Heavy defeat for depleted King’s Lynn Stars in Sheffield

Injury-hit Lynn suffered a heavy 58-32 defeat at champions Sheffield on Thursday.

The PSH Environmental Stars lost both Niels-Kristian Iversen (concussion) and Benjamin Basso (elbow injury) in the build-up to the fixture in South Yorkshire, leaving them depleted on arrival.

British racer Tom Brennan proved a good choice of guest replacement though as he scored nine points whilst skipper Tobiasz Musielak led the Stars’ score chart as he notched 12+1 against his former club.

Tobiasz Musielak. Picture: Ian Burt

Rising Star Anders Rowe also enjoyed another solid night, winning Heat Two on his way to seven points while fellow reserve Patryk Wojdylo found the going a bit tougher.

Both Michael Palm Toft and Vadim Tarasenko endured frustrating nights mechanically with the latter failing to finish any of his three outings.

Stars co-promoter Rob Lyon said: “It felt like we were really depleted tonight if I’m honest. It was always going to be difficult with two riders injured this week but we had a great guest in Tom Brennan who I thought rode really well.

Anders Rowe in the pits. Picture: Ian Burt

“But it’s always tough running rider replacement and with this team that Sheffield have got it was always going to be an uphill task for us.

“Tobi had a good night but you would expect him to come here and get dialled in pretty quick. But we struggled as a team and Vadim had an absolute nightmare.

“There’s not a great deal I can say about it and there’s not a great amount of positives to come out of it.

“We’ve got to move on and try and regroup as a club. To get seven riders on track would be nice, and now we’ve got Monday to put things right against Sheffield again.”

Stars boss Rob Lyon. Picture: Ian Burt

The Stars do battle with the Tigers once more this coming Monday (April 22, 7.30 pm) as the champions visit the Adrian Flux Arena.

SHEFFIELD 58: Tai Woffinden 12+1, Chris Holder 12, Jack Holder 10+2, Josh Pickering 8+1, Dan Gilkes 7+2, Kyle Howarth 5, Jason Edwards 4+2.

LYNN 32: Tobiasz Musielak 12+1, Tom Brennan 9, Anders Rowe 7, Michael Palm Toft 2+1, Patryk Wojdylo 2, Vadim Tarasenko 0, Niels-Kristian Iversen R/R.