After 30 heats of thrilling speedway, the Knock Out Cup tie between Arena Essex and Rye House will have to be replayed after the teams finished level on aggregate.
The first match took place at the Purfleet Raceway on Good Friday in front of a bumper crowd who saw the Hammers lose their unbeaten home record as they suffered a 44-46 defeat thanks to a last heat 4-2 in favour of the visitors.
On a slick and dusty track Arena failed to gain the advantage they were seeking from this first leg match as the Rockets precociously talented reserve Ed Kennett revelled in the conditions to blast his way to a paid 15 point tally that included four heat wins.
Leigh Lanham reeled off four straight wins before combining with Tatum for a heat 13 maximum as the home side regained the initiative with a 40-38 scoreline.
There had never been more than four points between the two teams although the visitors lost Brett Woodifield with an ankle injury in the opening heat. But Kennett and former Arena rider David Mason combined to take 10 points from the Aussie's scheduled rides.
With Rye House appearing odds-on to win the second leg on Saturday at Hoddesdon and progress into the third round, Arena team manager Ronnie Russell pleaded for a positive response to stifle the home side and the burly boss received a magnificent riposte.
Tatum won his first two rides and with Andy Galvin claiming the reserves race. The Hammers were on level terms at 15-15 after five heats.
Lanham and Galvin took a 4-2 in the next but their efforts were undone when Joonas Kylmakorpi and Bager could do little to contain the Rockets home pair in heat seven leaving Arena trailing 22-20.
Four shared heats ensued before Lanham and Tatum produced a flying start in heat 13 to plunder a 5-1 and level the scores on the night.
But it looked unpromising for Arena's hopes of staying in the competition when Bager could only split the Robson and Mason home duo in heat 14 to give Rye an overall aggregate advantage of four points.
Thus the outcome of the tie rested on the final heat but Lanham and Kylmakorpi quickly settled the concerns of the large Hammers following by trapping quickly and racing to a trap to line 5-1 to win the match 46-44.
The replay dates have yet to be arranged.
Published Tuesday, April 22, 2003
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