Ipswich team manager Paul Hurry slammed Leicester boss Stewart Dickson for forcing Foxhall track staff to tyre pack the circuit as Witches suffered their first home loss of 2026 on Thursday.
The Tru7 Group Witches went down 48-42 to the Lions, with stand-in skipper Scott Nicholls and Polish star Tobiasz Musielak producing stellar performances on 12 points apiece, while reserve Jason Edwards added seven paid eight.
The Rowe Motor Oil Premiership contest began with testing track conditions, and Hurry left Foxhall fuming, accusing Dickson of pushing referee Chris Durno to order the track to be tyre packed.
It was a move that he felt made conditions more challenging and unsettled his side. He said: “I am pretty upset with the way Stewart carried on before the meeting, saying the track was dangerous – this was dangerous, that was dangerous, and we needed to tyre pack it.
“They forced the referee to make the track staff tyre pack it, and that made it even worse. If they hadn’t tyre packed the track, it would have turned over naturally, which would have been safer. It wasn’t unsafe, as they were saying it was.
“They were saying it was too grippy and there was too much material on there. There wasn’t. Stewart knew what he was doing, and I left with total disgust.
“They just did it to unsettle our boys, and it worked. Fair play, but what comes around goes around.”
Witches’ frustration only adds spice to the clubs’ Premiership Knockout Cup Final showdown, which sees Ipswich stage the first leg on Monday, July 27, with the Lions hosting the decider on Thursday, July 30.
Their track battles proved another challenge on a night when the hosts were missing injured skipper Danny King and Richard Lawson, who is serving a seven-day ban after sitting out Monday’s trip to Leicester due to illness.
But Hurry was pleased with the fight his side showed. He said: “They all got on with it. They are all experienced enough. Scott got on with it. Tobi got on with it. Jason Edwards did too and Kevin Juhl Pedersen scored paid six.
“Kevin was making his first appearance at Ipswich and the thing that went on before the meeting probably wasn’t the most settling of ways to start.
“He went out there and did the best job that he could, and he scored some points. In his first ride, he probably didn’t know what to expect with track conditions. But he soon got it dialled in and got on with the job.
“In the rides I had to cover for Richard using rider replacement, we only dropped a point. The cover we put in for him did its job. We knew it was going to be a tough task because we were without two of our top riders. But we did the best we could.
“They put up a hell of a fight, but that negativity before the meeting probably didn’t help matters.”
Next up for the Witches is another Rowe Motor Oil Premiership clash at home to Sheffield on Thursday, July 16. Advance tickets for the Tigers meeting are available online HERE now.
FINAL SCORES
IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES 42: 1. Tom Brennan 6+1, 2. Rider Replacement – Richard Lawson, 3. Michael Palm Toft 2+1, 4. Scott Nicholls 12, 5. Tobiasz Musielak 12, 6. Kevin Juhl Pedersen 3+3, 7. Jason Edwards 7+1.
LEICESTER LIONS 48: 1. Ryan Douglas 14+2, 2. Rider Replacement – Kyle Howarth, 3. Nick Morris 1+1, 4. Dan Thompson 10, 5. Sam Masters 10+1, 6. Drew Kemp 10, 7. Joe Thompson 3.