BRUMMIES DO THE DOUBLE!

BIRMINGHAM came up with a big finish to their first season back in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a 46-44 win at Ipswich.

Swedish star Fredrik Lindgren scored a 15-point maximum and with GB ace Tom Brennan (14+3) also in great form, the two combined for crucial 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 to give the Brummies a maximum five league points from their last matches of the season against the Witches.

But for the injury-hit hosts it was a sixth successive defeat and not the outcome they were seeking ahead of the Cup Final and play-offs. Guest Troy Batchelor top scored with 9+2.

Brummies CEO Nigel Tolley said: “Freddie has made a fantastic captain, not just a fantastic rider out there on the track – but of course, he was superb.

“The same goes for Tom and Zach (Cook), and it was nice to see the reserves play their part as well.

“I just wish we were only three-quarters of the way through the season because of the way we’ve got it together.”

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I know we are short of riders, but it was a meeting we should have been able to win and cover that, but we didn’t.

“We had some bad luck and some machinery problems but really, we should have been good enough for that not to matter.

“Freddie and Tom were brilliant tonight, and we didn’t get many from R/R instead of Emil (Sayfutdinov), R/R has been a struggle of late, it is not that easy to find suitable guests either. It didn’t work tonight, and Scott and Danny were our two heat leaders and they both suffered mechanical problems. That all contributed to the defeat.”

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Photo credit: JEFF HIGGOTT