Kent V Hammers Preview

Lakeside head to Kent on Monday in the first leg of the Tunnel Trophy Challenge (3pm).

The Vortex Hammers narrowly missed out on aggregate in the Lee Richardson Memorial against Eastbourne on Good Friday – but team manager Kelvin Tatum says there were plenty of positives to take out of the two legs.

“We may have missed out overall but I have to say there were some encouraging signs from all areas of the team against the Eagles,” said Tatum.

“To get the win at home was particularly pleasing and that challenge stands us in good stead going forwards.

We’re looking forward to going to Kent and it’s the start of an exciting new rivalry. Kent is a tight, technical, slick track – but the top end of our team have done some laps around there and should all score well.

If we can get everyone else chipping in with their average then we’d like to think we could go there and give a good account of ourselves.”

The Hammers will hand an opportunity to Jamie Couzins at reserve in place of Scotland based Ryan MacDonald.

Said Tatum: “We thank Ryan for his efforts on Friday and his dedication to travel was unquestionable.

“However, it appeared he practiced much better than he dealt with the competitive racing side of things and we’re going to give Jamie a chance on Monday.
He had a spell with Kent and he’s keen to earn a team spot – so we hope he does well on Monday.”

LINE-UPS (not in riding order):

KENT KINGS:

Luke Bowen, Nathan Stoneman, Ben Hopwood, Jack Thomas, Luke Clifton, Bradley Andrews, Alex Spooner

VORTEX LAKESIDE HAMMERS:

Ben Morley, Zach Wajtknecht, David Mason, Alfie Bowtell, George Hunter, Nick Laurence, Jamie Couzins