TIGERS WIN AFTER EMIL CRASH

SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead was able to reflect on a narrow 46-44 win over Ipswich after the Witches’ No.1 Emil Sayfutdinov remarkably reported no broken bones from his Heat 15 crash.

The battle of the top two in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership went down to a last-heat decider and appeared to be heading for a Super Heat before Sayfutdinov came to grief when disputing the lead with Jack Holder.

With the Tigers then awarded a 5-1 it meant they edged a narrow victory despite having trailed by six points with five races remaining.

Holder top-scored with 16+1 from six rides and guest Chris Harris added 11+1 from five, whilst Sayfutdinov scored 13+1 for the Witches before the accident.

Stead said: “At the time, the result was insignificant because the thoughts of every single person in the stadium were with Emil.

“To wake up and read that it’s nowhere near as bad as first feared though and that he appears to have escaped any serious injuries was quite astonishing really and it’s also such a massive relief

“Looking on the result now, like we did against Leicester last week, we’ve managed to walk away with two league points again when we weren’t really quite at it collectively.

“Everyone knows that we need to improve quite dramatically again in certain areas over the next couple of weeks, but let’s focus on the positive that we’ve taken another step towards cementing our place in the top four.”

Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “Unfortunately for Emil it was one bend too far and if that was the end result after Heat 15 without the crash I would have gone away delighted with the boys after the effort and fight they showed.

“I thought we put in a tremendous performance, and I am super proud of them but none of that matters at all now. The result is immaterial because our thoughts are with Emil.”

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: CHARLOTTE FLANIGAN