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| |  | BIRMINGHAM came agonisingly close to putting more points on the board at Redcar - but were narrowly beaten 46-44.
It was another tremendous effort from the Curtis Sport Brummies who were once again inspired by guest No.1 Richard Lawson after racing to a 16+1 haul.
Skipper Justin Sedgmen won two of his five races to total nine whilst Paul Starke raced to his highest return since rejoining the club.
Youngster Sam Hagon opened his night by leading a 5-1 in Heat Two whilst Troy Batchelor rounded off his evening teaming up with tactical substitute Lawson for a maximum in Heat 12.
Alfie Bowtell had to wait until his third and final ride to trouble the scorers whilst Stefan Nielsen failed to contribute any points.
Birmingham boss Stewart Dickson said: “I’m glad we gave them a match.
“The plan was to be competitive, and I think we’re now doing that, I don’t think folk are saying ‘it’s only Birmingham coming to our track this week’ and that’s what we’ve tried to do.
“We’re one rider short, but I suppose every team manager in the league says they’re one rider short – but we gave a good account of ourselves.”
Birmingham took the lead with a 5-1 in Heat Two before being immediately pegged back as the hosts registered a maximum of their own in Heat Three.
Brummies again edged ahead in Heat Six with Sedgmen holding on to lead a 4-2 before the Bears levelled in the seventh.
Back-to-back 5-1s and a 4-2 between Heats 9 and 11 for the hosts proved to be a damaging and costly spell for the Brummies as they fell ten points behind.
And that prompted Dickson to introduce Lawson as a tactical substitute in Heat 12 as he and Batchelor combined for a 5-1 to move back within six.
Successive shared races followed to seal the points for Redcar with a heat to spare before Sedgmen and Lawson rounded off the night with an easy 5-1 away from the tapes.
The Curtis Sport Brummies stage their penultimate league fixture of the season at Perry Barr on Wednesday (August 23, 7.30) when Scunthorpe are the visitors.
They then travel to Edinburgh on Friday (August 25) for a potentially defining fixture with the two locked on points in the race for the final play-off place.
REDCAR 46: Danny King 11, Erik Riss 9+1, Connor Bailey 9+1, Charles Wright 8+1, Danyon Hume 5+2, Jason Edwards 3, Luke Harrison 1+1.
BIRMINGHAM 44: Richard Lawson 16+1, Justin Sedgmen 9, Paul Starke 8+3, Troy Batchelor 5+1, Sam Hagon 4, Alfie Bowtell 2, Stefan Nielsen 0
Redcar won the aggregate point 92-88.
Photo credit: COLIN POOLE
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