The ‘Tru7.com’ Witches travel to Hertfordshire on Saturday for the second leg of the Knockout Cup First Round tie against Rye House (7.00pm).
The two sides met on Thursday at Foxhall in the first leg with the Witches running out narrow 46-44 winners meaning Ritchie Hawkins’ side have just a two point lead to defend at Hoddesdon if their cup dreams are to continue in 2016.
The Rockets have a mixed home record so far this season in the Premier League winning one, drawing one and losing one which will give the Witches hope of a positive result that would see them progress to the next round.
Both sides are once again at full strength for the decisive clash and the Witches will need a much better performance than their last visit to Hoddesdon back in April in the Premier League where the home side ran out comfortable 53-39 winners.
Manager Hawkins is hoping his side have learnt from their first visit to Rye House earlier in the season and says his side have plenty of experience of the track.
“I hope we’ve learned a lot from the last time we were there because that was a write off in my mind,” said Hawkins. “Everyone has rode Rye House quite a lot apart from Paco (Castagna) but apart from that everyone’s been there and they should all be going there capable of winning races.”
The boss says the team need to be all firing at the same time on Saturday if the Witches are to progress.
“We’ve got a strong top five and when that top five all perform then why can’t we win there? We’re not getting everyone going at the same time at the moment which we will need to do on Saturday to pull off a result.”
Rye House ‘BMR’ Rockets:
1. Edward Kennett (c) 9.74
2. Kasper Lykke 5.21
3. Cameron Heeps 6.18
4. Leigh Lanham 5.53
5. Stuart Robson 6.98
6. Peter Karger 5.00
7. Ben Morley 3.43
Team Manager: Peter Schroeck
Ipswich ‘Tru7.com’ Witches:
1. Danny King (c) 9.41
2. James Sarjeant 4.41
3. Lewis Kerr 7.03
4. Morten Risager 6.98
5. Nico Covatti 7.84
6. Paco Castagna 3.00
7. Darryl Ritchings 3.00
Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
Last five results at Rye House:
09.04.16 L39-53
22.08.15 W46-44
21.03.15 L43-46
16.08.14 W49-41
31.05.14 W46-44
Rye House Factfile
Main Sponsor: BMR
Team Colours: Black/Silver/Orange
Race-Night: Saturday (7pm)
Website: www.ryehouserockets.co
Track Length: 262 metres.
Track Record: 54.7 seconds (Robert Lambert August 1, 2015).
Admission Prices:
Adults: £16
Concessions (over 60s): £14.
Full-time students (17-22): £10
Children (12-16): £5.
Children (under 12): Free
Programme: £2.
Stadium Address
Rye House Stadium, Rye Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire EN11 0EH.
Telephone: 01992 440400.
By Train: Rye House station is next to the stadium and can be accessed from Liverpool Street and East Anglia.