The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the King’s Lynn Stars at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 5th June in a Knockout Cup semi-final second leg fixture. Parade: 7.30pm, first race: 7:45pm.
MEETING SPONSORS
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The Fat Cat Colchester – Fat Cat Colchester is a well-established free house serving a great selection of ales, wines, spirits and food. You’ll be warmly greeted by their friendly atmosphere, the oak bar with a row of hand pumps advertising a selection of real ales. Above the bar, a blackboard details the wide range of beers sourced locally, nationally and from abroad.
LINE-UPS
IPSWICH: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.10 2. R/R for Jason Doyle 9.07 3. Adam Ellis 5.93 4. Tom Brennan 6.86 5. Danny King © 6.24 6. Danyon Hume (G) 5.06 7. Jordan Jenkins (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
KING’S LYNN: 1. Richard Lawson 6.74 2. Peter Kildemand (G) 6.13 3. Nicolai Klindt © 6.37 4. Chris Harris 6.50 5. Niels-Kristian Iversen 6.72 6. Jan Kvěch 6.10 7. Luke Harrison (G) (RS). Team Manager: Rob Lyon
REFEREE: D. Watters
KNOCKOUT CUP DRAW
QUARTER-FINALS
First Leg: Birmingham 33-57 Leicester. Second Leg: Leicester 46-44 Birmingham
First Leg: King’s Lynn 53-37 Oxford. Second Leg: Oxford 37-53 King’s Lynn
First Leg: Belle Vue 40-50 Ipswich. Second Leg: Ipswich 67-23 Belle Vue
SEMI-FINALS
First Leg: Leicester 54-36 Sheffield. Second Leg: Sheffield v Leicester (June 5)
First Leg: King’s Lynn 48-42 Ipswich. Second Leg: Ipswich v King’s Lynn (June 5)
TICKET NEWS
Tickets are available to purchase in advance here and on the gate and are priced at £24 for adults and £22 for concessions (65+) & students (21 & under). Tickets for children aged 6-16 are £1 whilst children 5 & under go free. Official programmes are priced at £3.50 and are available at the stadium. Car parking is free for all supporters. Debit and credit card payments are accepted. Turnstiles open at 6.40pm.
THE PREVIEW
The Witches take on the King’s Lynn Stars on Thursday at Foxhall in the decisive second leg of their Knockout Cup semi-final tie.
The two sides met on Monday in the first leg at the Adrian Flux Arena and it was the Stars who came away with a six-point victory. The Suffolk side remain without the key duo of Jason Doyle and Dan Thompson with Doyle recovering from a hip injury and Thompson out with a broken scaphoid.
As was the case on Monday, rider replacement will be in operation at two for Doyle with Danyon Hume coming in at number six as a guest for Thompson. Ipswich need to win by more than six points on Thursday evening if they are to progress to their third cup final in three years.
MANAGER’S NOTES
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“It’s a massive meeting at Foxhall this week, a cup semi-final against King’s Lynn. We are currently six points behind, and we desperately need everyone there to support us and help us bring that back. At the moment we are down on power but that is when our amazing support can really make the difference. The boys did everyone proud with their effort on Monday and they will certainly be determined to bring those points back on Thursday night.
“King’s Lynn will be determined to get through and buoyed by their result on Monday, bringing a lead. I’m sure they will bring a lot of travelling support who will be hoping to see their side progress. It has been a long time since they had any success, and they will be desperate for some this season, but we are desperate to ruin that and make a third cup final in three years.
“We will be R/R for Jason again, we did ask Maciej (Janowski) if he could guest but he was unavailable this week. The boys are more than capable of covering it and it is hard work for them, but they are committed to the team and to being successful to make it work.
“It was nice for Jason to be with us on Monday, we know he is desperate to be back fit and ready for a cup final.”
KING’S LYNN STARS
King’s Lynn ended a 13-match losing streak against Ipswich with Monday’s win and will have belief they can finish off the job on Thursday after building a six-point lead at the Adrian Flux Arena. The Stars will have to perform better than their last visit to Foxhall though when they suffered a 53-37 defeat. The Norfolk side have lost all four of their away league fixtures by more than 12 points with their only victory on the road coming at Oxford in the quarter-final of the Knockout Cup.
The visitors are without Ben Cook through injury and once again call upon Peter Kildemand as a guest. Luke Harrison will guest at number seven after Ashton Boughen withdrew during Monday’s fixture. The away side currently have Grand Prix rider Jan Kvěch at reserve and he notched 16+2 in the first leg from that position.
LAST TIME WE MET IN SUFFOLK
Ipswich welcomed King’s Lynn to Foxhall just last month in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. The home team went into the fixture at full strength and sitting top of the table with a 100% record whilst the Stars were looking for their first points on the road and were without the injured Ben Cook, with rider replacement in use at number two. Despite that, it was the visitors who would start brightly in the derby in front of a big bank holiday crowd, and they were threatening an upset as they held a six-point lead after seven races. However, that was as good as it got for the Norfolk outfit as Ipswich rattled off eight consecutive heat advantages to win comfortably in the end and preserve their unbeaten start to 2025. Jason Doyle top scored with 12+2.
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway