STARS WIN; WITCHES MAKE POINT

KING’S Lynn closed the gap on fourth-placed Ipswich with a 48-42 win from Monday’s local derby in front of a big crowd at the Adrian Flux Arena.

But the Witches left Norfolk with little damage done to their play-off prospects as they secured the aggregate point courtesy of their 51-38 victory in the reverse fixture.
The Stars opened up with back-to-back 5-1s but the Witches then provided winners in the next six races to halt the home momentum, and they won nine races in total.

Youngsters Cooper Rushen and Jody Scott, who impressed with 7+3, secured the home victory with a 5-1 in Heat 14, whilst Tobiasz Musielak (12) and Danny King (11) both won three races for the visitors.

Stars manager Rob Lyon said: “It’s a little bitter-sweet I suppose, but the important thing was we needed to win the match, that was the first thing, and getting the aggregate point was the second target.

“With the way we started I felt it was certainly within reach, but fair play to Ipswich, they rallied fairly well and did enough to get the aggregate.

“It was disappointing that we weren’t able to command heat wins, but we knew at some point Ipswich would get it together and Danny King and Tobiasz Musielak in particular were very good. They were really the difference for the aggregate point.”

King said: “It was tough. While we were getting race wins, we weren’t getting many heat advantages.

“It was always tricky, but we kept them honest. It was just a shame we couldn’t get the win.

“The target if all else failed was just to make sure we got the aggregate point. It would have been nice to get a couple more points.”

Watch the action from the Heat 9 (courtesy of RE-RUN PRODUCTIONS)

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Photo credit: DEREK LEADER