Ipswich team manager Paul Hurry believes his Tru7 Group Witches deserved more as they slipped to a 51-39 loss away to Sheffield in the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership on Thursday.
Despite the Tigers operating rider replacement for their injured No.1, Speedway GP star Jack Holder, a rock-solid team display from the hosts got the better of the 2025 champions.
Richard Lawson led the Witches scoring on 10 points, with Polish star Tobiasz Musielak adding nine paid 12. The visitors picked up form as the night progressed, and Hurry admits they were unfortunate to lose by 12.
He said: “To be fair, it was a good effort from the boys. The score probably doesn’t reflect what happened on the night.
“At any point there, we could have brought it back. There were a couple of races where it just went against us. They all dug deep and gave it a good shot. Sheffield is really good around their place.
“Sometimes when you have R/R for your No.1 rider, everyone else in the team can take a ride, and Sheffield probably capitalised on that. Even with Jack in the team, he would have probably got double figures, so it would have been just as tough. Everyone tried and we all got there in the end – maybe just a little bit too late.”
The Witches drafted in Nathan Ablitt as a guest for the injured Kevin Juhl Pedersen, and he scored two points – finishing second in heat two.
Ipswich was due to call up former Witches regular Jordan Jenkins, but he was forced to pull out of the booking after suffering a recurrence of a back injury, initially picked up at the British Championship Semi-Final in Leicester last Sunday.
Hurry explained: “I spoke to Jordan after his accident at Leicester. He said he felt sore but was sure he would be alright for Thursday. That’s why we went with him. He went to physio on Wednesday morning – then he said it felt good.
“But he got home and went into the workshop. I think he lifted a bike off the bench, and he just tweaked his back again, so he went back to square one. That was a bit of a shame. I think he could have had a good meeting for us. But in saying that, Nathan Ablitt came in and did well.
“He tried his hardest, he was on the pace and had a decent second in his first race. That’s all you can ask of him. The reserves are there to do well in heat two – anything after that is a bonus for the team.”
Witches race for the first silverware of the season next week, when they face Leicester in the Premiership Knockout Cup Final, with the first leg at Foxhall on Monday and the decider at the Hydroscand Arena on Thursday.
Get behind the Witches on their biggest night of the season so far. Tickets for the opening leg are available online HERE now.
FINAL SCORES
SHEFFIELD TIGERS 51: 1. Rider Replacement – Jack Holder, 2. Anders Rowe 8, 3. Chris Holder 12, 4. Leon Flint 10+3, 5. Josh Pickering 12+1, 6. Jye Etheridge 5, 7. Luke Killeen 4+1.
IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES 39: 1. Tom Brennan 5, 2. Danny King 5+1, 3. Richard Lawson 10, 4. Scott Nicholls 5+2, 5. Tobiasz Musielak 9+3, 6. Nathan Ablitt 2, 7. Jason Edwards 3.