Great show from battling Lions

The Lions arrived at the Southampton track a rider short but stormed into the lead in heat one with a 6-4 from Neil Hollebon and the improving Andrew Long, both riders battling through from behind.

Heat two saw skipper Eddie Ridley make a lighting start to lead right until the last bend when his chain snapped, sending him into the fence which resulted in leg and arm injuries, the Saints taking advantage with a 7-3.

Gary Walder, making a surprise return to the track team, rode Tony Lloyd home for a shared 5-5, and Hellingly continued with this nip and tuck for the next six races and by the interval were trailing only 46-42.

Martyn Hollebon opened up with his first victory of the day and teammate David Boniface took third place to close the gap to just two points.

Southampton hit back hard with a 7-3 and two further 6-4 heat wins, but the Lions were far from finished, and Boniface landed a good tapes-to-flag win while Long got a crucial third place.

Ridley and Walder took heat 15 by 6-4, but in heat 17 Hellingly only had one rider in Martyn Hollebon. Despite both Saints riders crawling all over him Hollebon managed to split the pairing.

Southampton stepped up the pressure to finish with a 7-3 and a 6-4, but this was a superb Lions team effort, with everyone giving their all.

Lions scorers: N Hollebon 19, M Hollebon 14, A Long 12, E Ridley 12, D Boniface 11, T Lloyd 9, G Walder 7.