Ipswich Witches v Leicester Lions

Report

IPSWICH overcame their injury problems to defeat Leicester in the Premiership KO Cup and set up a semi-final clash Birmingham.

The Witches, who had won by six points in the away leg on Easter Monday, took a 47-43 victory at Foxhall for a ten-point aggregate success.

They were without injured trio Jason Doyle, Danny King and Adam Ellis – but guest Scott Nicholls delivered a vintage performance with superb 17-point show from six rides, with Emil Sayfutdinov picking up 13 from five.

The Lions were limited to four race wins, three of them coming from Richard Lawson who scored 12.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I am absolutely delighted with tonight; we knew it was going to be a really tough test.

“Leicester have got as strong a side as anyone when you look at it on paper and obviously, we are having a really tough time with the team.

“Scotty was absolutely amazing, and Jordan (Jenkins) and Keynan (Rew) stepped up with some important rides from reserve and that is what made the difference tonight.”

Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “We started with a 5-1 but then we lost a 5-1 immediately, so any momentum we had was gone.

“We weren’t able to get the heat advantages we needed, and Scott Nicholls had one of those nights, he was really good, and of course so was Emil as well.

“It was there for us with them having a weakened team, there’s no doubt about that, but good teams find a way to win, and that’s what they did.”

PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F, 2nd leg
IPSWICH 47: Scott Nicholls 17, Emil Sayfutdinov 13+1, Keynan Rew 6+2, Jordan Jenkins 5+1, Dan Thompson 3+1, Troy Batchelor 3, Jason Doyle r/r.
LEICESTER 43: Richard Lawson 12, Luke Becker 8+1, Sam Masters 6+1, Max Fricke 5+3, Ryan Douglas 5+2, Craig Cook 5+1, Sam Hagon 2+1.
Ipswich win 95-85 on aggregate

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Photo credit: JEFF HIGGOTT