Sheffield Tigers v Ipswich Witches

SHEFFIELD came up with a solid team display as they beat champions Ipswich 51-39 at Owlerton on Thursday.

With no joy in securing guest cover at No.1 for injured star Jack Holder, each of his six Tigers team-mates contributed at least one paid victory each as they ended their run of three fixtures without a win.

Josh Pickering (12+1), Chris Holder (12) and Leon Flint (10+3) all ended the meeting in double figures, with Pickering continuing despite requiring treatment after a heavy tangle with Danny King in Heat 11 after the red lights had come on.

Richard Lawson top scored for the Witches with 10, and former Sheffield man Tobiasz Musielak collected 9+3 from six rides.

Tigers manager Simon Stead said: “I’m relieved to get a win on the board to be honest with you.

“We’ve been in a bit of a sticky patch since losing Jack at No.1 so I felt like it’s been a long time coming to get another win.

“So I’m pleased we’ve got this one over the line because Ipswich are a strong opposition – we saw that when they put in a good performance at their place against us last week.

“But this was a gutsy performance from the lads and the commitment from them all really shone.”

Witches boss Paul Hurry said: “To be fair, it was a good effort from the boys. The score probably doesn’t reflect what happened on the night.

“At any point there, we could have brought it back. There were a couple of races where it just went against us. They all dug deep and gave it a good shot. Sheffield are really good around their place.

“Sometimes when you have R/R for your No.1 rider, everyone else in the team can take a ride, and Sheffield probably capitalised on that. Even with Jack in the team, he would have probably got double figures, so it would have been just as tough. Everyone tried and we all got there in the end – maybe just a little bit too late.”

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2
SHEFFIELD 51: Josh Pickering 12+1, Chris Holder 12, Leon Flint 10+3, Anders Rowe 8, Jye Etheridge 5, Luke Killeen 4+1, Jack Holder r/r.
IPSWICH 39: Richard Lawson 10, Tobiasz Musielak 9+3, Scott Nicholls 5+2, Danny King 5+1, Tom Brennan 5, Jason Edwards 3, Nathan Ablitt 2.

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: CHARLOTTE FLANIGAN