Kent Kings suffered their first setback of the new speedway season when they lost 57-38 in a National Trophy tie at Leicester Lion Cubs on Sunday.

Captain Simon Lambert stormed home in the opening heat but the difficulties of partner Luke Chessell in tumbling off on the first lap proved a theme of the day for Kent riders.

Daniel Blake looked equally ill-at-ease as he pulled out of heat two and went on to finish pointless, while fellow reserve Luke Harris had mechanical problems and fell foul of the two-minute warning before his second race.

Vice-captain David Mason started well enough but tired, clearly still feeling the effects of the flu bug that ruled him out at Scunthorpe last week.

Lambert finished with 14 points and retained the Bronze Helmet with victory over Leicester's James Sarjeant.

Other than that, the highlight for Kent was Benji Compton's move on Max Clegg in the ride of the evening.