BIG NIGHT FOR BRUMMIES

BIRMINGHAM gave their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership season a real kickstart with a 49-41 win over leaders Ipswich at Perry Barr – and they also took the aggregate point.

The Brummies, who have Swedish superstar Fredrik Lindgren joining them from next week, took advantage of the Witches’ injury problems and put up a strong display with their full team contributing.

Emil Sayfutdinov put on a sensational showing for Ipswich with 19 points from seven rides, and with the aggregate scores level a Super Heat was required – and whilst Sayfutdinov won the race, Brummies duo Tom Brennan and Steve Worrall crucially finished ahead of Witches guest Nicolai Klindt.

Worrall top-scored for the home side with 10+2 whilst Wiktor Lampart impressed at reserve with 10 as the Brummies took their second win of the season.

Birmingham manager Sam Ermolenko said: “I didn’t think we’d get all three league points to be fair, but the boys raced for it and everybody performed well.

“Alright, Ipswich came without Jason Doyle and a few other of their bigger names, and that may have been a whole different story.

“But at the end of the day, they had their opportunities and they were very clever with making sure that at the end of the meeting they had some strength there – but our boys matched it.”

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We battled really hard and clearly, we are a depleted side. Birmingham had a great opportunity to beat us tonight and they really took it and rode really well.

“We kept it tight for most of the meeting but had a blip in the second half of the meeting and couldn’t pull it back.

“Emil was superb, and I think it is the first time he has ever done eight races in a meeting before. To only drop two points from eight heats is superb and he looked brilliant, and it is much needed at the moment, so that is very positive going forward.”

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Photo credit: PHIL McGLYNN