Ipswich Witches v Leicester Lions

IPSWICH boosted their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off hopes with a 50-40 win over Leicester in damp conditions at Foxhall.

The Lions led by four points in the early stages but the Witches turned the meeting with consecutive 5-1s in Heats 8 and 9 to notch a victory on their anniversary celebrations.

The result moves them three points ahead of their rivals for a top four finish, King’s Lynn, ahead of a huge clash between the clubs at the Adrian Flux Arena on Monday.

Guest Adam Ellis (10+1) and Tobiasz Musielak (10) reached double figure with skipper Danny King picking up 9+2 from four rides. Ryan Douglas led the way for the Lions with 12 from six rides.

King said: “I thought the night was absolutely fantastic. I saw so many faces there from the past, and the smiles on their faces and the stories they were exchanging around the pits… It really made their day, which obviously made me happy to see it and be part of it.

“We’d had no rain for months and then we got about a month’s worth of rain in two hours. Credit to the track staff – they knew it was coming.

“They packed the track nice and hard and while it was wet, we managed to get the meeting to go ahead.”

Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “It was disappointing that we were four points ahead and ended up losing by ten, but it wasn’t the worst result and I actually had that figure roughly in my head before the meeting.

“It gives us a fighting chance of the aggregate point, but we do still have to win a couple of meetings. We do still have work to do.

“It was an okay performance, and conditions were tough for both teams but in fairness they got on with it. It went roughly the way I thought it would, with us missing a couple of riders.”

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2
IPSWICH 50: Adam Ellis 10+1, Tobiasz Musielak 10, Danny King 9+2, Tom Brennan 9, Jason Edwards 7+1, Richard Lawson 4+1, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 1.
LEICESTER 40: Ryan Douglas 12, Joe Thompson 8+2, Drew Kemp 7, Sam Masters 6+1, Anders Rowe 4, Lewis Kerr 3, Nick Morris r/r.

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Photo credit: JEFF HIGGOTT