One 'in' and two 'out' is a sadly but not unfamiliar tale for the Kent TouchTec Kings, who go into National League [NL] action against fourth-placed Cradley Heathens today [Monday 15/7] still in the grip of a seemingly never-ending injury crisis.
First the long-awaited good news relates to teenaged reserve Dan Gilkes who successfully came through extensive on-track fitness testing at the weekend and returns to action nine weeks after crashing out in what was his first ride in the NL for the Kings. The youngster is naturally elated commenting, "It has a been a long road to recovery due to the broken pelvis I sustained at Stoke back in May. But, after having regular physio sessions with Steve Williams, hyperbaric chamber sessions five days a week it is with great delight that I can announce that I'm back and really looking forward to Monday's meeting at Central Park! I have had a few days of practice and I now feel I am ready to get back into that Kent Kings' race jacket!"
Stoke though was also the scene of renewed misfortune for Chris Hunt's beleaguered charges this weekend - with Rob Ledwith crashing in his first ride in the NL4s and it's been confirmed that he has suffered a broken collarbone.
Ever upbeat the inspirational skipper said, "It's a blow to have to miss out due to this injury but you can all be assured that I will be back on my bike ASAP. The doctor has said 6-8 weeks but I am hoping to improve on this recovery time, if at all possible. I want to say thank all my brilliant team mates and their mechanics and TouchTec's Robert Kashdan for helping with a speedy load up of the van on Saturday night. And also massive thanks to all the staff at the Royal Staff’s hospital who looked after me very well and were fantastic. I can't be in action of course on Monday but hope to be there to cheer the lads on in the vital match against Cradley."
Anders Rowe was also forced to withdrawfrom Saturday's NL4s after he too suffered a horror crash in the semi-final - but despite a very sore wrist sustained when he was involved in a crash with Mildenhall's Jason Edwards - no one there could quite believethat the two teenagers walked away from that one. It's a great relief that Anders has confirmed he will be able to ride - for the first time as an NL number one for the TouchTec Kings on Monday. Jordan Jenkins was top scorer for the Kings on Saturday - winning both his rides in successful semi final qualification but then on Sunday whilst guesting for Stoke at his former home track Mildenhall, Jordan was involved himself in a high-speed crash damaginghis back once again and misses Monday's match now against the Black Country side, Cradley. Rider Replacement will be used to cover for Ledwith with Jason Edwards coming in as 'Guest' replacement for the missing Jenkins. Monday is the last match of another injury victim's absence, Nathan Ablitt and he is covered in the reserve berth by Jake Mulford. The 15-year-old from Norwich rides a week and a day after finishing runner-up in the GB 250cc Grasstrack title - a meeting in which former Kings' rider now with Cradley, Luke Harris finished fourth.
It’s not been a weekend to remember for the Harris' current employers Cradley Heathens either - bowing out at the semi final stage with just eight points in Group 'A' up at Stoke, the West Midlanders' number one Max Clegg suffered the ignominy of failing to score - entirely because he actually never got to the first bend in either programmed ride as twice he committed starting gate offences.
Meanwhile Jack Smith who scored half of the Heathens' meagre eight points on Saturday had been involved in a Twitter storm over comments he made over the GB team who took FIM Silver in the World U21 Team Cup the evening before. Smith missed visits to Central Park when with Belle Vue Colts
Co-promoter Len Silver comments on the latest injury set-back for the Kings,
"Fate is a strange thing sometimes - we get one rider back (Daniel) and immediately lose another two in Rob and for this week also, Jordan. But we are survivors and our quest is not diminished. An aim for the Play-Offs is still within our grasp and Monday's match with Cradley is the first step on the way."
The action gets underway at Central Park at 6.30pm today (Monday 15/7)
Teams [in alphabetical order]
Kent TouchTec Kings: Jason Edwards [G]; Daniel Gilkes; Drew Kemp; Jake Mulford; Anders Rowe; Alex Spooner; R/R for Rob Ledwith
Cradley Heathens: Max Clegg; Sheldon Davies; Dan Halsey; Luke Harris; Harry McGurk; Jack Smith; Tom Spencer