Cup ‘Double’ winning Mildenhall side of 2014 and is also both a one-time League Riders’ Champion and former track record holder at his old home track.

With a ‘Guest’ for Bebee, the facility for the also injured James Shanes (struck down with season-ending injuries in a high speed crash in the Netherlands the weekend before last) is now Rider Replacement – an option which this time allows all of the Mildenhall side to qualify for one ride to take Shanes’ programmed outings: that includes then the hugely in-form Jason Edwards, a maximum man in both of the last two home meetings this month.

The third change in the side sees young Jacob Fellows in for a second Fen Tigers’ appearance of the season – Fellows hails from Leicester and has come through the GB Youth system.

The visitors have an impressive top two – comprising a former Fen Tiger in Alfie Bowtell and the most commonly-seen visiting rider in the history of the West Row circuit, twice a League Riders’ champion and in an opposing team at Mildenhall for a record-extending 25th. time, Ben Morley.

The Kent management will be sweating now though on the fitness of Bowtell after he left the Oxford vs. Plymouth Jubilee League meeting on Wednesday evening (Alfie rides also for the Devon club in the second tier) in an ambulance after suffering a knee injury.

The 2022 newcomers to the NDL (the Iwade-based Royals adopting the name & styling of the former Kent club based at the now defunct Central Park Stadium) have a former Fen Tiger as skipper in Danno Verge and in the middle order of their side field former Coventry & Leicester rider Jamie Halder, recently returned from injury. No such return has been possible for their two casualties since they visited West Row and went down 51-39 earlier this season in the KOC semi-final: Joe Alcock and Sam Woolley (brother of Tom Woolley who’s been in opposition teams the past two weeks at Mildenhall).  Alcock has been replaced in their 1 to 7 by Connor King; and they’ll be Rider Replacement used for the broken ankle victim, Woolley. Completing the line-up is a newcomer to the NDL for 2022, Man of Kent (he hails from Ashford), Chris Watts.

Malcolm Vasey commented,

“It’s certainly been backs against the wall time for us lately with the shocking run of injuries and cruel luck we’ve experienced – but the way we battled against such adversity last Sunday to get so close to winning despite being down to just four fit riders shows what this team is made of. We know exactly what we need to do in these next four fixtures and intend to get off to the start we need by beating Kent on Sunday. The ‘extra man’ for us at West Row are our brilliant home supporters and we need that backing more than ever for what is without doubt our biggest match of the season so far.”

Gates open at 1.30pm and tapes are up on the action in this vital NDL match vs. Kent Royals at 3pm – it’s this Sunday 31st. July.