Ipswich Witches v Wolverhampton Wolves

IPSWICH edged to a 47-43 home win over Wolverhampton to keep in touch with the Sports Insure Premiership play-off places.

The Witches needed 5-1s from their top two of Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle in Heats 13 and 15 to get over the line, with the scores level going into the last race.

They got the better of Sam Masters and guest Scott Nicholls in the decider to avoid a repeat of Wolves’ away win at Foxhall earlier in the season.

Sayfutdinov and Doyle both scored 13+1 and skipper Danny King picked up 11 as the home heat-leaders dominated, whilst Nicholls (9+1) and Masters (9) top-scored for the visitors.

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We got the win in the end, we needed to get the two points on the board.

“I am disappointed we didn’t win by more, I felt we should have won by more than that, but we put ourselves in a position where we could have lost again.

“We are in July now and really we need to do better, but we got away with one tonight. We are not going to keep getting away with them, we have been punished before.”

Wolverhampton manager Peter Adams said: “Our team is all about solidity, their team is all about the strongest top two in the league with Jason and Emil, and those 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 were the separating factor.

“It’s difficult to swallow when that happens, but I’m pleased with how competitive we were because they’re a decent team at home.

“It was good to bounce back from our heavy defeat at Belle Vue on Monday and I think that’s close enough for the bonus point when they come to Monmore later in the year.”