WITCHES STAY ON TOP

IPSWICH overcame their injury problems to retain leadership of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a 49-41 win at bottom side Birmingham.

The Witches were without Jason Doyle and Dan Thompson following weekend crashes, but they still got the job done at Perry Barr despite several mechanical issues.

Reserve Jordan Jenkins starred with 11+1 with Tom Brennan picking up 10+2 against the club he rode for last season, to get the visitors back to winning ways after they were narrowly beaten at Sheffield last week.

Brummies skipper Tobiasz Musielak racked up 16 points in a losing cause for the team, winning his last five outings after a slow start to the meeting, but the next highest scorer was Paco Castagna on seven.

Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “I thought it was a great performance, and we bounced back from Thursday despite being two riders down.

“We needed a full team performance to cover R/R and Dan’s absence, and we had a performance from six riders that all had a win or a paid win. It was solid throughout and I’m really happy with that.

“We had a few mechanical gremlins that made life hard for us but on reflection it was good to have them tonight and get them out the way all in one go seeing as we still got the win!”

Brummies captain Tobiasz Musielak said: “It was another disappointment. It is very frustrating to have another loss.

“I see some guys struggling with the set-ups and whilst Matej (Zagar) was very pumped and motivated for the meeting, I think a lack of racing for him did not help.

“We just need to keep focussed and keep our heads up because if we go in with our chins down, this will make it worse.”

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Photo credit: PAUL ROSE