The Mildenhall Fen Tigers, proudly sponsored by Manchetts Rescue and Recovery, saw their play off hopes severely dented after a 44-46 defeat by the Belle Vue Colts.

The Fen Tigers were often slower out of the gate than their opponents and could never gain a significant advantage over their visitors and were hit hard by the Colts who asserted after the interval with three successive heat advantages. A win from Ryan Kinsley taking a tactical substitute ride in heat fourteen and a 5-1 from Kinsley and Jason Edwards in the final heat glossed over an ordinary Fen Tigers performance which saw them lose Charlie Brooks with a wrist problem after battling through his first three rides clearly in some difficulty.

Team Manager Malcolm Vasey was clearly unimpressed with today’s performance, he said “This was not what we needed, nor what I expected today and from a position of some strength we are now needing to draw one of our remaining away meetings at least and beat Plymouth at home if we are to be in with a god shout for the Play Offs. I take nothing away from our visitors who performed well and were very sharp out of the gate, but we really should be talking about a win tonight not a defeat.

Losing Charlie was a blow, but not an excuse and we need to be tougher mentally, and sharper on the track if we are to extend our season. We face a very difficult meetin  tomorrow at Belle Vue before a must win final league home fixture, the lads need to regroup quickly and return to the form we were showing before the last two meetings, it remains in our hands!”

Mildenhall Fen Tigers 44
Ryan Kinsley 14 (6 rides), Jason Edwards 12+1 (5), Henry Atkins 7 (4), Matt Marson 5+2 (4), Elliot Kelly 4+1 (5), Arran Butcher 1+1 (3) and Charlie Brooks 1 (3)

Belle Vue Colts 46
Leon Flint 12 (5), Jordan Palin 10 (4), Kyle Bickley 8+1 (5), Connor Bailey 7+1 (4), Ben Rathbone 5 (4), Danny Phillips 3+1 (4) and Ben Woodhull 1 (4)