Leicester Lions v Ipswich Witches

Report

IPSWICH are back on top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after winning 47-43 at Leicester on Thursday.

The Witches achieved the result as a six-rider team with skipper Danny King sidelined, as they held the lead for most of the meeting before being taken to a last-heat decider.

The Lions needed a 5-1 from that race to level the scores and force a Super Heat, but Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle secured a 3-3 behind home captain Max Fricke.

Doyle top-scored for the visitors with 15+1 from six rides whilst reserve Keynan Rew made a key contribution with 11+2. Fricke dropped just one point with 15+2 for the hosts, and Richard Lawson picked up 10+1.

Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “A brilliant performance and I am absolutely delighted with the whole camp; it was a proper team effort.

“All the mechanics played a vital role tonight, all helping each other with covering R/R, it was a proper team effort, and it was everything I want to see in an Ipswich side.

“Doyley has been terrific all season and he was again tonight. Keynan was superb, he was the main factor in us winning the meeting. We know he has the potential and he showed it tonight and it looks like British racing is starting to click for him now.”

Fricke said: “We always know when Ipswich come to town that it’s going to be a tough one, and we pulled a few points back towards the end but not quite enough.

“The track was little patchy early on, and after a couple of heats they tried to smooth it out a bit and make it more consistent, but overall it was just a bit of a tough night for everyone.

“I think everyone got caught out a bit early on. Later on in the meeting it came to us a bit, but we just need to try and get everyone scoring a bit more consistently.”

LEICESTER 43: Max Fricke 15+2, Richard Lawson 10+1, Ryan Douglas 9, Luke Becker 6, Sam Masters 2, Drew Kemp 1, Joe Thompson 0.
IPSWICH 47: Jason Doyle 15+1, Keynan Rew 11+2, Adam Ellis 7+1, Emil Sayfutdinov 7, Dan Thompson 4+2, Jordan Jenkins 3+2, Danny King r/r.

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Photo credit: PHIL McGLYNN