Kent Kings got off the mark in the National League with a draw at Rye House Raiders on Saturday.

The meeting ended 45-45 after Ben Morley won the final heat of the night.

Kings welcomed back Danny Ayres from a broken hand, only for James Shanes to crash in his second ride and pull out with a shoulder injury.

The visitors built a handy six-point lead after seven heats courtesy of two wins each for Morley, back at the track where he started his career, and Ayres.

Heat eight has been the Achilles heel for Chris Hunt's team this season and so it proved again as Alfie Bowtell and former Kent man Sam Woods returned a 5-1 for the Raiders.

Another one-two followed for the hosts in heat nine and all of a sudden Kent were two points behind.

Kings battled hard to stay in touch and deservedly claimed two points with the draw.

Ayres, who finished with 11 points, said: "We did really well to get two points against a very good side and with a bit of luck we could have won it.

"There’s a lot of positives to take from it to be honest.

"At the beginning we all just wanted to come out of the meeting in one piece as the track wasn’t good."

Kent host Mildenhall Fen Tigers at Central Park on Bank Holiday Monday (3pm).