MEETING SPONSORS
RN Euston – RN Euston Limited has supplied steel framed buildings in East Anglia for over 40 years. Established by Ray Euston the business has grown steadily over the years and now Ray works in partnership with his son Mark. The company is based in Suffolk and work all over East Anglia where they have gained a reliable reputation.
SCORECARD
IPSWICH 46: Emil Sayfutdinov 10, Danny King © 7, Adam Ellis 8, Tom Brennan 10, Sam Masters (G) 8, Connor Mountain (G) 1+1, Jordan Jenkins (RS) 2. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
SHEFFIELD 44: Jack Holder 10, Anders Rowe R/R, Josh Pickering © 7+2, Lewis Kerr 9+1, Chris Holder 7, Justin Sedgmen 1+1, Leon Flint (RS) 10+3. Team Manager: Simon Stead
SUPER HEAT FOR AGGREGATE BONUS POINT: Jack Holder, Brennan, Sayfutdinov, Pickering – Ipswich win 5-4.
REFEREE: G. Hunter
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 10 | 20 |
| Sheffield | 10 | 17 |
| Belle Vue | 10 | 17 |
| Leicester | 10 | 14 |
| King’s Lynn | 10 | 9 |
| Oxford | 12 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 10 | 4 |
THE REPORT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches returned to winning ways on Thursday night with a dramatic win over Sheffield at Foxhall in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The hosts booked Sam Masters and Connor Mountain to guest in place for the injured duo of Jason Doyle and Dan Thompson whilst the visitors were using rider replacement at number two for Anders Rowe. Neither side could pull away from each other all night meaning it went down to heat 15 with Ipswich coming out on top in the decider. With Sheffield having won by the same scoreline at Owlerton earlier in the season there was a super heat for the aggregate bonus point which Ipswich also collected in front of a delighted home crowd. Emil Sayfutdinov and Tom Brennan both top scored with 10 points.
Skipper Danny King got proceedings underway with a win in heat one as Jack Holder won the battle for second against Sayfutdinov, resulting in a 4-2 to the home team. The points were shared in heat two as Leon Flint took victory and the away side went ahead in heat three thanks to a maximum. Masters won heat four, but Jordan Jenkins couldn’t hold on for third meaning a 3-3 that left the Tigers 11-13 to the good.
Heat five was stopped with Jack Holder excluded having hit the deck. In the re-run Ellis made the gate and sailed off in the distance to win ahead of Flint to level the score. Sayfutdinov recorded his first win of the night in a shared heat six as Masters followed suit in heat seven. King won his second race of the night in heat eight with a 3-3 awarded after Jenkins fell meaning it was 24-24 overall.
Brennan picked up a race win in heat nine and with Ellis third it edged Ipswich ahead. Sayfutdinov couldn’t be caught in heat 10 as the Witches raced to another 4-2 with King relegating Josh Pickering to the back. Sheffield pulled two points back in heat 11 as Jack Holder won and Lewis Kerr kept Mountain at the back. Ellis won a shared heat 12 which left the tie finely poised at 37-35 with three heats to go.
The scores were level after heat 13 as Jack Holder finished at the front with brother Chris in third for a point. Brennan rode his socks off to get past Kerr to win heat 14 but with Mountain at the back it took it to a last-heat decider. Brennan was back out in heat 15 and produced the goods again to hold off Jack Holder and win with Sayfutdinov third to secure the two league points, much to the delight of the Foxhall faithful. With the aggregate score level there was a super heat for the bonus point which Jack Holder won ahead of Brennan, but Sayfutdinov rode superbly to pass Pickering for third to ensure it was Ipswich who took all three points on offer on a fabulous night in Suffolk.
RITCHIE HAWKINS REACTION
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Thursday’s win over Sheffield…
“It was a really tight, close meeting and both teams will feel they could have done better. We won a lot of races but ran a lot of lasts which has been the opposite of how we have been this year, we haven’t run many last places. We made a lot of mistakes, but they will probably feel the same, so it was a pretty even contest. I’m delighted to be on the right end of the result including the bonus point, but we had the home advantage for the bonus point and if the second leg was at Sheffield, they’d probably have won it, so I don’t take that much pleasure in that. We need to improve, and we are a bit lacklustre at the moment and we need to get the buzz back we had before the injuries.
“The injuries have been a bit of a knock when everything was flying along but those boys will be back soon and we will be back together soon and buzzing again, I’m sure.
“I’m really pleased with Tom; he started off struggling and changed bikes and then flew! It shows great mental strength, so I am delighted with him. Emil in those last few heats was looking back to his old, determined self and he can take great confidence from those rides. He wasn’t making the starts tonight but was working hard to get his points.
“Dan had a bit of good news from the hospital today that everything is healing well, so that is great. We will see how he gets on when he comes back, and Doyley is doing the GPs this weekend so we will see how he gets through that, and we will see pretty quickly whether he is fit or not.”
RN EUSTON RIDER OF THE NIGHT
Brennan and Sayfutdinov shared the award after their heat 15 and super heat heroics!
WHAT IT MEANS
Ipswich pick up two points and the aggregate bonus point to go three points clear at the top of the table. Sheffield go away empty-handed and remain second.
NEXT FIXTURE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to King’s Lynn to take on the Stars on Monday 16th June in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture. Tickets can be purchased on the gate.
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway