Sheffield Tigers v Ipswich Witches

Report

SHEFFIELD were crowned Sports Insure Premiership Champions after an incredible second leg turnaround against Ipswich at Owlerton.

The Tigers trailed by 18-points after the first leg of the Grand Final and therefore needed to break the record for the largest margin ever overturned in the return fixture – which they remarkably did with a 56-34 win.

The home side had wiped out their deficit and gone ahead on aggregate with five races remaining when they led 40-20, but a nip-and-tuck battle followed with some classic action at Owlerton.

The Witches twice drew back level on aggregate, including with a 5-1 in Heat 13 after an epic battle between Jason Doye and Chris Harris – but Jye Etheridge and Josh Pickering then slammed in a huge 5-1 for the Tigers in Heat 14 with Pickering passing Keynan Rew for second place.

That meant Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov needed another of their trademark 5-1s in Heat 15 for Ipswich to force a Super Heat, but on this occasion Doyle was relegated to the back in a frantic first lap by Chris Holder and Robert Lambert.

Holder top scored with 11 points as the Tigers celebrated their first-ever top-flight title, whilst Sayfutdinov scored 11+1 for the Witches.

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “Just unbelievable. The commitment from the team and the will to win all started straight after Tuesday night on the group chat believing we could turn it around.

“I’m really pleased that we managed to do it and really pleased that we managed to do it here in front of our home supporters after last year as well.

“I’m reluctant to single any one rider out as tonight was always going to be about a really solid team performance, and when you look down the scorechart, every single one of them did their bit.

“Both as a rider and a team manager I’ve had some unforgettable memories with this club, but this one is right up there and will stick with me forever.”

SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL, 2nd leg
SHEFFIELD 56: Chris Holder 11, Robert Lambert 9+1, Jye Etheridge 9+1, Chris Harris 9, Josh Pickering 8+2, Kyle Howarth 5+3, Jason Edwards 5+1.
IPSWICH 34: Emil Sayfutdinov 11+1, Jason Doyle 9+1, Danny King 5, Keynan Rew 3+1, Erik Riss 3, Danyon Hume 2+1, Joe Thompson 1.
Sheffield win 92-88 on aggregate and are crowned 2023 Sports Insure Premiership Champions

OFFICIAL REFEREE SCORECARD
Available here

Photo credit: IAN CHARLES