Sheffield Tigers bare their teeth in speedway's Premiership League Cup final with King's Lynn

Just four days after the heartbreak of losing the Belle Vue Aces by two points in the Premiership Grand Final, Sheffield showed enormous character to beat King’s Lynn 51-39 in the away leg.

It sets them up perfectly to finish the job in the home leg at Owlerton Stadium on Thursday (7.30).

“The lads did exactly what I asked and expected of them,” said SimonStead.

“They did not let me down one little bit, they just showed their professionalism and their want to do well for this club.

“They were all disappointed with what happened on Thursday and I think we saw what that meant to them tonight, going out there, getting straight back at it and doing a fine job.

“We know we are only at the halfway stage, we know what can happen in this sort of meeting and we have not won it, we have just made life a little bit easier for ourselves on Thursday when we will have the same commitment and determination.”

The first four races were all shared with Jakobsen making two sharp starts for the Stars and Jorgensen an impressive winner of heat one as he blasted inside Lewis Kerr on turn three.

Kerr and Jack Holder responded to break the deadlock with a 5-1 in heat five as Stars skipper Josh Pickering fell on the third bend and Richie Worrall was squeezed out.

The home side clawed back two points with a 4-2 in heat six thanks to a super ride by Jorgensen to hold off the ever-present threat of Tobiasz Musielak but Adam Ellis kept the Tigers ahead by ending Jakobsen’s unbeaten run in the next.

The gap was up to four again when Kerr defeated Jorgensen in heat eight with another ex-Stars man Connor Mountain adding third place.

The home side finally got back on terms in heat 10 with a rapid getaway from Jorgensen whilst Richard Lawson charged around the outside for a 5-1, leaving the scores tied at 30-30.

However, the Tigers hit back immediately and it was that man Kerr to the fore again in heat 11 while his team-mate Holder forcefully shut out Jakobsen off bend four to restore Sheffield’s advantage.

Things got worse for the home side when Ellis bolted from the outside gate to out-trap Worrall who was then passed on the inside by a good effort from Justin Sedgmen to put Sheffield eight points up.

The Tigers completed a hat-trick of 5-1s thanks to Musielak and Holder in heat 13 to confirm victory on the night before the Stars fashioned a response in a terrific heat 14 with Jakobsen and Pickering making their way past Kyle Howarth.

Sheffield had the final say, though, with Musielak and Ellis racing clear of Jorgensen and Jakobsen to give the Tigers a 12-point advantage going into their home leg.

KING’S LYNN 39: Frederik Jaboksen 12, Thomas Jorgensen 11+1, Josh Pickering 5+2, Richie Worrall 5+1, Richard Lawson 5, Nicolai Klindt 1+1, Jason Edwards 0.

SHEFFIELD 51: Tobiasz Musielak 12+1, Adam Ellis 11+1, Lewis Kerr 10+1, Jack Holder 8+3, Justin Sedgmen 4+1, Connor Mountain 4+1, Kyle Howarth 2.