Wolverhampton Wolves v Ipswich Witches

WOLVERHAMPTON are on the brink of play-off qualification after a 46-44 win over Ipswich in another dramatic meeting at Monmore Green.

But that spot is still not quite secure, and the Witches still have an outside chance of the top four, after Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov raced to a 5-1 in Heat 15 to take the aggregate point.

The Witches’ top two both piled up the points with Doyle scoring 15, missing out only in a competitive Heat 13, and Sayfutdinov picked up 12+2.

Wolves’ solidarity saw them just make it over the line, with Ryan Douglas top scoring on 8+2 – but home boss Peter Adams admits he is concerned by their current form at Monmore.

He said: “It’s something we spoke about in our team meeting earlier in the day. That’s not going to be something that is a recipe for success in the play-offs and we obviously need to be more dominant here.

“The guys know the seriousness of that moving forward but this was a meeting we just had to win.

“We were expecting a tough meeting; Ipswich are desperate for the points and they rode very well but we had just that little bit too much for them.”

Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I thought it was a great performance, and I can’t fault the team. Ordinarily you would be happy with that result at Wolves, picking up the aggregate point. But obviously we’ve left ourselves with such a big gap to make up, it looks like not being enough.

“There was rain before the start and the track was tricky. But the boys put everything into it and at times got caught out. But certainly, I can’t fault them for that.

“We’ve got two league meetings left, starting on Thursday against Leicester. We must win them, and we’ll have to see if anything happens elsewhere to get us in the play-offs.”

SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2
WOLVERHAMPTON 46: Ryan Douglas 8+2, Rory Schlein 8, Sam Masters 7+1, Steve Worrall 6+2, Zach Cook 6+2, Leon Flint 6+1, Luke Becker 5
IPSWICH 44: Jason Doyle 15, Emil Sayfutdinov 12+2, Danyon Hume 6, Erik Riss 5+1, Danny King 4+1, Keynan Rew 1, Jason Edwards 1
Ipswich win aggregate bonus point

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: STEVE FEENEY